Thank you Roy - as usual you impart your wisdom with the subtlety of a battering ram. Some people are still learning so perhaps can be forgiven for asking questions, the answers to which you may think should be known or obvious. Most appreciated! Cheers from Marcelle in Western Australia -----Original Message----- From: eng-yorkshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:eng-yorkshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Roy Stockdill Sent: Sunday, 17 June 2007 3:16 AM To: ENG-YORKSHIRE@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [YORKSHIRE] WATSON From: "mvs" <mvs5@westnet.com.au> > Would someone mind looking up the records for: > > Nellie WATSON > b: About 1882 in the Oct-Nov-Dec quarter > District: STOCKTON > County: DURHAM, Yorkshire, North Riding in Vol 10a on Page 65. > > I was able to get the info from Ancestry.com but it doesn't give > parents names - which is what I'm wanting.> Well, of course it doesn't give the parents' names because what you are quoting is merely the INDEX to her birth registration. To get the full details you will have to buy the birth certificate, which will cost you 7 pounds from the GRO. That's how the system works and what the rest of us would have to do. The alternative is to find her in the 1891 census and see who her parents were. However, I suspect there is likely to have been more than one Nellie Watson in the Stockton RD. -- Roy Stockdill Guild of One-Name Studies: www.one-name.org Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-YORKSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.9.0/851 - Release Date: 6/16/2007 12:50 PM No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.9.0/851 - Release Date: 6/16/2007 12:50 PM

From: "mvs" <mvs5@westnet.com.au> > Thank you Roy - as usual you impart your wisdom with the subtlety of a > battering ram. Some people are still learning so perhaps can be > forgiven for asking questions, the answers to which you may think > should be known or obvious. Most appreciated! > > Cheers from Marcelle in Western Australia > > From: "mvs" <mvs5@westnet.com.au> > > > Would someone mind looking up the records for: > > > > Nellie WATSON > > b: About 1882 in the Oct-Nov-Dec quarter > > District: STOCKTON > > County: DURHAM, Yorkshire, North Riding in Vol 10a on Page 65. > > > > I was able to get the info from Ancestry.com but it doesn't give > > parents names - which is what I'm wanting.> > > Well, of course it doesn't give the parents' names because what you > are quoting is merely the INDEX to her birth registration. To get the > full details you will have to buy the birth certificate, which will > cost you 7 pounds from the GRO. That's how the system works and what > the rest of us would have to do. > > The alternative is to find her in the 1891 census and see who her > parents were. However, I suspect there is likely to have been more > than one Nellie Watson in the Stockton RD. > I was simply explaining to you that the GRO Birth Indexes do not give the full information about a birth or a child's parentage. If they did they wouldn't be an index and you wouldn't have to buy the certificate, but then the GRO wouldn't get 7 pounds out of you, would they? You could also buy the certificate from the local register office, but it wouldn't be much use citing the GRO reference if you do it that way because the local offices use a different referencing system and the two are not related. So many beginners seem not to understand what an index is in family history, so perhaps I should spell it out. Birth, marriage and death indexes (some might use the term, indices) are merely pointers to where the original information can be found - in this case the certificates that give the full details. It is free to inspect the indexes but if you want the full information you have to buy the certificate, simple as that. Think of it like an index at the back of a book, where you find a name and then have to turn to the appropriate page to get the full information. We are promised by the GRO that when they eventually get round to digitising all their records, the birth indexes will include the mother's maiden name right back to the start in 1837, also the surnames of spouses in the marriage indexes. This is one of the things the UK genealogical community has asked for and which they have promised, but I will believe it when I see it! BTW, I trust you are not confused about the make-up of the Stockton Registration District at the time you are interested in - the header on your post slightly suggests you might be. Stockton is in Co Durham but some of the RD spanned the borders of the North Riding of Yorkshire and parts of it are in the NR. The way to discover exactly what parishes etc lay in any given RD is to click on the name of the district underlined in blue at FreeBMD. This takes you to another page which says "The district Stockton spans the boundaries of the counties of Co Durham and North Riding of Yorkshire; information about it can be found here." "Here" is another underlined link and clicking on it takes you to the relevant page on the GENUKI website which gives a complete list of every place that lay within the Stockton RD. You will see from the right-hand column that the district has been much altered over the years. It is very important to know which parishes, villages, etc lay within the RD because these are valuable in linking families to the census. There is no way of telling from the birth indexes alone which part of Stockton RD your Nellie Watson was born in. She might, for instance, have been born at Hartlepool which is in Co Durham or Middlesbrough which is in Yorkshire NR. If you scan down the list you will see there were almost 70 places within Stockton RD. I hope you find this helpful - it is meant to be. -- Roy Stockdill Guild of One-Name Studies: www.one-name.org Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE