Welcome, readers to part 4 of the beginner series, “How to: Research Your Personal Genealogy Tree For Free-4!”.
Before I tell you about the final result in the mystery of William Read’s Baptism, I want to personally apologize for not posting on time for the week of Thanksgiving. I am sure you can relate to being exposed to Covid-19 and I had to stay at home for 3 days until I could do the test. Thankfully, it was negative, but this made it so I missed my last chance before the holiday to go to the Family History Center to get the results. My FHC center is always closed the entire week for holidays. Thank you for your patience.
Now, let’s get back to William Read’s Baptism mystery where, at the end of my blog post of part 3, we ended with needing to see film number 918529 called, Bishop’s transcripts for the Archdeaconry of Suffolk, 1685-1875.
Making A Decision How To See The Original Record:
I could have ended the last post with saying the result was just the index record. Most people seem to be okay with this, but for me, I prefer to dig deeper as the record really didn’t answer anything for me.
It is always a good practice to see the original or digital document, as you might be missing important clues that were not included in the index.
So, I headed to my nearest Family History Center (FHC), where I also volunteer, to view William Read’s Baptism record.
If you need help locating your nearest FHC or Affiliate Library, please click the link:
Now, if you can’t visit either a Family History Center or a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, please click the direct link below to submit your free record request. If you need help on how to do this, please click the second link to my blog post.
With this option, you will need to be patient as a response could take one to two weeks.
Time Management:
As I research a person or family, I usually will have a long research “To Do” list of records/documents I need to see at my local Family History Center.
I will use a combination of my source box, my handy dandy notebook, printouts or use the printable research log that I found on the FamilySearch wiki website.
I know I have said this before, but the reason it is my favorite is that you can type the information in and save it to your computer then, when your list is full, just print it off. Here is the link to my favorite research log:
To record any images that I find, I save them on my travel drive, or you can use the free printing option at the Family History Center.
What works for me may not work for you, so for whatever organizational method you use, the main thing is to be consistent. This will help you with looking up your information faster.
My center is opened from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., so you can understand why I talk about time management. Three hours goes by so fast!
Locating Image on The Film Number 918529:
At the Family History Center, all I have to do is Sign In using my ID and password that I created.
Reminders:
- To have access to the document, you must Sign-In. if you don’t and try to view the record, it will take you back to the login screen.
- The same goes for accessing my “Source Box”.
- I saved the exact record in my “Source Box” which you access your name with the drop-down arrow.
- When logged in on the Family History Center computer, it takes me to my film.
- Now, the hard part is locating the document.
In my last post, I gave you some details like where William Read was born. If I didn’t know the location, it would have made my task a lot harder as there are 1,109 images.
This film only had 1836-year Baptisms from all the Parishes from Suffolk, England. The good news is that it was in alphabetical order by deanery, and I just needed to find the parish Rushmere.
FamilySearch Research Wiki will become your friend. It’s a wonderful area where you can go and look up more information on various topics. In this case, I looked into Rushmere: records, deanery, parish reords, etc. You can access Research Wiki under the “Search” tab
When I clicked the link, it took me straight to my film as shown below.
Interesting Clues From William Read's Baptism:
Within a few minutes, I found William’s Baptism record.
When looking at the record, I found some interesting clues as seen in the image below.
As a test, list 3 major things you notice about William Read’s Baptism entry before scrolling down.
Citation:
Church of England. Archdeaconry of Suffolk (Main Author). “Bishop’s Transcripts for the Archdeaconry of Suffolk, 1685-1875.” FamilySearch Catalog: Bishop’s Transcripts for the Archdeaconry of Suffolk, 1685-1875 – FamilySearch.org, Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1975, https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/346632?availability=Family+History+Library. Image 547 of 1109
Final Result For Film Number 918529:
The answer to my little pop quiz:
- William is listed as Illegitimate
- Elizabeth is a married woman
- Her husband was transported beyond the seas
This information was totally not on the index, so with the help of the William Read’s Baptism mystery it helps explain why you should always dig deeper and view the actual/digital image whatever your mystery.
Before I mark the case of William Read’s Baptism mystery as closed, I will add the image and source to my tree.
Even though I solved one case, it opened a “can of worms”, so to speak, as it leads me to dig even further.
Now, this is the conclusion of the how to start your personal genealogy Free series.
In the series you learned to:
- Start your free account
- How to search
- How to dig deeper and view the original digital document
If you would like to read more articles about genealogy, please visit my homepage: https://www.nancydrugenealogy.com/.
For any questions about how to dig deeper for cases like this, please send me a note.
As always, Happy Sleuthing!
Nancy Dru
