Tips for finding parents in the online IGI
This posting was made in response to DearMyrt's October podcast where she discusses the parentsearch function which is only available in the CD ROM version of the IGI (available in Family History Centers). The IGI is an event based database and families are not organized by family group sheet which makes finding all the children of a couple difficult unless you use this parentsearch feature. As the CD ROM version of the IGI is no longer being updated and the newest version is the online version, many people are disappointed that they can't to a parent search using the online version.
Myrtle offers a simple solution to this by suggesting that you can leave the first name blank, enter the last name and then put in the parents names to search. However, in 7 years of using the site I have NEVER been able to do this. In fact, I checked again after listening to DearMyrtle's podcast. I receive the error message:
"If you enter a last name without a first name, you must either not enter parent or spouse names, a year, or you must enter a batch number or a film number"
I don't know why DearMyrt thinks it can be done but if I can't do it (and I've worked in the software industry for 9 years) then you probably won't be able to either!
However, over the years I've developed my own way of doing a similar search and am going to give you instructions that will enable you to search on all children with a specific last name in the same parish. While this is not a foolproof method to identify all siblings of your ancestor (some might be christened in other parishes) it does work for those in the same parish. Here are the instructions.
First if you go to the www.familysearch.org web site and click on the Search tab at the top, you can then select the International Genealogical Index on the side menu. Once you do this the fields available for you to enter information change specifically for this database. Start by finding the person you have found already.
For example, First Name: William, Last Name: Hamersley, Event: Birth/Christening, Year: 1848, Region: British Isles, Country, England. There is only one matching record and it relates to my ancestor William Henry Hamersley, birth 26 Jun 1848. This shows his parents as William Henry Hamersley and Sarah and that he was christened 10 Jun 1849 Saint Dunstan, Stepney. Scroll down and write down the Batch No. for your record (C055764 - in this case the christening event was 1849) and the Source Call No. 0596917 (the source call number is the film you would order into the family history center if you wanted to view the original parish record).
Ok, now go back to the IGI search again. This time take out the first name, leave the last name, take out the year, make sure the region and country are still complete, and enter the batch number C055764. Make sure you have entered the parents names (William and Sarah). This time there are 14 records, all for Hamersley christenings that occurred at Saint Dunstans and all with parents William and Sarah. Of the 14 records 7 are births and 7 are the matching christening records, amounting to 7 children of this couple. To ensure the parents of each child really are the same couple you would have to consult with the original records (remember the source number) for each christening record, looking at the occupations and address given for the couple.
Happy hunting! Save to: Digg | | Yahoo | Furl | Reddit
Myrtle offers a simple solution to this by suggesting that you can leave the first name blank, enter the last name and then put in the parents names to search. However, in 7 years of using the site I have NEVER been able to do this. In fact, I checked again after listening to DearMyrtle's podcast. I receive the error message:
"If you enter a last name without a first name, you must either not enter parent or spouse names, a year, or you must enter a batch number or a film number"
I don't know why DearMyrt thinks it can be done but if I can't do it (and I've worked in the software industry for 9 years) then you probably won't be able to either!
However, over the years I've developed my own way of doing a similar search and am going to give you instructions that will enable you to search on all children with a specific last name in the same parish. While this is not a foolproof method to identify all siblings of your ancestor (some might be christened in other parishes) it does work for those in the same parish. Here are the instructions.
First if you go to the www.familysearch.org web site and click on the Search tab at the top, you can then select the International Genealogical Index on the side menu. Once you do this the fields available for you to enter information change specifically for this database. Start by finding the person you have found already.
For example, First Name: William, Last Name: Hamersley, Event: Birth/Christening, Year: 1848, Region: British Isles, Country, England. There is only one matching record and it relates to my ancestor William Henry Hamersley, birth 26 Jun 1848. This shows his parents as William Henry Hamersley and Sarah and that he was christened 10 Jun 1849 Saint Dunstan, Stepney. Scroll down and write down the Batch No. for your record (C055764 - in this case the christening event was 1849) and the Source Call No. 0596917 (the source call number is the film you would order into the family history center if you wanted to view the original parish record).
Ok, now go back to the IGI search again. This time take out the first name, leave the last name, take out the year, make sure the region and country are still complete, and enter the batch number C055764. Make sure you have entered the parents names (William and Sarah). This time there are 14 records, all for Hamersley christenings that occurred at Saint Dunstans and all with parents William and Sarah. Of the 14 records 7 are births and 7 are the matching christening records, amounting to 7 children of this couple. To ensure the parents of each child really are the same couple you would have to consult with the original records (remember the source number) for each christening record, looking at the occupations and address given for the couple.
Happy hunting! Save to: Digg | | Yahoo | Furl | Reddit
