Hi all
Another useful tool on Hughs webpage to make for easier searching of the IGI,
see forwarded message below.
Lynn
In a message dated 10/03/02 18:07:03 GMT Standard Time, hugh(a)Our-Own-Home.com
writes:
-----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj: [SRY] Middle names - (partial) London/Middlesex index now available
Date: 10/03/02 18:07:03 GMT Standard Time
From: <A
HREF="mailto:hugh@Our-Own-Home.com">hugh@Our-Own-Home.com</A>
To: <A
HREF="mailto:ENG-SURREY-L@rootsweb.com">ENG-SURREY-L@rootsweb.com</A>
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Since London/Middlesex often covers parishes in Metropolitan Surrey I am
sending this to the Surrey list as well..
I believe that middle names are an invaluable resource for finding clues to
family relationships. Strangely I have seen very little written about their
use as research pointers in any of the literature, nor have I seen this
issue discussed much on the mailing lists. I have not seen any middle name
indexes or search tools available anywhere either. BUT - often a person's
middle name is the same as the maiden name of their mother or a grandmother
or reflects some other familial connection (maybe the name of a patron or
benefactor) and so it seems obvious to me that they have significant value
in genealogical and family history research.
If you are wondering where this is all leading just go to
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/LondonMiddleNamesIGI.htm
or to my main website index at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/ - or you can read on...
One of the most extensive online searchable databases is the International
Genealogical Index (the "IGI") which The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (often referred to as the LDS) has made available on the
internet at
http://www.familysearch.org. Unfortunately the IGI does not have
a middle name index and so does not provide the ability to search for them.
So, to overcome this limitation, I first of all created a middle name index
to the online IGI for all of Devon (where this naming pattern seems very
noticeable). This proved so successful, with numerous people writing to me
to tell me that they had broken down brick walls as a result, that I am now
extending it to London (including Middlesex).
So far I have found over 30,000 different middle names (some of which are
obvious transcription errors for each other) appearing in over 700,000 of
the christening/birth/adult baptism and marriage records on the IGI for this
region. This is out of a total of over 1.2 million christening/birth/adult
baptism and over 1 million marriage records (representing half that number
of marriages, of course, since there are two records in the IGI for each
marriage) that I have searched so far for these churches/chapels. This is
probably about one third of the total number of entries in the IGI for
London (including Middlesex) that have been extracted as part of the
controlled extraction program. I am continuing my search and will be
updating this site as more information becomes available.
As always a warning about using the IGI is necessary. It is ONLY an index
and is full of transcription errors. However it has been a mammoth
undertaking on the part of the LDS and is an invaluable aid to research.
Nevertheless, it bears repeating that there is no substitute for viewing the
original records (or at least fiche or film of them). The IGI does assist
you in locating those records and so narrowing down your area of search.
So please feel free to check out my sites at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/
Cheers
Hugh Wallis
Ontario, Canada
Formerly of Surrey, UK
==== LONDON Mailing List ====
London and North Middlesex FHS web site:
http://www.lnmfhs.dircon.co.uk/
==== ENG-SURREY Mailing List ====
Surrey Record Office
http://shs.surreycc.gov.uk/