Another useful source of information is the International Genealogical
Index, produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
more commonly known as 'Mormons'. Most information is-stored on
microfiche, and includes parish registers for much of Britain. Many
Mormon Churches in larger communities have information which they
will readily allow access to with prior approval being requested.
How Far Back can a Family be Traced?
Though it is not impossible to trace back to the 11th century, the task
obviously becomes far more difficult the further back in time one
travels, not the least of one's problems being the level of intelligence,
writing ability and accuracy of those responsible for whatever records
were made of births, marriages and deaths, if, that is, the record was
made in the first place.
Another problem frequently found to impede access to information is
that of the family's surname. A common surname will ultimately
present very many difficulties as one begins to sort through the
hundreds of Smiths, Joneses, and other such names which have
survived the passage of time virtually unchanged.
An unusual name however, or one known to originate from a particular
region, and your task becomes far, far easier. Some names also derive
from the family's primary occupation as we discussed earlier.
Civil Registration
Official registration of births, deaths and marriages, has been
compulsory in most of Europe and the U.S. since the mid 1800's
In theory, and often also in practice, it is easy to trace families back to
these dates of compulsory registration. This must not however be
taken for granted since those. 'skeletons' known to exist in most
family cupboards can often lead the researcher off on a false trail, or
perhaps worse still, not come to light in the first place. Here is where a
little detective work comes to the rescue.
The astute researcher might uncover various information the less
seasoned historian might instead have dismissed or perhaps not
considered at all. Birth certificates for instance are dated on the day
registration takes place, which could obviously be days or weeks after
the birth. When registration was made compulsory a fine was
introduced for registrations made more than 42 days after the birth, as
a result of which parents late in registering adjusted the date of
delivery to suit their own requirements.
And given that not all people, even those responsible for completing
official records, enjoyed the greatest degree of communicative skills, it
was not unusual for parents to produce variations of their surname to
the official recorder, or for the latter to hastily enter a name he
'thought' the respondent had uttered.