England

FamiliarityWhether you live in England or elsewhere, a basic familiarity with the geography and political divisions of England and Wales is essential to genealogy research.It is important for genealogists to know that most records are filed by county. However the government decided to restructure its administrative counties in 1972. This did not alter or abolish the counties themselves, but does affect where you'll find older records.

Civil Registration

On July 1, 1837 a civil registration system for births, marriages, and deaths was introduced in England and Wales. These events were officially recorded by local District registrars, who reported to the General Registrar Office (GRO) in London, now part of the Office of National Statistics (ONS). In 1927 this registration was expanded to include stillbirths and adoptions. The events were registered at the local office, which retained a copy, so each document should be available in both the local registry office as well as the central office.These records are vital to family historians because of the genealogical information that they include.The General Register Office maintains a national index of all births, marriages and deaths registered in England and Wales. The index for each year is split into quarters (March, June, September & December), and is arranged alphabetically by surname.

Birth Certificate

*Name and sex of the child*Date and place of birth*Full name, including maiden surname of the mother*Full name and occupation of the father*From 1969, the place of birth of both parents*The informant's name, address, and relationship to the child*The date of registration and signature of registrar

Death Certificate*Full name of the deceased*Date and place of death*Stated age (from 1866)*Cause of death (after April 1969)*Occupation *Name, address, and relationship to the deceased of the informant*When death registered*Signature of registrar

Marriage Certificate

*Names and ages of the bride and groom ('full age' indicates only that the person was over 21)*Date and place of marriage*Marital status of the bride and groom*Whether by banns, license, or certificate*Current addresses and occupations of the bride and groom*Names and occupations of their fathers*Names of witnesses, plus the officiating minister or registrar*Religious denomination of the ceremony*Signatures of the bride and groom

Census Records - 1841-1901

A census has been conducted in England & Wales every 10 years since 1801, except for 1941. The 1841 census marks the first for which names of individuals were included, and from 1851 on, the census also gives the place of birth. The last census released was 1911. Digitized copies of the complete British census from 1841 - 1911 are available online. The census records are also available on microfilm through FamilySeach.org and Ancestry.com

Parish Records

Prior to 1837 there was no central registration of births, marriages and deaths in England, and therefore parish registers or church records are the main source of information. Parish registers from England and Wales may date back as early as 1538 -- although mid-1600s is more common -- and can help fill in the gaps prior to 1837. Parish registers are usually held in local or county record offices, but may also still be held by the local parish. Copies of entries from Parish Registers were also made annually and sent to the Bishop. These copies are known as Bishops Transcripts or Parish Register Transcripts. Generally, the Bishops Transcript is an exact copy of the Parish Register, but sometimes one or the other may include additional information or be easier to read. It is generally best, if possible, to check both copies.Because they are not held centrally, parish records aren't as easy to access online. The largest online collection of information drawn from parish registers in England and Wales is the International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch.org. The IGI includes millions of entries transcribed from parish register records for England and Wales, but it is important to note that these records are not the only source of information included in the IGI. It is also a database of transcriptions, taken from the original microfilms, opening the door to a chance of errors. Other online sources for parish registers, exist, including many projects by local historical societies and individuals.

Some records are in Latin. Translating the information given is not very difficult, and a Latin dictionary or glossary will be useful. An example of a baptismal entry in Latin is shown here:

Some records are in Latin. Translating the information given is not very difficult, and a Latin dictionary or glossary will be useful. An example of a baptismal entry in Latin is shown here:

Wills & Administrations

Relatives of individuals who died intestate, could apply for a grant of administration to deal with the assets and belongings of the estate. After someone died, the will had to be "proved" in court in a process called "probate." The courts which oversaw wills and administrations in England and Wales fall into two time periods: before and after 11 January 1858.

Wills before 11 January 1858From the 14th century until 11 January 1858 the proving of wills came under the jurisdiction of the Church, and wills from this time are found among the records of the ecclesiastical courts. The most important of these courts, the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, administered the wills of primarily wealthy people living mainly in southern England and most of Wales.The complete collection of Willis are available online from the National Archives - searches are free and digital images of the wills are available on a pay-per-document basis.The Prerogative Court of York was the other major provincial court, and those records are held by the Borthwick Institute of the University of York. Since these prerogative courts dealt primarily with wills of relatively wealthy individuals, most people are more likely to find the will of an ancestor among the records of the minor Probate Courts, which may be deposited in the county record office or other local repository.

Prior to 1858, probate research in England and Wales gets a bit complicated. Probate matters may have been handled by any one of a hierarchy of ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England, based on the location of the deceased's property. Several Church courts could have had jurisdiction over the property of your ancestor, depending on the time, locality, and circumstances.To locate wills and other probate records in England or Wales prior to 1858, you will need to learn which archdeaconry, diocese, or peculiar jurisdiction was responsible for the parish in which your ancestor died.

Wills after 11 January 1858On the 12 January 1858, wills and probates became a civil matter in England under the Probate Act of 1857.The Court of Probate Act 1857 transferred responsibility for the granting of probate, and letters of administration, from the ecclesiastical courts of England and Wales to a new civil Court of Probate. It created a Principal Probate Registry in London and a number of district probate registries. The act came into force in January 1858.

Probate Records before 1857Wills generally list surviving heirs by name, providing confirmation of family relationships. Probate records, which document the handling of the estate through the court, whether the deceased died testate or intestate, may help identify where family members were living at the time.• Most importantly, many people are mentioned by name in wills and other probate records who never

left a will of their own.• Probate records in England and Wales were not created for every person that died. It is estimated

that estates were probated for less than 10 percent of English heads of households prior to 1858.• That number, however, does not include the other people who might be mentioned in estate records.

It is also important to realize that probate records, while generally accurate, do not always paint a full family picture.

• Omit the names of individuals who had previously received their inheritance• Omit the name of the eldest son who would receive his inheritance according to law• Include individuals from multiple families, including children conceived with a former spouse, or a

current spouse who is not mother of the children

Probate Records after 1857A national civil court system was established on 12 January 1858 dividing England and Wales into 11 civil probate districts and 18 sub-district registries. Wills and administrations are proved at either a District Probate Registry or the Principal Probate Registry in London. Copies of wills proved at district courts are also sent to the Principal Probate Registry.• Subscribers to Ancestry.com can access a fully-indexed version of the National Probate

Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858–1996), which allows for searching by locality, given name, etc. The database is an index only and does not include digitized copies of the wills/administrations.

• Copies of wills from 1858–1925 can also be obtained from the Family History Library's extensive microfilm collection. Film numbers for both the District Probate Registries and the Principal Probate Registry can be found in an article titled "Principal Probate Registry" in the FamilySearch Wiki. The films for each registry are arranged as follows: (1) year, (2) 1st letter of the deceased's surname, (3) month, (4) district where the will was proved, and (5) day of the month the will was proved.

Hierarchy of Ecclesiastical Probate Courts

• Peculiar or manor courts - small courts with 'peculiar' authority granted to probate estates located solely within their boundaries or jurisdiction.

• Archdeaconry courts - a jurisdiction covering a number of parishes and presided over by an Archdeacon. An archdeaconry may have had jurisdiction over part of a county, a whole county, or may even cross into a neighboring county.

• Bishop's courts - a jurisdiction made up of one or more archdeaconries and presided over by a Bishop. These courts were sometimes called commissary, episcopal, consistory, or exchequer courts.

• Prerogative Courts - Diocese’ in England were grouped into two provinces, each presided over by an Archbishop. Their courts were called prerogative courts. The Prerogative Court of York (PCY) had jurisdiction over northern England, including the counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Nottingham, Westmorland, and Yorkshire. The Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) had jurisdiction over the remainder of the country.

Germany

GermanyPrior to its unification in 1871, Germany consisted of a loose association of kingdoms Bavaria, Prussia, Saxony, Wurttemberg, etc, duchies Baden, etc free cities like Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck0 etc, and even personal estates - each with its own laws and record and keeping system. After a brief period as a unified nation (1871-1945), Germany was again divided following World War II, with parts of it given to Czechoslovakia, Poland and the USSR. What was left was then divided into East Germany and West Germany, a division that lasted until 1990. Even during the unified period, some sections of Germany were given to Belgium, Denmark and France in 1919. What this means for people researching German roots, is that the records of their ancestors may or may not be found in Germany.Some may be found among the records of the six countries which have received portions of former Germany territory (Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Poland, and the USSR). Once you take your research prior to 1871, you may also be dealing with records from some of the original German states.

Prussia

Many people assume that Prussian ancestors were German, but this isn't necessarily the case. Prussia was actually the name of a geographical region, which originated in the area between Lithuania and Poland, and later grew to encompass the southern Baltic coast and northern Germany. Prussia existed as an independent state from the 17th century until 1871, when it became the largest territory of the new German empire.Prussia as a state was officially abolished in 1947, and now the term only exists in reference to the former province.

To America

Germans to America," compiled and edited by Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby, is a series of books which indexes passenger arrival records of ships carrying Germans to the U.S. ports of Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia. It presently covers the records of over 4 million passengers during the period January 1850 through Jun 1897.

Passenger Lists

When searching for ancestors in American ship passenger lists there are three major time periods to consider: pre-1820, 1820-1890, and 1891-1954• Ship Passenger Lists - Colonial Period to 1820

Prior to January 1, 1820, the U.S. Federal Government did not require captains or masters of vessels to present a passenger list to U.S. officials upon arrival in America. Therefore, for pre-1820 passenger lists, researchers must rely on surviving ship cargo manifests which have been scattered among archives, museums, and other historical agencies.

• The good news is that most of these surviving passenger manifests have been published, and several indexes have been compiled to these pre-1820 published passenger lists.

• The best place to start your search for pre-1820 ship passenger manifests is Passenger and Immigration Lists Index (P. William Filby, ed.) which attempts to index all passenger lists in the thirteen colonies and the U.S. during the early years. Beyond the original three volumes published in 1981, Filby and his collaborators continue to publish yearly supplements.

• Another source for hard-to-find early American passenger lists is the compilation edited by Michael Tepper, New World Immigrants. This consolidation of ship passenger lists from periodical literature includes over 27,500 emigrants who arrived from mainly European countries during the period 1618-1878.

• Passenger arrivals at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1800-1819, are reproduced in rolls 1-29 of the NARA microfilm publication M425, Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1800-1882 (108 rolls). Copies of these microfilm publications are available through the National Archives and the Family History Library.

Finding Birthplace’sOnce you've used a variety of genealogy records to trace your family back to the original German ancestor, the next step is to find the name of the specific town, village or city in Germany where your immigrant ancestor lived. Since most German records are not centralized, it is nearly impossible to trace your ancestors in Germany without this step. If your German ancestor immigrated to America after 1892, you can probably find this information on the passenger arrival record for the ship on which they sailed to America. If you know from which port in Germany they departed, you may be able to locate their hometown on the German passenger departure lists. Other common sources for locating an immigrant's hometown include vital records of birth, marriage and death; census records; naturalization records and church records.

Finding Records• Many German states developed their own systems of civil registration

prior to that time, some as early as 1792. Since Germany has no central repository for civil records of birth, marriage and death, these records may be found in various locations including the local civil registrar's office, government archives, and on microfilm through the Family History Library

Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths

Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in Germany began following the French Revolution in 1792. Beginning with regions of Germany under French control, most German states eventually developed their own individual systems of civil registration between 1792 and 1876. In general, German civil records begin in 1792 in Rheinland, 1803 in Hessen-Nassau, 1808 in Westfalen, 1809 in Hannover, Oct 1874 in Prussia, and Jan 1876 for all other parts of Germany.Since Germany has no central repository for civil records of births, marriages and deaths, the records may be found in several different locations.

Local Civil Registrar's Office• Most civil birth, marriage and death records in Germany are

maintained by the civil registration office (Standesamt) in the local towns.• You can usually obtain civil registration records by writing (in German)

to the town with the appropriate names and dates, reason for your request, and proof of your relationship to the individual. Most cities have websites, just search city or town name.

Government ArchivesIn some areas of Germany, duplicate civil records of births, marriages and deaths have been sent to the state archives (Staatsarchiv), district archives (Kreisarchive), or other central repository.

Parish RecordsOften called parish registers or church books, these include records of births, baptism, marriages, deaths, and burials recorded by German churches. The first surviving Protestant records date back to 1524, but Lutheran churches in general began requiring baptism, marriage, and burial records in 1540; Catholics began doing so in 1563, and by 1650 most Reformed parishes began keeping these records.

Census Records

Censues have been conducted in Germany on a countrywide basis since 1871. These "national" censuses were actually conducted by each state or province, and the original returns can be obtained from the municipal archives (Stadtarchiv) or the Civil Register Office (Standesamt) in each district. The biggest exception to this is East Germany (1945-1990), which destroyed all of its original census returns. Some were destroyed by bombing during World War II.

German Parish Registers

While most German civil records only go back to around the 1870s, parish registers go back as far as the 15th century. Parish registers are books maintained by church or parish offices to record baptisms, confirmations, marriages, burials and other church events and activities, and are a major source of family history information in Germany. Parish registers are generally kept by the local parish office.In come cases, however, the older parish registers may have been forwarded to a central parish register office or ecclesiastical archives, a state or municipal archive, or a local vital registration office. If the parish is no longer in existence, the parish registers may be found in the office of the parish which took over for that area.In addition to the original parish registers, parishes in most areas of Germany required a verbatim copy of the register to be made and forwarded annually to the district court - until the time when vital registration took effect (from about 1780-1876). These "second writings" are sometimes available when the original records are not, or are a good source for double-checking hard-to-decipher handwriting in the original register. It is important to keep in mind, however, that these "second writings" are copies of the original and, as such, are one step removed from the original source, introducing a greater chance of errors.

Immigration or Emigration Records

Immigration records for major U.S. ports have been kept on a regular basis since 1820. These ports include: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans. Others, such as Mobile and Galveston began keeping records later in the nineteenth century, while western ports (San Francisco and Seattle) began in the last years of the 19th century.These immigration records have been microfilmed, and are in the custody of the National Archives. These passenger arrival records include the name of every passenger on the ship, including those who were born or who died during the voyage.Generally, the lists include the full name, age, sex, place of origin and destination of each passenger.Emigration (departure) lists do exist for some European ports, but not all, and not even every major one (for example, no comprehensive departure lists are known for the British Isles). Among the ports for which emigration lists are available are Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, and Hamburg (but NOT Bremen - these records were destroyed during WWII)