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Archiver > ENGLISH-FENS > 2000-12 > 0975876324


From: Jean Ann Wright-Eitel <>
Subject: [FENS] researching records
Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2000 15:45:24 -0500
References: <001001c05a52$175f17e0$5175883e@ncustance>
In-Reply-To: <3.0.6.32.20001130171807.007a4ea0@pop3.inreach.com>


When i first started researching my family I used the LDS records as they
had a research center less than a mile from my home. I obtained much useful
information that acted as a springboard for me to search out original
records from parish registers. The LDS records provided a starting point,
but only a starting point. The LDS records also contained inaccurate
information and in addition was quite incomplete in the amount of records
in their files.

For instance my own family, the Haylocks (Woollard, Marsh, Rule, Challice,
Taylor, Browning) is primarily from West Wratting in Cambridgeshire. In
1986 the LDS records listed less than a dozen Haylocks in West Wratting. In
fact, when I made my first trip to the Cambridgeshire Records Office and
examined the transcript of the record there were nearly a hundred entries
for the name Haylock alone. I discovered West Wratting to be the original
village for my branch of the Haylock family, but only from the parish
records and not from the LDS records. If I had relied on the LDS records
alone I would have never found my family history.

This is not to put down the LDS records as they can be very helpful. It is
just a reminded that they are only one source for tracking down a family's
history. The best record will always be the original if it is available.
That is why, after finding your relative in the LDS records, on the
internet on someone else's home page, or in your family bible, or wherever,
it is very, very important to track down the original parish record and
obtain a copy if possible. If you put all your trust in only one search
source you are likely to miss out on your family origins.


Jean Ann Wright-Eitel, Editor - QUILT magazine
http://www.quiltmag.com

Quilt-talk online e-bee - http://www.quilttalk.com

My personal web pages -
http://www.mindspring.com/~quiltmag/jeanann/jaeindex.html


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