Eric D Probert explores the new 'hidden records database' from S&N and The National Archives.
www.BMDRegisters.co.uk
This new website - a database utilising sources from before compulsary civil registration and potentially featuring six million names - was launched on 14th September as a joint effort by S&N Genealogy Supplies and The National Archives (TNA). It is a great resource for those looking to take their research back before the days of compulsory civil registration, especially if your ancestors non-conformists. Its index can be searched for free, but to view a transcription or image of a register page requires the purchase of credits.
At launch, the records included those of TNA class RG4, comprising:
- Royal Hospital CHelsea (1682 onwards)
- Royal Hospital Greenwich (1694 onwards)
- Dr Williams Library (1742-1865)
- Presbyterian, Independant and Baptist Registry (1742-1837)
- Wesleyan Methodist Metropolitan Registry (1818-1838)
- Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, Hackney (1713 onwards)
- South London Burial Ground, Walworth (1819-1837)
- Necropolis Burial Ground , Everton, Liverpool (c1825-1837)
It also included, from TNA class RG5, some 200,000 birth certificates from the Protestant Dissenters' Registry, along with about 50,000 birth certificates of Metropolitan Wesleyan Methodists, providing information on up to three generations of the same family.
There is a simple search screen which enables you to search on surname and forename, in any one of the events birth/baptism, marriage and death/burial, or all three at the same time. The wildcard character * may be used to denote the prescence of any number of letters in a name, as long as it is preceded by two characters, which makes searching on variant names easier.
I was interested to see if there were any entries of the M(a)cBe(a)th surname in the index and so searched firstly on McBe*th and then MacBe*th for all events. The search results are presented in the tabular format of Surname, Forename(s), Year of Event, Event Type, Place, Record set (TNA Class number), View and page image. I found one McBeth entry: the baptism of Christina in 1836 in Carlisle, Cumberland, from the record set RG4. There were 15 results for the surname MacBeth.
Once you have registered and purchased credits you can click to look at the full details or view the image to obtain the register entry information. Credits cost 50p each and may be purchased online by secure credit card payment in units of 10, 20 or 40. They are valid for three months.
As you expend 5 credits each to view the transcription or the page of the register I decided initially, to avoid the possibility of any transcription errors, to view the register page in Adobe Acrobat Reader. This revealed that Christina, daughter of William and Ann McBeth, residing at St Mary's, Carlisle was born on 29th February 1836 and baptised on 10th March 1836 by Percy Sheett. However, there was no indication of the denomination of the chapel in which the baptism took place or the TNA piece or folio reference numbers. I clicked to view 'full details' and found the full RNA reference (RG4/685 folio 31).
Clicking on the adjacent 'tell me more' icon advised that the entry was from the Register of Births and Baptisms at the Annetwell Independent Chapel in Carlisle, Cumberland, from 1785 to 1837. Clearly, you need to view both entries for the full information on one entry, at a total cost of £1.
Also on the 'full details' page, which can be printed, is provision for further information, as found in many non-conformist records. This means that there is the potential to see recorded the father's occupation, mother, maiden name, date and place of parent's marriage, and names of maternal and paternal grandparents. There is also a simple pedigree chart.
There is an advanced search option, for an additional single credit, which enables you to refine the search by additionally limiting the search to a particular year (plus or minus five years) and either records of RG4 or RG5/ By ticking a box it is possible to include a search on all names within a record, thus capturing parents and grandparents, as they are named in many of them.
This is an extensive and rich resource for family historians, easily searchable and accessible at a reasonable cost, with a great number of sources providing information on up to three generations. It will be even more useful over the coming year, as many more records are due to be added. |
