Page 24 - Gen Mag Online November 2020

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available to you. It also lists what records where your ancestor has not been found which is equally
helpful.

The filtering system also groups records into the
following categories:

Screenshot of
1. Births, Marriages & Deaths
2. Census, land & surveys Find My Past
3. Churches & Religion Record Search
4. Directories & social history
5. Education & Work
6. Institutions & Organisations
7. Military, armed forces & conflict
8. Travel & migration.

Besides each category (& sub-category) will be a
number in brackets of how many of the same, being researched, has been found. For instance, out
of over 14,000 original results for a Stephen Smith of London there are only 14 who were baptised
about 1890. By contrast there are 203 registered births.

One of the benefits of using this filtering system is it also throws up transcripts of the records, and
in many, many cases an image of the records themselves. Sadly, Find My Past do not always publish
the actual image, but this is an ongoing project so it should always be re-checked every now and
again.

Although using the basic search function can be useful, you may find that the advanced search
facility is better. Using this you are able to narrow down your search criteria with the most likeliest
matches being near the top of the list. You can also search for particular groups of records such as
Census.

Below the filtered list is also a link to past, published newspapers and periodicals. These are updated
on a weekly basis and searching them is as easy as using the search facility mentioned above.

Searching Record Sets

Although using the search filtering system mentioned above helps give you a good overview of what’s
available, sometimes it is more beneficial for you to search specific records, in particular local records.
It is pointless scrolling through loads of records for say London, when your ancestor lived or came
from Hexham or Liverpool.

Therefore, searching for a particular record you know about or seeing what is available for a particular
locality, could be more beneficial. Clicking on the ‘All record Sets’ in the drop down search link at
the top of the home page brings up all the records available. Next to this list is a search box along
with a short filtering system. Just fill in what you are looking for such as Church Records, United
Kingdom, Liverpool, between 1880 - 1900. Doing this can help pinpoint specific records which may
throw up information about your ancestor’s relations, and not just your ancestor himself or herself.

For example, say you looking for a Stephen Smith baptised in a Liverpool Church simply type in
Church Records and type Liverpool in the location field. This will throw up what Find My Past holds
at the present time, and crucially for what period. In this example just one record set is found. Doing
this allows you to search the record online for the specified time period and potentially reveal other
members of the family. Narrowing your research in this way enables you to be more efficient. Leaving
the date period free shows 3 record sets available.

When using Find My Past as with other sites, it is often a useful exercise simply to browse the website.
For example clicking on the ‘Help’ tab at the top of the front page brings up a variety of things including
a page of what is new as well as a getting started section. Plus, an interactive Community Section.