When searching on bride AND groom it does not matter in which order you enter the names into First surname/forename and Second surname/forename boxes, ie. whether you put the bride's name before the groom's or vice versa.
Click here for forename abbreviations
The forename entered always has an * wildcard added automatically (representing zero or more characters), to ensure that you find entries with second forenames or initials. In most cases minimise the number of letters entered to find abbreviated names.
eg. 1795; ACRED, ACRIT, ACRID, ACREED; JN; KATH; ABELL; DENBY
This may be because the name could have been spelt in different ways, or because the parish records had unclear spelling. Where there was an ambiguity in the spelling Boyd recorded all variants. These variants have been put into Surname groups.
In the example above ACRED, ACRIT, ACRID and ACREED make up one Surname group.
Searching on any of the surnames will find this record.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to tell which name from the group was the original name.
-
Initial letters: To find surnames with the initial letters in
the left column below, try searching on surnames beginning with the
corresponding letter in the right column:
Looking for Search for names starting GH G GN N KA* CA KL CL KN* N KO CO KR CR KU CU LL L PH* F SC* SK TH* (H silent) T WH* W WR* R * Spellings are generally 'normal' for records after 1800.
-
silent final e is ignored: There are some anomalies,
eg AIRE, but generally, if a surname exists with a variant which has an e
on the end (such as COOKE), try dropping the e (enter COOK), eg. enter
CLARK instead of CLARKE and GREEN instead of GREENE etc.
-
double letters as single: eg WILSON will appear but not
WILLSON. This may be confusing, since BENNETT and KELLETT do appear. Try the
alternatives, if you don't find a spelling where there is a double consonant,
try using a single.
-
x sometimes replaces cks: eg. HIX not HICKS,
COXON not COCKSON. But BRACKS, BROCKSHAW, BRUCKS, JACKSLEY, JACKSON, STOCKS are
all present. Try both alternatives if you don't find the person you were
looking for.
-
ch sometimes replaces tch: eg HUCHINSON for
HUTCHINSON, but BUTCHER, CATCHER appear. If you don't find a surname containing
tch, try dropping the t.
-
i and y: Where a name containing i has
a variant with y, eg. Bird and Byrd, y is used at the end of
the name and i in the middle: eg GILES not GYLES, SMITH not SMYTH.
-
last syllable: Names of more than one syllable are treated
with some freedom:
- an, en, in, on, un
- ar, er, or
- field, field, feld
- bourn, born, burn
- wood, wode, ward
- bridge, brig
- ey, ye, y, ie
- el, al, ell, all, ale, le
- ford, forth
- son, sonn, sone, sonne, etc
The alias name is indicated by either ALS, OR or by parentheses.
eg. The following record could be found under SHELDRAKE or ROWELL. If the search had been on SHELDRAKE the groom's surname would be shown as SHELDRAKE rather than ROWELL. The Miscellaneous field at the end shows he was known as both surnames.
1821; MEULEN; SUS VANDER; ROWELL; WM; MILTON;
CAMBRIDGESHIRE; SUS VANDER & WM SHELDRAKE ALS ROWELL
In the record below, the bride's forename would be found under ELZ and FRANCES. If you had searched on ELZ the forename would be shown as ELZ rather than FRANCES. If you did not enter a forename you would get two records, but the Miscellaneous field shows that they are the same event.
1722; HARLOCK; FRANCES; GOODJOHN; JN; CAMBRIDGE ST CLEMENT;
CAMBRIDGESHIRE; ELZ ALS FRANCES & JN GOODJOHN
Searching a county, eg. Cambridgeshire, will find records referring to Cambridgeshire parishes, and also some referring to parishes in other counties, often Middlesex and London.
eg. When searching Cambridgeshire, the following record might be displayed:
1711; RIGHT; ELZ; ABELL; WM;
LONDON, ST BENET PAUL'S WHARF; MIDDLESEX
In this case, one or both parties came from Cambridgeshire.
Note there may be just one or two Out of County records for a parish.
You may find entries for the same marriage in different parishes. These records are created from marriage licences in which an alternative church for the ceremony was named.
For help locating parishes try searching GENUKI's parish database which locates churches and registration districts with details of founding and closing dates.
It may also be useful to find the 'contiguous' parishes (those parishes whose borders touch) if a record cannot be located in the expected parish.
For Norfolk see Norfolk Family History Society - Contiguous Parishes pages.
For Cambridgeshire see Cambridgeshire Family History Society - Contiguous Parishes pages.
You may find two records for (apparently) the same event, one from the Parish Register and one from the BT. In theory a BT should contain a copy of what appears in the register, however, there are often variations in spellings, names, and dates and either source may contain additional information. Where names in the two records differ this may mean either:
- The names in the two sources are not quite identical. This could be due to a mistake having been made in the BT, a mistake in the register having been corrected in the BT, or that the person making the BT entry had difficulty reading the register entry.
- The names in the two sources were the same but the discrepancy is within the Boyd's Index. This could be because of an error in one or other of the Boyd's entries, an error in capturing the Boyd's entry, or that the person(s) creating the Boyd's entry read the original handwriting differently in the two source documents.
Click here for more help.