Hertford teacher details from BMD indexes

[Jo]

I thought I'd start a new topic and not limit it to any one person so we don't have to keep starting a new topic for each teacher.

Frances asked about Miss Mercer. I have found Frances L M Mercer, born in Lambeth 3Q 1920. Her parents were Ernest W Mercer and Florence B L Elkins, married in Lambeth in 3Q 1912. It looks like she had an elder brother, also Ernest, born in 1916 and an elder sister, also Florence, born in 4Q 1912.

[Jo]

It also looks like lovely Mrs Betterton lived until March 2001. There is a slight discrepancy in dates but enough info in common to suggest that it's correct. She looked so frail and elderly when she retired in the early 70s (?1972?) that I'd have expected her to go before then.

[Fjgrogan]

Sorry Jo, not the right Frances Mercer. 'Our' one was born Mary Elizabeth Frances (the Wykeham was a figment of her imagination!) in Queen Charlotte's Hospital, Hammersmith and was an only child. I forget the year without rummaging through a pile of papers, but her birthday was 28th December (Holy Innocents' Day!) and from memory I think she turned 70 when the rest of us were celebrating the new millenium. Her father was a headmaster, whose name I do not recall just now, but somewhere in the paper mountain I have a bit of a tree which I drew up once when I was over in Kerry. She used to say that she had no living close relatives, but once we started delving she admitted that it was possible that there might be a cousin somewhere. I will look it out sometime, but at the moment I am busy turning my living room into a shrine to Ikea Leksvik!!!

[Jo]

That's interesting, because I can't find anyone fitting that information. Mind you, I do find ancestry.com has gaps sometimes - I might switch to findmypast.com when my subs are next due. However, I will keep looking.

[Fjgrogan]

Sorry Jo - I was having a senior moment! See my PM.

[MKM]

Going slightly off-topic (so nothing new there) I have recently started doing some family history, and would be interested in any recommendations for websites. I had a subscription to ancestry.co.uk for a few weeks, and found lots of information, though the interface was a bit annoying.

[anniexf]

Hi Mary, I've been doing similar research for a couple of years & found these websites useful:
Ancestry
FreeBMD
Genes Reunited
Findmypast
1911 Census (powered by Findmypast)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

One that I find difficult to navigate is FamilySearch.org but it could just be a mental block!

Good luck!

[Jo]

Still off topic, Annie if you have used both Ancestry and Findmypast, which did you prefer? Findmypast is more expensive but I think it may be better, especially as it includes the 1911 census. I have only ever subscribed to Ancestry but I may shell out the extra and switch to FMP next time.

[sejintenej]

Going slightly off-topic (so nothing new there) I have recently started doing some family history, and would be interested in any recommendations for websites. I had a subscription to ancestry.co.uk for a few weeks, and found lots of information, though the interface was a bit annoying.

The freeBMD is not yet complete but thast said it is a worthwhile source.

Look up the IGI (international geneological index prepared by the Mormons. It comes on CDs which you can see free of charge at
- some public libraries
- Family History departments of most if not all Mormon Temples.

The IGI is compiled from any sources that the Mormons can get hold of as worldwide as possible and covers baptisms (not usually births), marriages, funerals and the like. Until recently the Catholic church in Ireland would not allow Mormons near their records and it could be difficult if there is an Italian connection.
Their Family History areas are staffed by people with an interest in and often a lot of knowledge of the subject, sources etc. It might be suggested that you make a contribution in the box and IF they have to get information from other temples then you will be told the handling fee in advance. They are forbidden to raise the subject of faith, religion etc unless the visitor very specifically asks; you would not be under any pressure at all.

HTH

[anniexf]

Jo, I started off with Ancestry because the Library Edition was the one that we used on the "taster" course I did. It has its glitches & gaps, and has changed its appearance/interface several times (I'm not too keen on the current one), but overall I like it best, probably because I've got used to it. I use the other websites as supplementaries. The 1911 Census was a real bonus & I paid for credits, which can also be used on the main FMP site. I haven't used FMP anything like as much as Ancestry so I'm not really qualified to judge whether it's better - it depends on individual requirements, probably!

[Mid A 15]

Going slightly off-topic (so nothing new there) I have recently started doing some family history, and would be interested in any recommendations for websites. I had a subscription to ancestry.co.uk for a few weeks, and found lots of information, though the interface was a bit annoying.

The freeBMD is not yet complete but thast said it is a worthwhile source.

Look up the IGI (international geneological index prepared by the Mormons. It comes on CDs which you can see free of charge at
- some public libraries
- Family History departments of most if not all Mormon Temples.

The IGI is compiled from any sources that the Mormons can get hold of as worldwide as possible and covers baptisms (not usually births), marriages, funerals and the like. Until recently the Catholic church in Ireland would not allow Mormons near their records and it could be difficult if there is an Italian connection.
Their Family History areas are staffed by people with an interest in and often a lot of knowledge of the subject, sources etc. It might be suggested that you make a contribution in the box and IF they have to get information from other temples then you will be told the handling fee in advance. They are forbidden to raise the subject of faith, religion etc unless the visitor very specifically asks; you would not be under any pressure at all.

HTH

The IGI can be accessed from Family Search which also has other resources which might prove useful.

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp

[Mid A 15]

Jo, I started off with Ancestry because the Library Edition was the one that we used on the "taster" course I did. It has its glitches & gaps, and has changed its appearance/interface several times (I'm not too keen on the current one), but overall I like it best, probably because I've got used to it. I use the other websites as supplementaries. The 1911 Census was a real bonus & I paid for credits, which can also be used on the main FMP site. I haven't used FMP anything like as much as Ancestry so I'm not really qualified to judge whether it's better - it depends on individual requirements, probably!

In my opinion it depends which facilities you use. I look at censuses a lot so for me FIndmypast is better firstly, as Jo says, because 1911 is available, but secondly because it has a useful search facility which isn't (or wasn't when I last used it) on ancestry. You can narrow down your search by inserting the name of another household member. If, as I do, you have a branch of the JONES family for example that can be very useful!

[Fjgrogan]

I have used Ancentry for years and upgraded to the Worldwide version (or whatever they are currently calling it, because the Irish part of our family mostly went to the USA. Because I haven'y been using it much lately I find that each time I do they have changed it all, which I find confusing. Also I use Family Tree Maker, which now seems to be connected to Ancestry; what I liked about it originally was the facility to print out actual trees from various different perspectives eg ancestors of X, descendants of X etc. I actually started doing this when I was 14 (50 years ago!) while I was at CH. Obviously then it was a much slower process and involved visiting record offices in person and hauling heavy index books around. So computerisation has made life easier. I found Genes Reunited good for finding unexpected contacts, but annoying for anything else, and you have to pay for credits. It is worth looking at the Guild of One Name Studies particularly if you have an unusual surname. The IGI is good, but there are some unexpected gaps - for example a lot of Norfolk parishes were not listed because the Bishops of Ely denied the Mormons access; understandable in a way, because the reason for Mormon interest is that they believe they can baptise their ancestors retrospectively, or something like that! I have a set of the Mormon census CDs for 1881 and would be happy to check out details for anyone. And censuses are great for throwing up strange anomalies - you have to picture the census taker asking questions on the doorstep! Spellings can be odd, as can relationships which should be to the head of the household, but sometimes they get wrongly recorded because quite clearly the wife answered the doorbell that day! Or people will lie about their marital status, where they tend to be more truthful on paper. I have not yet looked at the 1911 census, because I was too mean to pay, but will get around to it sometime soon.

[sejintenej]

Look up the IGI (international geneological index prepared by the Mormons. It comes on CDs which you can see free of charge at
- some public libraries
- Family History departments of most if not all Mormon Temples.

The IGI is compiled from any sources that the Mormons can get hold of as worldwide as possible and covers baptisms (not usually births), marriages, funerals and the like.

The IGI can be accessed from Family Search which also has other resources which might prove useful.

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp

Look at the heading top right; that site is the Mormons by their correct name. My point was that face to face they might be able to help even more or suggest other sources.
Incidentally I looked up two specific deaths (1951 +/-2 years) in N Ireland and 1960 (+/- 2 years) in London, UK - neither appeared.

[midget]

Does anyone know how long Miss Wootton (chemistry) stayed at Hertford? She started there my last year, September 1951.Her first name was Lavinia.