Why Can’t I find my Ancestors?

​Sadly, this is a question that is not asked enough!  All too often circumstantial evidence is added to family trees and suddenly square pegs are sitting uncomfortably in round holes.  Most of these errors are largely avoidable and have crept in unwittingly.  There are many reasons why ancestors can’t be located, or the wrong ones appropriated, very briefly here are just a few:

1. The records have not survived, were not created in the first place, or ancestors did not follow the Established Church.  This is looked at in more depth below, with the focus on researching in the English Border Counties.
2. The event was not registered in the area thought.  People moved far more than history gives them credit for, particularly when laws governing places of settlement were relaxed for those seeking or moving for work.  Nonconformists such as Presbyterians chose their preferred Minister and often travelled many miles to be part of a particular congregation.
3. The name differs from that given at birth for which there are also many reasons; the most obvious being a woman changing her name at marriage.  This is to be expected but sometimes a second marriage can muddy the water.  In the England the woman’s name on the record of a second marriage, will be her surname from the first, not her maiden name. In Scotland the reverse is often true with the woman’s name often appearing as ‘x’ or ‘y’, e.g. Jane Smith or Jones, Smith being her maiden name and Jones the surname of her first husband.
4. Other reasons include taking the name of a stepfamily, inheritance, or avoiding the long arm of the law.  A quick look in the historic newspapers reveals a startling number of criminals using one or more aliases.  It is a little-known fact that a legal process is not required to use a new name under English Common Law, and it still isn't today.  See Deed Poll Office information sheet.

​Of course, there are other reasons too, but it would be impossible to cover such a huge topic in one short blog!  In many cases, however, basic errors stem from a lack of understanding of the records that were kept and the laws that governed them.  Often, the errors start to appear in the period prior to Civil Registration; 1837 in England, 1855 in Scotland, when evidence of familial relationships is sought in Church records.  After all, birth marriage and death form the backbone of genealogy.  Even after the introduction of Civil Registration in England, problems can still occur.

Quick Note re Civil Registration

​When Civil Registration was introduced in England in July 1837 the onus for collecting records was initially placed on the Registrar of the Registration District in which the birth took place.  This resulted in omissions, sometimes due to parental objection to the registration of births, which distorted both regional and national data.  To rectify this, the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1874 was passed which placed the onus on the parents, rather than the Registrar, and the parents could now be fined for non-compliance or late registration.  This may be just one reason why a birth certificate is proving elusive during the early years of Civil Registration, particularly if the issue of illegitimacy has been ruled out.

​In Scotland when Civil Registration was introduced in January 1855, it was a statutory requirement to be performed by the parents or person in charge of the child from the outset.  There is also the ‘Register of Neglected Entries’ which holds records of vital events dating from between 1800 and the enactment of the new law in 1855, but not registered elsewhere else i.e. a church register.   Although they are very few in number those that do exist can be accessed through the Scotland’s People Website.  This NRS Guide contains some helpful information.

Tracing Ancestors in the Border Region

​Tracing ancestors in the Border regions can be particularly tricky.  This is due to the different laws of each country and movement of people across the border.  Although England and Scotland are part of the Kingdom of Great Britain, and have been since 1707, many of the laws in the two countries were different and continue to be so today.  It might seem crazy after blogging for so many years to be writing about something quite so basic, but as it is something I regularly need to explain I thought it might be of use to a wider audience.

​Another important fact that needs a bit of clarification is what Old Parish Registers actually are and what they cover.  Simply put they are the records of the Established Church of each Country.

• In England since registers were required to be kept (1538) barring brief interludes, the state religion has been the protestant Church of England, otherwise referred to as the Anglican Church.  

Extract from the 1538 Mandate

• In Scotland the state religion has also been the protestant Church of Scotland, or Presbyterian Church from 1560.   An Act of Privy Council in 1616 ordered that a record of all baptisms, marriages and burials be kept in every parish.  

​‘On 17 August 1560, the Parliament agreed to a Reformed Confession of Faith, a fundamental step away from the Roman Church, and on 24 August it passed a series of Acts that entirely destroyed the Roman Church in Scotland. The celebration of mass was made punishable by a series of penalties up to and including death, and all Papal jurisdiction in Scotland was repudiated.’ 

​All religions other than the Established Church in both countries were known as non-conformists or dissenters, with Roman Catholics referred to as ‘recusants’.  Because the Parish Records are the records of the established churches in each country, they do not as a rule of thumb, include the baptism records for other religions.  Where they do, particularly in the late 18th and early 19th century they may be marked ‘Diss’ or noted as Dissenters.    The registers will, however, contain some marriages and nearly all burials until the introduction of Civic Cemeteries.  Some notable exceptions to this rule were Jews and Quakers.   

Presbyterian Records in England
​Presbyterian Registers - Baptisms

​Although there were several other nonconformist churches, the focus in this article is Presbyterianism.  Given the proximity to Scotland, Presbyterianism had a firm hold in Northumberland particularly amongst ordinary working folk.  In some towns and villages, the number of Presbyterian Churches outstrips those of Anglican denomination.

​It began as a move towards Puritanism during the 17th century and even became the state religion during the Commonwealth period from 1647 to 1660 when it was reversed at the restoration of the monarchy.  In 1689 the Act of Toleration was passed in England which allowed freedom of worship to all Protestant denominations allowing them to form their own congregations and establish their own places of worship from that date.  Their registers, however, were not bound by the same laws governing the recording of information as the established church, and very few predate 1730.  The Presbyterian Church in England at various times had three main factions, English, Sottish and Burgher. 

Whilst some births of dissenters’ children are entered in the parish registers around the turn of the 19th century, in the main, if recorded at all, they would have been entered in the baptismal records of their own church.  
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With Presbyterians both side of the Border, the problem is compounded as there was no obligation upon a person or persons to have such details entered in their registers.   Furthermore, many of the registers were themselves rather carelessly kept.  

​‘Names would be left out and added in chunks at the end of the year or some years after the date concerned. Sometimes a family would have three or four children baptised at the same time, the children’s ages ranging from infancy to perhaps six or seven.’  

​Which Presbyterian Church a family attended was a matter of personal choice and was largely down to their preference of Minister.  They often travelled many miles to attend their congregation of choice.  For this reason, baptisms of children may not appear in the immediate area in which the family were resident.  ​As the Presbyterian Church in England followed the Scottish tradition, however, many baptism records will include a mother’s maiden name.   ​

​Also, it is worth checking the registers either side of the Border.  The McDougall family of whom I wrote recently, lived in Donaldson’s Lodge in England.  Rather than baptising their children in England, they crossed the Border to Coldstream.  A quick look at the register for Cornhill also illustrates it was not all one-way traffic, with some crossing the Border into England.

Extract from Cornhill Parish Register (transcript) 1813

​With the introduction of Civil Registration in 1837 non-conformist churches were asked to send their registers to the General Register Office in London.  Many did and these can be found at The National Archives.  Others did not and were retained by the respective church, however, many have since been deposited in local record offices.  The best place to start looking is The National Archives Discovery Catalogue which lists the collections held at all local repositories.  (Particularly relevant at present whilst the online Catalogues of Berwick and Woodhorn are being updated and are offline.)

Marriages

​Hardwicke’s Marriage Act of 1753 stated that couples of ALL denominations must marry in an Anglican Church.  The only exception to this rule was Jews and Quakers.  The accepted method was by the reading of banns on 3 successive Sundays or by obtaining a licence from the Bishop of the Diocese.  This rule stayed in force until 1837 and the introduction of Civil Registration.  Marriages could now be performed in a Presbyterian Church in the presence of a Registrar.  The resulting records, however, will be found in civil registration records rather than in the church register. 
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The reality in the English Border Counties was that in order to avoid the Act and paying the associated taxes, many folks hopped across the border into Scotland to avail themselves of the differing laws governing marriage.  I have covered the topic of ‘Irregular Marriage’ in a previous blog ‘Tying the Knot in the Borders’ which may be helpful if looking for clarification in this particular area.

Other Presbyterian Records
Kirk Session Records

​Where they survive the Kirk Session records can provide a wealth of information about our ancestors over and above birth, marriage and death.  The Kirk Session was the governing body of each church, made up of the Minister the Session Clerk and the ‘Elders’ of the congregation.  It was essentially a court which dealt with minor misdemeanours such as drunkenness, failure to observe fast days, lewd dancing, penny weddings but also held enquiries into promiscuous behaviour and illegitimacy.  Sadly, not many early Session Minute Books have survived, but where they do, they can make quite entertaining reading.  

By kind permission of Berwick upon Tweed Record Office. BUR/P/10/14 Norham Kirk Sessions 1796.

Communicants Rolls

​Where they have survived these records can hold a wealth of information including;  place of residence, occupation, when admitted to the congregation and crucially from where, if it was by certificate or new admittance, when they left , where they went to, and any remarks made by the Minister concerning the individual or family. 

Reproduced by kind permission of Berwick Record Office. Communicants Register, Crookham Presbyterian Church

Nonconformist Churches in Scotland

Scotland too has its foibles.  In the 18th and 19th centuries the Church of Scotland splintered into many different Presbyterian factions; Associate Presbytery, the Relief Church, Burghers, Anti-Burghers, Auld Lichts, New Lichts, the United Secession, Original Secession, United Presbyterian and the Free Church are a few.
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Like their non-conformist counterparts in England the records were outside the Established Church, and do not constitute ‘Old Parish Records’.  The records that have been indexed are available at Scotland’s People Centres or online through the Scotland’s People website. Those that have not may be held at the National Records of Scotland.  Additionally other miscellaneous records are held at the Scotland’s People Centre in Edinburgh, a list of which can be found at Appendix 3  of the Coverage of the Old Parish Registers   

Old Parish Records in England

​Although in theory parish registers should exist from 1538, the reality is that very few actually do.  Before dashing off to look for the vital event for your ancestor it is always best to check the register you need actually exists for the period required.  A simple way to do this for English records is to take a quick look at the Family Search wiki page for the relevant church or town.   Below is an example for Wooler, the Parish Church (Anglican) being St Mary’s.  As can clearly be seen there are several nonconformist churches.  The page also contains information where their records can be found.  NB.  I suspect this page is not totally up to date as some of the other well-known commercial databases hold some of these records too, if I remember correctly! 

​The information covering Darlington is far more comprehensive for the Parish Registers of St Cuthbert, but not so comprehensive for nonconformist churches.  Not only are they unsure where they were, they have no information as to where their records can be found.  

​Points to remember regarding the registers of Presbyterian and other nonconformist protestant churches going forward.  Where they exist the registers:

• Will contain Baptisms, but very possibly not all.
• Will not contain marriages.  Very occasionally a marriage that took place elsewhere is noted, but this is unusual.  Most often if it has it will be noted next to the baptism of a child. 
• Will not contain deaths or burials.  Until the introduction of Civic Cemeteries burials would mostly likely have taken place in Anglican Churchyard and should appear in its respective register.  There are a few exceptions which can be viewed online at The Genealogist and The National Archives (RG) or local archive repositories.

​All in all, tracking down ancestors in England’s Border Counties can be trickier than most.  In some cases, their birth and marriage information may not have been recorded at all.  

Further Information

​How and why the registers in both countries came about makes interesting reading.

Bissett Smith, Vital Registration, A Manual of the Law and Practice concerning The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages [Scotland], Edinburgh, 1902

Chris Paton, Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records
http://www.gen-ebooks.com/discover-scottish-civil-registration-records.html

Chris Paton, Discover Scottish Church Records, 2nd Edition,
https://www.my-history.co.uk/acatalog/Discover-Scottish-Church-Records-UTP0281A.html

​J Charles Cox, ‘The Parish Registers of England'
https://archive.org/details/parishregisterso00coxjuoft/page/n3/mode/2up