How to use Family Search

Post date: May 9, 2017 6:16:12 PM

This article is based on "Using FamilySearch Historical Records" by Domhnall na Moicheirghe and Juliana de Luna, with screenshots and some additional tips by Muirenn ingen Dunadaig.

European parish records of christenings, marriages and deaths extracted and collated as part of the FamilySearch.org website (hereafter called "FamilySearch Historical Records") are a "de facto" no-photocopy source of name documentation. They are useful for 16th century names throughout Western Europe as significant numbers of parish records survive from 1500 onwards. Also, onomastic dictionaries tend to focus on the earliest cites for names, so later cites may be excluded for space, even though a name might still be popular in the 1500s.

FamilySearch Historical Records are a great source for late period names from anywhere in Western Europe because the search is online and easy to use. Especially for England, there are so many records in there with many different spellings that not finding a particular spelling of a name in FamilySearch suggests that spelling wasn't common and may not have been used at all in the late 16th century.

The FamilySearch Historical Records

The FamilySearch Historical Records are hosted on the genealogical website FamilySearch.org and consists of the former International Genealogical Index (IGI) and additional records added to the FamilySearch website. There are two main types of entries on the Family Search website:

The first is User Submitted Genealogies, which is family information contributed by members of the LDS church. This section is not suitable for documentation, because it is genealogical research, which could be excellent or terrible, and generally modernises and standardises name spellings. Their own web site says "The quality of this information varies. Duplicate entries and inconsistent information are common. Always verify contributed entries against sources of primary information."

The second part is the Historical Records, which is mostly suitable for documentation (see below for the list of approved batch numbers). In this, two community members have transcribed information from an existing source, often a scan or photograph of a parish record, though sometimes a Victorian transcription of an older source. If the two transcriptions do not agree, an expert will look at it and decide which is right. That means that they're at least as dependable as the other sources we use, and we consider those transcriptions reasonable documentation for the spelling and dating of a name element. Since they are predominantly extracted from parish records, the former term for these in the College of Arms is “IGI Parish Extracts” which has recently been replaced by “FamilySearch Historical Records” to reflect the broader collection of historical records now available.

FamilySearch Historical Records as SCA name documentation

The FamilySearch Historical Records are a "de facto" no-photocopy source because, although they're not listed in Appendix H, the June 2011 LoAR Cover Letter states that a summary of the FamilySearch result including the batch letter and number on the name form is sufficient documentation and additional printouts are not required.

Pelican Queen of Arms has declared that batch numbers starting with B, C, J, K, M (except M17 and M18), or P are generally acceptable, and batches that are all digits, begin with M17 or M18, D, F, H, L, or T are not acceptable. All other batch numbers will be evaluated on a case by case basis. See the June 2011, September 2012, May 2013, and January 2014 LoAR Cover Letters for details of the relevant precedents.

Using the FamilySearch Historical Records

So, how do you use them?

1. Go to the Records section of the FamilySearch website.
2. Enter the name element you're looking for into the first name or last name box as relevant. If you want to search for an exact spelling, tick the checkbox at the end of that entry line.

1. Under "Search with a life event" select "Any". This opens up the date field without limiting the search to particular records.
2. In the year range boxes that open up after you do this, enter "1000" to "1600". This keeps your results to within SCA period range. (Hint: Remember that events after 1600 are in the “grey period” and may not be useable. If you get no results in the 1000-1600 range you can try again with 1000-1650 with that limitation in mind.)

1. At the bottom of the column, you can choose to either check on the box for "match all search terms exactly" or leave it off.
   1. Checking it on is useful when your client wants "SAWYER" and only that – no alternative spellings are possible. Leave it unchecked if your client may be open to a slightly different spelling, like "SAWWYER" or "SAWEYER". It may be easier to leave it checked off for an intial search and check it on later if you need more precise results.
2. Click "Search".
3. The search results will appear. You need to look at a few things here.
   1. Note the countries of origin as you want to match the language/culture of your given name and byname, so for names used in more than one country, some entries will be more appropriate than others.
   2. Note the year of the entries – according to SENA, if you are mixing regional groups you must keep items within 300 years, and within 500 years if they are in the same group. See Appendix C for what language groups can be mixed, in which time periods.

1. In this example is a search through to 1650. The first result is within the grey period, so look instead at the second and third options as potentially suitable documentation for “SAWYER."
1. Once you've narrowed down a few entries that look interesting, open them in new tabs so that you can look at them further. Check the batch numbers specifically. Batch numbers starting with B, C, J, K, M (except M17 and M18), or P are generally acceptable, and batches that are all digits, begin with M17 or M18, D, F, H, L, or T are not acceptable. All other batch numbers will be evaluated on a case by case basis. (see above for links to related precedents).
   1. See the screenshot below for what an individual entry should look like. The batch number is on the bottom line of the highlighted area.

1. Summarise your documentation on the name submission form. Even a single result within our time period from an acceptable batch number is sufficient. If there are more hits, don’t include more than the first 3. The essential information you need to copy across to the summary is: Name, Gender, Date, Place and Batch Number. This is a no-photocopy source, so a summary and link are sufficient.
   1. Marye is a personal name found in England in 1593, via FamilySearch:
   2. Marye Sawyer, female, buried 1593 in St. Botolph Aldgate, London, England. Batch B02101-6 (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NRXB-TP8)

Additional hints:

• You can further restrict your searches by clicking on the various things under Restrict Records By: in the left column.
  • You can limit the locations that FamilySearch will check by entering a country and/or state/province.
  • You can limit the batch numbers that FamilySearch will check by entering a batch number (not just the letter code, a whole batch number) into the Batch Number area under Restrict