06 November 2010

Something Old, Something New

Something New
I hope this is not a let down after all the talk about changing templates, but here it is!  My goals were to get to play around with the design options in Blogger and to have a new & more attractive appearance to GreatGreats. 

Something Old
I'm still reading/analyzing the microfilm version of the Bishop's Transcripts for Helperthorpe and Weaverthorpe in East Yorkshire.  As I've already posted, I've found some solid sources for baptisms and marriages for direct ancestors for whom I previously only had dates obtained from other researchers.  I've also found lots of names & dates for which I need to do some more analysis before I write about it here or accept it as something to add to my "proven" lines.

While studying this microfilm, I've been re-reading some of my reference books on genealogy in English records.  One book in particular has been very helpful:
Genealogical Research in England and Wales, Vol. I by Gardner & Smith.  My copy is from 1956.  [Whoa, stop the presses: This is younger than I am...how can I call it old?!]

I've especially found Chapter 13: Bishop's Transcripts and Their Value helpful with this film.  In a very thorough discussion of the differences between the transcripts and the parish records, the authors emphasized the importance of seeing both sets of records wherever possible:
There are cases on record where the Bishop's Transcripts list some entries not recorded in the parish registers.  One may surmise that the transcript was made, not from the parish register but from some day-by-day account.  The differences between the register and the transcript may have occurred at the time the register was copied from the day book, and the transcript was also copied up at the same time with variations occurring in the copying of the details.  Researchers should be aware of these possibilities. The Ideal method of research is to search both the registers and the transcripts if such is feasible and not too expensive. [p. 197]
I have found a film reference for Weaverthorpe parish records and I will order that film.  It will be interesting to see what differences exist between the records in this one small town. 

Conclusions
Older books can be very useful, especially when I am lucky enough to find them at at used bookstore for a very, very good price.  No trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City is complete without walking over to visit Sam Weller's Books, which is where I found this book (and also Vol 3 on a later trip).

Changing a blog's design can be just as much, if not more, fun than shopping for a new outfit with coordinating shoes!

Reference
David E. Gardner & Frank Smith. Genealogical Research in England and Wales, Vol. I.  Salt Lake City: Bookcraft Publishers, 1956. 

Disclaimer
I have no connection with Sam Weller's Books and receive no special consideration from them.  I just like their used books department and, given the location, it's pretty likely to always have a good selection of used genealogy books!

3 comments:

  1. I like the new look - clean and easy to read, but with a bit of color. And I really like the background (it's the one I have on my Graveyard Rabbit of Northern Virginia blog).

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  2. Thank you, Greta and Mary! I guess I should stop being nervous about design and just get on with my research and blog posts. Again: Thanks!!

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