I am relatively new to researching genealogy in Shropshire and I wondered if the FamilySearch website was considered a valid tool in research. What pitfalls should I watch for when using the site? I am pretty confident with my family history up to around 1800 and most of the records I can locate prior to 1800 are on the Family Search website.
Gordon Nicholas
Always look at the source for the entry on familysearch. If a Parish Register or Bishops Transcript - these are mostly reliable. Always consider spelling variations when searching. Submitted entries should be taken with a huge pinch of salt. All entries you rely on should be checked against the original document wherever possible. Wills and other probate documents are a good source of information to confirm family relationships.
Hi Gordon. FamilySearch is certainly a valid tool for researching your Shropshire roots, but as with all tools it should be used with care. It is an index, so if possible you should use it to locate records which you can check in the original parish registers (or copies of them on fiche) at Shropshire Archives. Bear in mind that FamilySearch does not cover all events in all Shropshire parishes. Some (but by no means all) of those gaps have been filled by Mel Lockie's wonderful website, full of transcriptions of Shropshire parish registers: http://www.melocki.org.uk/MelockiSalop.html
Cross-check what you find with other sources too where possible - e.g. monumental inscriptions (many have been indexed by SFHS), wills, land and court records.
Steve
Good advice from the above two posts.
I would add that you would benefit from a book on family history. I'd recommend Ancestral Trails by Herber. The surviving records from the 18th century and earlier, particularly just the ones that are relatively easily available, are in many cases not adequate to prove ancestry. If your ancestors moved around, had common names and were poor, you should probably be reaching a dead end. Though it is always possible there is a piece a paper somewhere that could provide details to break down your brick wall.
In particular there are few sources of age, date and place of birth, and those that do exist would be a question of pot luck to find in reams of paper. This does not stop some people using sites like FamilySearch (which is predominately an index – finding aid).
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Hi,i found Family Search a good site.Sometimes i've found more info than other sites.Hope this helps. Good luck.Gary.