20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 100 100 100 Your essential guide to the London Collection on ONLINE WHO_000_1.pgs 12.01.2021 15:17 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 100 100 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 100 100 100 IN ASSOCIATION WITH Contents IN ASSOCIATION WITH HOW TO USE ANCESTRY 420 tips to get more from your online searches PARISH REGISTERS 8Why these records are so crucial to family historians Welcome BAPTISM RECORDS 10From Anglican to hether you know you non-conformist registers come from a long line MARRIAGE RECORDS of Londoners, or you 13Explore the rich variety W are yet to find your of marriage records online family connection to the capital, I BURIAL RECORDS hope you enjoy this booklet. Within 18 Find your London its pages you will find the stories of ancestors’ final resting place the rich, the poor, the famous and the forgotten – all brought to life using documentsd t fromf WILLS & PROBATE 22Wills can provide rich the London Metropolitan Archives in association with information for genealogists Ancestry.co.uk. The London Collection is just a small proportion of the records you can discover on Ancestry. If LAND TAX RECORDS Find family whether you are already a subscriber, then turn to our tips on page 24 they owned property or rented four to get the most out of your searches, and if you haven’t dipped your toes into online genealogy yet, then ELECTORAL what are you waiting for? You can sign up for a free two 26 REGISTERS Don’t neglect this resource week trial subscription, or pop down to your local library and see the same records using Ancestry Library Edition. RATE BOOKS Your family is waiting to be discovered. Happy hunting! 28Find out if your family helped towards parish costs RECORDS OF Sarah Williams, Editor 30 THE POOR [email protected] Did your family need help? EDUCATION 36RECORDS EDITORIAL Words Adam Rees, Editor Sarah Williams, Production Claire Vaughan, Art Editor Robbie Bennie What school did they go to? ADVERTISING SALES Ad Manager Sam Jones 0117 300 8145, Ad Sales Executive Andy Williams 0117 314 8823 MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING 40 RECORDS Marketing Manager Aimee Rhymer, Direct Marketing Executive Craig Ramsay Some alternative resources PRODUCTION Production Director Sarah Powell, Production Co-ordinator Lizzie Ayre INDEX TO LMA IMMEDIATE MEDIA COMPANY BRISTOL LTD Publisher Marie Davies, Group Managing Director Andy Marshall, CEO Tom Bureau 44 RECORDS ONLINE ALL ADDITIONAL IMAGES FROM GETTYIMAGES What’s available on Ancestry Who Do You Think You Are? LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES ONLINE 3 WHO_000_2.pgs 12.01.2021 15:17 WHO_000_3.pgs 12.01.2021 15:05 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 100 100 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 100 100 100 IN ASSOCIATION WITH STEP BY STEP Get more from Search Ancestry’s record holdings – including the LMA collection – by location your searches Use our suggestions to track down missing ancestors and get more from your Ancestry.co.uk searches HEAD TO THE MAIN SEARCH PAGE SELECT THE COUNTRY FINDING THE RIGHT 1 Go to search.ancestry.co.uk. You can search 2 Scroll down to the map at the bottom of RECORDS all records, but it’s easier to narrow it down. the page and click on the word ‘England’. 1 Focused searching Searching all our records at once is extremely powerful, but it can give you too many search results. Consider searching categories, such as census or military records. Or, whenever possible, think about where and when you’re looking for your ancestors, and search within particular collections. 2 Recent collections VIEW THE MAP TO SEE HOLDINGS CHOOSE THE LONDON OPTION On our main search page (www. 3 You’ll see all English records, but you can 4 Click on London – the list will change to ancestry.co.uk/search), look zoom in on the map to see holdings by county. show all London records, sorted by count. for ‘Recently viewed collections’ in the top-right corner. These links will take you straight back to 4 Local datasets 5 Find more records the record collections you last At the bottom of the main search We’ve created pages for our looked at. page is a map of the UK. Click main categories to help you find within the map to see lists of more useful records. At www. 3 Recent ancestry. searches Click on the map to see record co.uk/census Slightly further there are links to down the page, collections for any country our census and on the left, you’ll find ‘Recent record collections for any country. electoral collections – as well as Searches’. This provides a list of You can then use the options in help for using those records. SEARCH MORE PRECISELY BROWSE LONDON RECORDS the ancestors you last searched the right-hand pane to see just You’ll find a full list of these Select a record collection to go to a Use the browse options on the right. for. Click on them to go straight the collections for a particular pages in the ‘What’s Happening’ 5 6 search page dedicated to that collection. Here records are sorted by London boroughs. back to your search results. county (see step by step). section of our homepage. 4 Who Do You Think You Are? LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES ONLINE Who Do You Think You Are? LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES ONLINE 5 WHO_000_4.pgs 13.01.2021 07:30 WHO_000_5.pgs 13.01.2021 07:30 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 100 100 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 100 100 100 IN ASSOCIATION WITH 6 Card Catalogue down your results when searching. (‘Rob*son will look for Robinson at the top; ‘Categories’ groups For a wider view, use the Card However, be careful as this will and Robertson) or a ? for a single your results by collection. You Catalogue. You’ll find this at the exclude any records that don’t letter (Sm?th for Smith and can sort these by name and by bottom of the Search menu at the include all the information in your Smyth). For more information on results count. top of the screen. This lets you see search – for example, many wildcards, read ‘Searching with all the record collections across records don’t have a death date. Spelling Variations’ in our Help 17 Edit your search our whole site, and filter them by Centre: support.ancestry.co.uk. If you’ve made a mistake, or you category, location and date. 9 Alternative names want to try a slightly different Names were often spelt differently 11 Nearby counties search, you don’t need to go 7 New releases in the past, so use the options You’ll often find that your back to the search page. Just click We’re constantly adding record under the ‘First Name’ and ‘Last ancestors moved across county ‘Edit Search’ in the pane on the collections, so there are always Name’ boxes to include any borders. When searching, you left, change what you want, and new opportunities to find your alternatives. Search for other can use the ‘Exact to the Place’ then click ‘Search’. family. Stay up to date with our possibilities yourself (for example options under any Location box latest releases at www. Owen and Owens), too, as this to focus on the county you 18 Narrow by category ancestry.co.uk/whatsnew. can be more effective. entered, plus any bordering ones. Perhaps you’re only interested in sons named Frank. Use the ‘Family 15 Browsing records census records or travel records? USING THE SEARCH 10 Wildcard searches 12 Family members Member’ options to include other When you’re searching within You can easily filter your results PAGES You can also look for different There are many James Olivers in relatives in your search. individual record collections, by selecting one of the options 8 Exact matches spellings using wildcard our records, but far fewer who you’ll often see options to under ‘All Categories’. You’ll then The ‘Match all terms exactly’ characters. Use an * if there are were married to ladies named 13 Lateral thinking ‘Browse this collection’ on the see more filter options, such as option can be useful in narrowing several letters you’re not sure of Charlotte, and fewer still with Can’t find James Oliver? Another right. These let you choose a date ranges or sub-categories. option is to simply search for a particular place and time period, different person in the same and read through the records as 19 Record preview household. Try searching for wife though you were reading a book If you keep clicking on all your THE LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES Charlotte or results, it can Where is the archives, how can it help your research and what does it hold? other family take a long time members with Use keyboard shortcuts to to check which The London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) is capital including parish records, bishops’ more unusual navigate your results quicker ones relate to the regional archive for the Greater London transcripts, non-conformist registers, names, and see your family.