ORIGINAL RECORDS - Finding Ellen

The Importance of getting close up and personal.

Looking at census records can be a great way to start your research. Now that almost all of these are online it has never been a better time to start researching your family as parents grandparents or great-grandparents will appear at some point in these records.

However, not everyone can be found in a census record. Those that are missing were still a part of our family but names may have been forgotten or overlooked when the information was passed down through the generations. Many could not read or write and word of mouth can be less reliable.

I have already found some missing children because the General Register Office now has an online index, which includes the maiden name of the mother, but sometimes we still miss those who are born and die between the census years. 

I plan to go through these indexes to search for missing siblings but sometimes other records can provide those missing siblings. Today I just happened to come across one by chance whilst adding records on the Family Search Family Tree.

This family had several hints for the father Elijah some were for marriages of his children but one was for a christening in Empingham, Rutland.

This is the transcription on Find My Past which was the same as that on Family Search as digital images of the original register are available through their link to Find My Past.

The parents are correct and the dates and place fit, even if it was a few years after her birth, so was Annie christened with 2 names but only one was used when the birth was registered.

The original tells a different story. The rector decided that he would record both daughters on a single record.

I have submitted a correction to the record and as can be seen in the first image I have also added Ellen to the family as she had previously been omitted.

Ellen died in the first quarter of 1881 and was buried in Empingham. So like her brother Elijah she was born and died between the census years.

It must have been a sad time for the family to lose 2 children at such a young age. It may have been commonplace for the time but still a blow to the individuals. So if the original record has been digitised or you have a chance to see it in its original form it is imperative that you do so. 

Don't forget to look for other records to ensure you have not missed anything.