Family search records

[Geoff]

Does anyone know if there is a way to search the "Archdeaconry of Norwich"
wills records on Family Search? I can see the original records OK but there
are 950 pages of them!
Possibly they have not been indexed or I am missing a trick somewhere.

[Keith Nuttle]

Post by Geoff
Does anyone know if there is a way to search the "Archdeaconry of
Norwich" wills records on Family Search?  I can see the original records
OK but there are 950 pages of them!
Possibly they have not been indexed  or I am missing a trick somewhere.

Some records are indexed; some are not. This is good and bad. It is
good in that it makes them easier to use; but you are dependent on the
accuracy of the transcription.

I do not know about the records you mentioned, but I have found that the
original records had original indexes. While it takes some time to
understand how to use the original index, they work just as well as the
transcribed index, BUT you have to look at the individual books in the
database for the original index.

Using the original index, allows you to make your own transcription of
the information, and you sometime find associated information that you
would not find in the transcribed index.

I have found people in the original indexes, that I never would have
found using the transcribed index, as the transcriptions were so bad.
On instance, where the sure name started with Kn, was transcribed as Thn,

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Post by Keith Nuttle

Post by Geoff
Does anyone know if there is a way to search the "Archdeaconry of
Norwich" wills records on Family Search?  I can see the original
records OK but there are 950 pages of them!
Possibly they have not been indexed  or I am missing a trick somewhere.

Some records are indexed; some are not. This is good and bad. It is
good in that it makes them easier to use; but you are dependent on the
accuracy of the transcription.

Below the part of the window where you see the images of the original
pages, there might be two tabs, one of which is called something like
index; on the records I use most (Durham Diocese bishop's transcripts
[includes most of Northumberland, Cumb*, and some Yorkshire too]), it
always says something like "sorry, there is no index". (IIRR, the other
tab shows something like how to cite the records.)

Post by Keith Nuttle
I do not know about the records you mentioned, but I have found that
the original records had original indexes. While it takes some time to
understand how to use the original index, they work just as well as the
transcribed index, BUT you have to look at the individual books in the
database for the original index.

You mean the first few (or last few) images in the set are of a contents
(or index) section in the original book? That would be nice! It's not
the case in the ones I use most, which are parish records (or
contemporary transcripts thereof), which aren't even in consistent order
- things may be in BMD order one year, and different in an adjacent year
(or even have all the Bs say for several years together): certainly no
index. I just have to dip in where I think is about right, then look
back and forth.

Have you dipped into your 950 records, to see if you can get _some_ idea
of how they're organised? Oh, and you don't have to use the > and <
buttons: you can type a number in, so e. g. 425 to dip into the middle.

Post by Keith Nuttle
Using the original index, allows you to make your own transcription of
the information, and you sometime find associated information that you
would not find in the transcribed index.
I have found people in the original indexes, that I never would have
found using the transcribed index, as the transcriptions were so bad.
On instance, where the sure name started with Kn, was transcribed as Thn,

I generally just take the image, and don't bother with any transcription
(other than my own), unless the image is really illegible (I still take
it then). Though I did recently encounter one record set where the
download and print buttons produced a popup saying something like
"contractual obligation has disabled this function".

Post by Keith Nuttle
--
Judge your ancestors by how well they met their standards not yours.
They did not know your standards, so could not try to meet them.

I like that. Not just your ancestors, but people in history in general
(which is probably what was meant, but given the newsgroup we're in ...)

[Keith Nuttle]

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by Keith Nuttle

Post by Geoff
Does anyone know if there is a way to search the "Archdeaconry of
Norwich" wills records on Family Search?  I can see the original
records  OK but there are 950 pages of them!
Possibly they have not been indexed  or I am missing a trick somewhere.

I do not know about the records you mentioned, but I have found that
the original records had original indexes.  While it takes some time
to understand how to use the original index, they work just as well as
the transcribed index, BUT you have to look at the individual books in
the database for the original index.

You mean the first few (or last few) images in the set are of a contents
(or index) section in the original book? That would be nice! It's not
the case in the ones I use most, which are parish records (or
contemporary transcripts thereof), which aren't even in consistent order
- things may be in BMD order one year, and different in an adjacent year
(or even have all the Bs say for several years together): certainly no
index. I just have to dip in where I think is about right, then look
back and forth.
Have you dipped into your 950 records, to see if you can get _some_ idea
of how they're organised? Oh, and you don't have to use the > and <
buttons: you can type a number in, so e. g. 425 to dip into the middle.

While there are a few records where the images are just pages as they
were pulled from the folder, most of the images are complete books. To
use those records you must think like you have the hard copy book in
front of you. The index would be in the first several pages of the book.

As an example if there are three books (volumes) in the e-file and there
are 3000 images. The first book will start at image 1, the second in
the neighborhood of 1000 and the third of 2000. To find the second book
you would go to image 1000, and look at the original page number. If at
image 1000 you have an high page number you are in the first book and
you would go up to find the start of the second book. If the page number
is low you are in the second book, you would go back to find the first
page in the second book. Once you get the hang of it it become easy to
find he index in each book in the e-file.

I have been in many of the e-files, and found a lot of good material.
In the probate records of Berks Co Pennsylvania US, the pages were
scanned and entered into the e-file as they were found. This means that
the original folder tabs were copied to mark the beginning of the
record, but you must go through each page to find what you need. To
keep things interesting there is no set amount of pages. One record may
contain 10 pages, the next 40. The record I was looking for in this
file contained 150 un number pages, but the search was worth the time it
took to page through the records.

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by Keith Nuttle
Using the original index, allows you to make your own transcription of
the information, and you sometime find associated information that you
would not find in the transcribed index.
I have found people in the original indexes, that I never would have
found using the transcribed index, as the transcriptions were so bad.
On instance, where the sure name started with Kn, was transcribed as Thn,

I generally just take the image, and don't bother with any transcription
(other than my own), unless the image is really illegible (I still take
it then). Though I did recently encounter one record set where the
download and print buttons produced a popup saying something like
"contractual obligation has disabled this function".

That is when you copy the screen on your computer, and reconstruct the
page in your image processor program.

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by Keith Nuttle
--
Judge your ancestors by how well they met their standards not yours.
They did not know your standards, so could not try to meet them.

I like that. Not just your ancestors, but people in history in general
(which is probably what was meant, but given the newsgroup we're in ...)

[Geoff]

Well, that gives me plenty of food for thought!
Thanks for the helpful advice, I'll spend some more time on it and see if I
can sort out a system that works for me. Trouble is, that the period I'm
working in, is the 1600's and deciphering the old secretary script for the
dates, slows things down somewhat.

Thanks again,

Geoff.

"Geoff" wrote in message news:qeic5l$hnb$***@dont-email.me...

Does anyone know if there is a way to search the "Archdeaconry of Norwich"
wills records on Family Search? I can see the original records OK but there
are 950 pages of them!
Possibly they have not been indexed or I am missing a trick somewhere.

[Keith Nuttle]

Post by Geoff
Well, that gives me plenty of food for thought!
Thanks for the helpful advice,  I'll spend some more time on it and see
if I can sort out a system that works for me.  Trouble is, that the
period I'm working in, is the 1600's and deciphering the old secretary
script for the dates, slows things down somewhat.
Thanks again,
Geoff.
Does anyone know if there is a way to search the "Archdeaconry of Norwich"
wills records on Family Search?  I can see the original records OK but
there
are 950 pages of them!
Possibly they have not been indexed  or I am missing a trick somewhere.

Even in newer records I have found that the fancier the writing the more
difficult it is to read. If a person is real proud of his handwriting,
it is nearly impossible.

One of the things that I have noticed is the style and content of
documents like wills are pretty consistent over the decades. While the
specifics of my wife and my will are different they are quite similar to
the ones I have found from the early 1800's