Tips for getting the most from England Jurisdictions 1851

Do you have ancestors from England or help someone who does? Have you been using the great new mapping tool recently released by the church? Please note that this tool is for England only – no Wales, no Scotland and no Ireland. This project is the result of a great deal of work by many people. As far as I know there are no plans to do a similar project for other countries.
England Jurisdictions 1851 can be found at http://maps.familysearch.org/ – just type maps.familysearch/org in the address bar or got to labs.familysearch.org and click on the link.
This project set out to map and show information on jurisdictions in England as they were in 1851. You can search for and find places using a variety of types of jurisdictions: parishes, rural deaneries, dioceses, hundreds, poor law unions, counties, and civil registration districts.
Research in England is helped when we know the name of the parish. How does England Jurisdictions 1851 help us?
The first things to do after entering the web site is to type in the name of a place? Is it a parish or a place within a parish? Searching for Brampton Bierlow will show that it was in the parish of Wath upon Dearne in 1851. Always remember the results are answers for 1851 – and may change for later dates.
Clicking on either the parish in the list on the left or on a pin on the map will open an Information Bubble with three tabs: Info, Jurisdictions and Options
“Info Tab
The Info tab will be activated automatically when you click on a pin or within the boundaries of a place.
This tab will provide the following information:
• What ecclesiastical status it has (Ancient Parish, Ecclesiastical Parish, Chapelry, Extra Parochial)
• When and from what other place it was created
• If it was a chapelry and which was the mother church
• The names of other places in a parish (hamlets, villages, wards, divisions, etc.)
• The year Parish Registers and Bishops’ Transcripts begin and other notes concerning records and where to search.
Jurisdictions Tab
Click the Jurisdictions tab to see the names of the jurisdictions that relate to that place. Included jurisdictions are: Parish, County, Civil Registration District, Probate Court, Diocese, Rural Deanery, Poor Law Union, Hundred and Province. By clicking on a hyperlinked jurisdiction name, you will be shown a highlighted view of the boundaries of that particular jurisdiction.
Options Tab
Click the Options tab to find the following features: List contiguous parishes, radius search, search the Family History Library Catalog, search the FamilySearch Research Wiki, remove a highlighted selection and the Information bubble.”
(from the Help file for England Jurisdictions accessed through the ? in the top right hand corner).
Selecting Continguous Parishes will add a List Tab to the left of the screen and show a list of adjoining parishes which can be printed. Radius search allows for user selection of the radius to be searched and show the results as a printable list.
In the top centre of the screen is a drop down list after the words “Click Map to Select.” Use the drop down list to choose a Parish, County, Civil Registration District, Diocese, Rural Deanery, Poor Law Union, Hundred, or Province. Then click on the map to highlight the jurisdiction and activate the information bubble. The information bubble will list options for searching in the jurisdiction.
The Help file accessed through the ? in the top right hand corner of the screen provides more tips.
This is a great tool. Use it and teach it any time you are doing research in England.

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It’s that time again . . .

 . .  .  To look for the next update to new FanilySearch.
The document “What’s New in the New FamilySearch Web Site – New Features as of June 2010″ has 4 new features and then 5 pages of significant changes to the User Guide.

What changed?
1.  discussion boards for each deceased individual in the system to help with collaboration and correcting of information.
2.  Exact search option for names, event dates and places 
3.  Improved standardized place names.
4.  Some records from Asian temples have been added

Want the details?  Then you will have to get yourself a copy of the What’s New document for June 2010!
How do you do that? Click on the News link on the sign in page.  You know the update has happened when the document you see is dated June (last update was March)
  

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A Temple and Family History quote

I try to gather quotes on Temple and Family History work to use in talks and presentations. We came across the following one a few weeks ago:

How early in the restoration did the Angel Moroni teach the principles of baptism for the dead to the prophet Joseph Smith? It was early which to me reflects how important it must be.

“If the Latter-day Saints of this generation are to build upon the foundation laid by the prophet Joseph Smith, we must work to fulfill or responsibility to research our ancestors and provide temple ordinances for them so that “they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit (D&C 138:34). President Woodruff taught that if Latter-day Saints could see the labors of the missionaries in the spirit world, they “would lose all interest in the riches of the world, and instead thereof their whole desires and labors would be directed to redeem their dead.”Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p. 152. Other prophets have taught that “this work must hasten” (Hunter, We have work to do, p 64), and that “it matters not what else we have been called to do, or what position we may occupyor how faithfully in other ways we have labored in the church, none is exempt from this great obligation.” (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:14)”
(From Cynthia Doxey, “Elijah’s Mission, Message, and Milestones of Development” in “Joseph Smith and the Doctrinal Restoration” 34th Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium p. 168-9 (2005: Deseret Book)

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Bits and Pieces

1. Did you get the Consultant Newsletter for that was sent out on 2 June by FamilySearch? If you didn’t then you need to go to http://consultant.familysearch.org to register. I thought there were some interesting items – and it wasn’t too long! We went for a long time with no news from FamilySearch so we are pleased to see it resume. Would you join us in sending FamilySearch some encouraging feedback so the news continues? Send an email to support@familysearch.org and tell them what you think.
2. Here are the results of the poll on the use of this website. If you have a poll then I guess you need to report the results! The question was “How often do you think articles should be posted to Peter’s FH blog?” There were 54 people who voted. 37% (20 votes) said “Every few days – anytime you feel like writing something.” 35% (19 votes) said “Once a week.” 17% (9 votes) said “Once every 2 weeks.” 11% (6 votes) said “Once a month.” There were no votes for once every 3 months nor for closing the blog down. Thank you for participating. We will continue to write once a week unless something really important occurs. We will try to keep the articles as short as possible. Please use the Comments link at the bottom of this article to suggest topics or to volunteer an article or email us at padarby@gmail.com. Learning to make and run a poll was a good learning experience. Perhaps we will have another poll in the future? We now have over 100 people who have subscribed to receive these articles through email – the easiest way to get these articles.
3. Stake Quarterly FH Reports were sent out this week.
4. An article entitled “Sharing the Joy” was published in Church News on 1 May 2010. http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/print/59275/Sharing-the-joy.html This article reported the FH Consultant Training session held as part of conference week in SLC recently. As we travel around we have met people who were fortunate enough to have been able to attend. They reported good things! The article ends with the follow comment and quote from Jim Greene talking about people who do not do family history work. “What we found was that there was a wall of fear that had been erected piece by piece, brick by brick.”
“Many people are frightened by the word “research,” he said. “We have to be wise and prudent, and the way to do that is for us to become familiar with the tools and then figure out a way to teach them how to do this in a way that is non-threatening to them.”
5. Thank you for all that you to encourage Temple and Family History work and for your kindness and sensitivity as you teach others. Your efforts are making a difference
Best wishes

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