Genealogy Chat

I joined this site with the hope of finding relatives in the 1841 census London and the searches show up LATHE OF SUTTON AT HULME and OSSULSTONE TOWER DIVISION any idea where these places are please. Regards Irene

Try Googling, Irene. There seem to be masses of explanantory texts on the Web.

Thank you I will give that a try. It does not sound very much like London but that is what it states on 1841 census search on the site. Many thanks Irene

Sutton at Hulme LOOKS as if it might be Sutton at Hone, in Kent, as part of the registration district includes Chatham Town, and the HO 107 districts are lower than those for London (In 1841, everything was strictly alphabetic and Kent came before Middlesex)

Thank you for that, much appreciated. Regards Irene

If you have the piece number, you can find out which districts were included on that piece from the Procat catalogue (www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk) Richard

Thanks for that, Richard. I blush to say that I've never bothered to use the Catalogue for the census, but it is quite clearly Sutton at Hone there.

Irene - would you recommend this site? I have had a quick look at it and see that they have some parish records. The pay-as-you-go prices seem a bit steep, but they are offering a month for £4.60-odd. Does that mean that I can access everything for £4.60 for a month then quit, or do I have to join up for a longer time? What are your experiences of it?

Hi Angela I paid £5 to search 1851 census for London and it gives you the reference number only so you have to ask someone for a look up to get details of your ancestors. I had some luck with that so have just paid £5 to look at 1841 census of London but very confused as I do not recognize the names of the areas mentioned. You cannot mix your credit you can only spend your £5 on the area and census you request and have to pay separate for each census. So at the moment I have 2 searches 1841 London census and 1851 London census. Regards Irene

I was confused by that Ossulstone when I first saw it but found it on google, and it was in London. My rellies who come up as Ossulstone were in the Stepney area, I think. As for the £4.60 monthly deal, it only applies if you subscribe for a whole year. I decided to take out the 'Personal Premium' annual sub when I saw they had a 'full' index to London 1841 as well as 1851 and 1861 (and many other counties, though some are not complete yet), because that subscription is 'credit-free', i.e. you can look up as many things as you want. Some of the other subscriptions only include a certain number of credits. So included in the Personal Premium sub, I can look up unlimited BMD entries! It is a bit slow though, and they only index by the first entry on the page rather than first and last like 1837 online, which means you get more pages that you don't want. After looking through about 5 years for a marriage yesterday, I decided I would rather look through microfiches at the record office to find births for that couple's children! Presumably if you have broadband it will be much quicker, though? As for the 1861 census images, the only one I tried looking at was for the wrong page, so I would have been well annoyed if I was using credits! Anyway, they say lots more is going to be added in future. The census index / transcription search is much less flexible than ancestry's so if your ancestor has been mistranscribed you may never find him. But I have found quite a few of mine. The other annoying thing is that it will only give you people with the same surname in the household. Kate.

Thank you for your kind replies. I will google the places mentioned but do find it very confusing when you are used to seeing areas you know and have heard of in the later census.Regards Irene

Thanks, Irene and Kate. It all sounds a bit complicated to me. I only wanted to use it for the parish records and I don't really want to subscribe for a full year. The pay as you go subscription for the parish records looks expensive, so I may have to think again.

Angela I am subscribed to their parish records bit at the mo and have to say, whilst I have found this site invaluable for census records, it is rubbish for parish records (my family anyway!). My lot all came from London and I have found parishregister(dot)com much better. Sarah