Jeremiah Davison
I am working on my family tree on my mother's side, and making extensive use of the church records provided by familysearch.org.
Many of my potential ancestors have reference or code letters and numbers attached to them. A typical example from my family tree is a gentleman called Jeremiah Davison, who appears with the code MQSK-4WT. The codes always appear to consist of 4 characters followed by a dash then another 3 characters. They can be capital letters or numbers.
I am finding it highly challenging to trace the correct line of descent through the 17th and 18th centuries, and am wondering to what extent these "codes" can be used? Can anyone refer me to some place where I could find out more about them and how they operate? E.g. if a father has a particular code, would the same or a similar code apply to his children? Could one person have different codes at particular points of their lives? How are the codes determined in the first place? Is it possible to search for an ancestor using these codes?
Many thanks, Alan
Best Answers
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Those are the database identifiers in FamilySearch's collaborative Family Tree. They are randomly assigned by the computer at profile creation, and encode no meaning beyond pointing at a specific profile. IDs created close together in time are sometimes similar, sometimes not.
To use the profile identifier (PID) to get to a profile, you can use the box at the top of the Recents menu, or Find - By ID, or you can simply paste the new ID in place of the one at the end of a URL.
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If you are searching historical records, click more options. You can then add batch numbers or DGS numbers to your search.
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Answers
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Could I ask another question, please? How do I find church records using the FHL number? It used to be quite straightforward, but it appears that some changes have been made to the website making it much more difficult now than it used to be a year or two ago.
Again, I hope you can help.
Kind regards, Alan Heppenstall
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Or - do you mean you have an FHL number from an index, and you want to know how to obtain the image? Often, Ancestry or other websites will cite the FHL (microfilm) number, but there will be no image attached.
Give us more detail, and we can better assist.0 -
If by "FHL number" you actually mean "film number", that's still available.
If by "find church records" you mean that you want to search the index entries associated with a particular film, for which you know the number, then you can go to Search - Records, click "More Options", scroll down if needed to see the Add Record Options section, select "Image Group Number (DGS) Or Film Number", then paste or type the number into the resulting box.
If by "find church records" you mean that you want to find the catalog listing that includes the film number that you have, then you can go to Search - Catalog, click the "Film/Fiche/Image Group Number (DGS)" option, and paste or type the number into the resulting box.
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HI,
Yes, I'd like this guidance as well.
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I received quite a number of replies to my query about FHL numbers, and how they could be used to find the original records, and would like to thank all those who responded. I won't name the people concerned individually, but would like to express my appreciation to you all, and assure you that your responses did provide the help and advice that I was looking for.
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