email: Discover English church records with your family name!
I regret to tell you this application did not work properly.
I entered my surname: Soppet
And location in England: Gateshead.
No results!
My great grandfather (LVDM-N3W) was baptised at St Johns Church, Sheriff Hill, Gateshead Fell
His parents were married in Gateshead and five of his siblings were baptised in the same church.
I removed ‘Gateshead’ from the search and received 1,856 results. I recognised many of the names.
I added his first name, ‘John’ and received 152 results. He was not listed in the results.
However, I am part of Soppet / Soppat surname research with GOONS and the results are definitely useful for that purpose.
Regards
John
Secretary – Waitakere Branch, New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG)
NZSG Genealogical Computing Group committee
West Auckland Historical Society committee
Coordinator – Auckland Roots Magic User group
Comments
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John
[ G'day, from the other side of the 'Tasman' ... ]
Welcome to the "Community.FamilySearch" Forum.
I am just another 'lowly' User/Patron ...
( Quick ) Question: What 'FamilySearch' CAMPAIGN is this that, you are referencing?
[ eg. May be in the Subject/Title of the "E-mail"; or, in the "Link"/'Button' of the "E-mail" ... ]
Brett
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Hi Brett,
I received the link below by email from Family Search:
After clicking on it I entered my surname in the search box with the location "Gateshead".
The result was as I posted. Basically, it did not work as several members of my GGGrandfather were in the Gateshead parish registers.
Regards,
Johm
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John
'Thanks' for that info.
It gave me something to work with ...
And, 'Yes' ... you are correct ... that particular: "Free England Church Records", is somewhat lacking ...
Firstly ...
And, this is very important ...
The Records in 'FamilySearch' DO NOT contain EVERYTHING (ie. People; or, Places), they are NOT all inclusive.
I just wanted to stress that point from the outset.
The Records in 'FamilySearch' are GOOD; but, like everything, they are NOT 'Perfect'.
Secondly ...
I have 'seen', many "Campaigns", by 'FamilySearch', to engage Users/Patrons of 'FamilySearch', in participation ...
But, I had not exactly 'seen' that one; and, it is not the normal style of URL for a "Campaign".
Yours: ... https://www.familysearch.org/info/free-england-church-records
(Generic) Campaigns: ... https://www.familysearch.org/campaign/ ... [ Whatever ]
Thirdly ...
I did some 'playing around' with that ... "Free England Church Records"
It appears to be more of an enticing, 'test the waters', sort of thing, for one to 'see' what 'FamilySearch' has to offer, rather than a serious research tool.
Of course, that is just my personal impression.
Now ...
As to my 'playing around' ...
Here is what I tried; and, the results:
.
First pass ... Last Name: Soppet; and, Place: Gateshead [ONLY, not suffix]; and, NO 'First Name' or 'Year'
Like you ... NOTHING ... 0 Collections selected
Then, I noticed in my results, that the place of "Gateshead", appeared under "Death" ...
It dawned on me, that a "Death" Record was the last (previous) Record, that I had 'Searched' for in 'FamilySearch'.
I DID NOT go back to the start, I just "Changed" the place in the 'Life Event', from under "Death", to under "Any Place".
That made NO difference, still ... NOTHING ... 0 Collections selected
Hm ...
.
Second pass ... Last Name: Soppet; and, Place: Gateshead, England; and, NO 'First Name' or 'Year'
By just adding "England" ...
I got ... 20 Results ... spanning x5 Collections
Well, that was somewhat better ... still not that good ...
.
Third pass ... Last Name: Soppet; with, NOTHING else, NO, 'Place' or 'First Name' or 'Year'
I got ... 1887 Results ... spanning x20 Collections
Well, that was a lot (much) better ...
.
So ...
That Said ...
I would not say that it is NOT working, 'per se', just not very 'intuitive'; and, there is certainly a 'Preamble' MISSING, to advise people (especially, those NEW to doing any searching regarding Genealogy/Family History) how to use that particular facility/function/feature.
.
Please be aware, that these "Campaigns", by 'FamilySearch', to engage Users/Patrons of 'FamilySearch', in participation, are just an 'enticement'; and, some of the resulting "Tools" are lacking, certainly not meant to be serious research tools.
Remember:
▬ Such 'E-mails', ONLY, go out to those who are "Registered" Users/Patrons of 'FamilySearch'
.... They are NOT sent out as 'Spam'.
▬ These 'E-mails' go out, to ALL "Registered" Users/Patrons of 'FamilySearch'; unless,
.... a User/Patron has such (ie. 'E-mail' "Notifications") "Disabled", in 'Settings', in their 'FamilySearch' Account.
.... [ Even I still get them; as, I have NONE of the "Notifications"; as, "Disabled" ... ]
▬ These "Campaigns" ARE very BASIC.
.... quite often the corresponding facility/function/feature with the "Campaign" is, lets say, some what lacking;
.... as, you have found.
.
I am not trying to "Defend" anything, just giving a broad outlook ...
.
I like to get them, these "Campaigns", despite that fact that I am an experienced User/Patron (Researcher) ...
I like to get them, to 'see' what is on offer; as, every now and then, I find one that I can really use ...
Plus, I like to give 'Feedback'.
I have submitted countless "Ideas" (ie. 'Feedback' = enhancements; tweaks; improvements; and, failures) on the various "Campaigns", by 'FamilySearch', to engage Users/Patrons of 'FamilySearch', in participation.
.
Of course ...
just my thoughts.
I hope this gives you some perspective.
,
Brett
.
ps: Hopefully, you may get someone from 'FamilySearch', that 'sees' this post of yours; and, contacts you directly through a "Private" 'Message', to discuss the matter at further, at length.
.
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