1. Historical Maps England & Wales Jurisdictions 1851
maps.familysearch.org
Historical Maps
England & Wales Jurisdictions 1851

2. Common English Given Names
Thomas Atkins – 2nd great-grandfather, married to Eliza Chapman, four children
Census run using his name, birthdate (+/- 5 yrs.), birthplace - England
1841 – 1,276 results
1851 – 905 results
Thomas Atkins married to Eliza – 9 results
1861 – 2,037 results
Thomas Atkins married to Eliza – 57 results
He is routinely connected with spouses and children from all over England.
How many Thomas Atkins were in England in his time?
How am I to know for sure which one is mine?

3. James Tanner Focus on the geographic location.
Location must be as precise as possible.
The location must be correctly identified.
Start with a known location.
Most common errors involve places.

4. Vital Information in Family Tree about Thomas Atkins
Born: 1 Jan 1821; Dudley, Worcestershire, England
Christened: 18 Feb 1821; Dudley, St. Thomas, Worcestershire, England
Married: 23 May 1842; Dudley, Worcestershire, England
Died: 3 Apr 1859; Birmingham, England
Burial: 17 Apr 1859; Birmingham, Warwickshire England
Note: Christening and burial dates are confirmed with sources.
Marriage record is not. There is no record of their marriage in the
Dudley parish.

5. Distance from Dudley, Worcestershire, England to Kelshall, Hertfordshire, England

6. Open browser and type in maps. familysearch. org
Open browser and type in maps.familysearch.org. Spelling and formatting must be correct.

7. Map of England and Wales showing counties
Searchable by parish

8. Type in Dudley into the search box and click on the SEARCH button

10. Compare parish information

11. Jurisdiction tab shows administrative jurisdictions—parish, county, civil registration district, probate court.

12. Options tab. What would you like to do. Contiguous parishes
Options tab. What would you like to do? Contiguous parishes. Radius place search. Family Search Library Catalog.

14. Radius place search. Select 5-mile radius. Click GO.

15. Dark circle high lights parishes within a 5-mile radius of Dudley
Dark circle high lights parishes within a 5-mile radius of Dudley. Parishes are listed on left.

16. Under “sort method” sselect alphabetical to sort list alphabetically.

17. Freebmd.org.uk. Click on SEARC H buton

18. Search window. Enter search information and click on FIND.

19. Thomas Atkins married in Stourbridge. Note District, Volume, Page
Thomas Atkins married in Stourbridge. Note District, Volume, Page. Where is that?

20. Layers

21. Select Civil Registration District from jurisdictions list

22. Red lines show Civil Registration Districts

23. Certificate of Marriage

24. Kingswinford

28. Record of banns of marriage for Thomas Atkins and Eliza Chapman
Online digital copy of the banns found in Holy Trinity Wordsley, Parish Registers Banns, Volume S , IT 1; GS Film No. 1,470,766.
Film Notes gave additional information about the parish.
Notes
Microfilm copy of original records in the Archives and Local History Department of the Dudley Public Libraries.
St. Mary's Church, Kingswinford, was built as the parish church and remained that until the late 1820's. It was closed in 1831 for 15 years during a mining operation when it was feared the building would collapse. Re-opened in 1846, it has since continued in use. A new Parish Church was built in Wordsley because of the feared collapse of the St. Mary's Church. This new church, Holy Trinity Church Wordsley, opened in 1831 and became the present Kingswinford Parish Church.

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