Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council ceased to exist on April 1st 2009 when its services
and responsibilities transferred to
Cheshire East Council. This website is available for information only.
Tracing
your Family History
Let us Help
Introduction
While it may be of interest to
read about other people's family history, your own is personal to
you. More and more people want to trace their ancestry and it is
difficult to know where to start. Most people usually start with
the paternal line, and then search their mother's or grandmother's
next, we suggest that it is easier if you concentrate on one family
at a time.
Stage 1
- Make a list of all known relatives
- Contact them asking if they have any old photos,
papers, general information which will help in tracing your family
tree.
- Record the information they provide - names, relationships,
dates etc
- Sort through the information obtained and make a chart showing
each generation with names, dates, places and any other facts you
have.
Stage 2
Search public records for:
- Birth certificates - this provides information on the date and
place of birth; the registered names of the child, its sex,
parentage (including the mother's maiden or former name) the
father's occupation and the name and residence of the
parent(s)
- Marriage certificates - contain the date and place of the
ceremony, who performed the marriage, denomination (if a church
wedding) names, ages, current marital status, occupations and
residences of groom and bride plus the names and occupations of
their fathers, plus the names of two witnesses
- Death certificates - give the approximate year of birth,
occupation, marital status, name, address and relationship of the
person who applied for the certificate. The date, place and cause
of death are also incorporated onto the certificate.
NB In England and Wales central
registration of births, marriages and deaths began on 1st July
1837, and these records are held at the
General Register Office in London. This office is open Monday
to Friday but only the indexes are available to the general
public.
The General Register Office is based at:
Smedley Hydro
Trafalgar Road
Southport
PR8 2HH
Tel: 0870 243 7788
There is no fee to look through the
indexes but for every copy a fee will be charged. Central
Registration began in
Scotland
on 1st January 1855 and in
Northern Ireland on 1st January
1864. In Scotland, (New Register House, Edinburgh) Registers
containing certified entries can be searched, together with
indexes, on payment of a search fee.
Census
This will supply you with the names
of everyone who was living in a particular house on the night it
was taken, together with the occupation, age, birthplace and
relationship.
NB Information on the census for
England and Wales can be found at the Registrar General's Office in
London although many County Record Offices and Libraries may have
copies of their own area.
Parish Registers - these contain
records of baptisms, marriages and burials.
NB These records may be found in the
Parish Church, or alternatively, in the Diocesan and County Records
Offices.
Finally
At our office, we have records of
burials that have taken place in Crewe, Nantwich (Whitehouse Lane),
Weston and Coppenhall Cemeteries, together with Cremations that
occurred at Crewe Crematorium.
If a burial has taken place within
any of the Borough's Cemeteries, then we can supply you with the
following information.
- Name, age and date of burial of the deceased
- Grave number and its location within the Cemetery
If a cremation has taken place at Crewe Crematorium then the
information available is:
- The date of cremation
- The age and last address of the deceased
- What happened to the cremated remains
In order to most easily search our records, the following
information would be an advantage:
- Whether it was a burial or cremation
- Name of the deceased
- Approximate date of death (within 12 months)
- Grave Number
Please note for each year of error, a nominal charge will be
made, for staff searching the records.
More information can be obtained
from the South Cheshire Family History Society who can be contacted
on
www.scfhs.org.uk