Search Results Help

Results Page

Notes

1. The FreeBMD database is a transcription of the GRO index and is copyright. Please read the Terms and Conditions for information on how you are allowed to use the data.
2. To repeat the search with different parameters click on Revise Query or to do an entirely different search click on New Query
3. You can save the results of a search so that when more records are added to the database you can see what they are - see here for more details.
4. You can download the results of a search in spreadsheet format for further processing - see here for more details
5. Various symbols are used in the presentation of the results and this box explains what they mean - if you need more details see here
6. The parameters that you used to do the search are shown - if the search does not give the results you expect check that you have given the parameters you meant to
7. You are advised to check an entry before ordering a certificate - if the spectacles icon is shown you can view the original scan to do this check
8. If you find an error, that is where an entry does not correspond with what is in the GRO index, you can report it using the icon
9. The quarter containing the entry is specified by the event (Births, Marriages or Deaths), the last month of the quarter and the year.
10. FreeBMD is work in progress and many quarters are not yet complete - the percentage figure gives an indication of how completely transcribed the quarter is and further information can be found here.
11. Each entry is shown with the items as in the heading - if the entry is in bold, as here, then the entry has been transcribed twice and the accuracy (i.e. being the same as in the GRO index) is greatly increased
12. Clicking on the district will give you further information about the district
13. Clicking on the page number will show all the entries on the same page of the register - see here for more details of how entries are organised into pages
14. These icons give you information about the entry and clicking on an icon takes you to another page with further details

The dates when information was added to the index are as follows:

Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

1. How can I print the results?
2. How can I save the results to examine later?
3. Why couldn't I find this entry?
4. How do I report that there is an error in an entry?
5. How do I find the spouse?
6. How do I get a certificate?
7. Why are some districts in italics?
8. How can I contact the person who transcribed a record?
9. Why doesn't the Info button work?
10. What does mono do?
11. What does "a gap in the data" mean?
12. Why are no results displayed?
13. Why do my searches keep failing?
14. What are the limits on a search?
15. How can I see only the most recent results?
16. What program do I use to view a Saved Search?
17. How can I avoid using JavaScript?
18. Is this the same person with two surnames?
19. Are these two different people?
20. How can I easily return to the search window?
21. What does district/county selected mean?
22. What does the download button do?
23. Why are some entries in bold text?
24. Why does searching within a county produce anomolous results?
25. What are the symbols beside an entry for?
26. Why are there characters *[ ] etc in an entry?
27. How can I tell where new entries have been added to the database?
28. What does the percentage in the search results refer to?
29. How do I report a missing entry?
30. Why are the transcriptions different from the search results?
31. Why is the district for this entry not in the district list?
32. Where are the records I found previously?
33. What does 'See D/39' mean?
34. What does a suffix on a page number mean?
35. How can I tell if these two entries are for twins?
36. How do I search for a double-barrelled surname?

Questions and Answers

How can I print the results?

You can print the results using the Print button on your browser.

How can I save the results to examine later?

This depends on your browser. You can sometimes use File/Save As to save the current page and view it later. However, with some browsers the Search page rather than the Results page is saved. An alternative is to use the offline/history facility of your browser to view pages you have visited, without being online. Select Work Offline in your browser, then open the History and select the FreeBMD site, and then the page you want to view.

You can also use the download facility - see here.

Why couldn't I find this entry?

You must understand that FreeBMD is Work in Progress! We are still transcribing the indexes - you can see the progress on the progress charts - so your entries probably haven't been transcribed yet. Perhaps you would like to help in the transcribing? See how to join up.

How do I report that there is an error in an entry?

Click on the button next to the entry and then click on the link for submitting corrections. Note that corrections will only be accepted if you can show that the entry is different from what is in the index; differences from other sources (such as a certificate) will not be accepted.

How do I find the spouse?

Please see Finding the spouse

How do I get a certificate?

Please see Ordering Certificates.

Why are some districts in italics?

This means that there is something wrong or unusual about the district name, volume or page, specifically one of the following:

• The district name found in the index differs from the standard district name and therefore there is a possibility that the district in the index is incorrect
• The volume number is not the one expected for the district in the year and quarter of the entry
• The page number is not within the expected range for the district and volume number in the year and quarter of the entry

How can I contact the person who transcribed a record?

You need to understand that almost all of the records in FreeBMD were transcribed by people who had no interest in the actual entries themselves, they were giving their time and skill to provide a searchable index. However, you may be fortunate and the transcriber may have been transcribing family records, for example. To find out, click on the button next to the entry and then click on the name of the transcriber. If an email address is given they may have an interest in the record; if there is no email address then they do not have an interest in the record. Please note that in this latter case there is no point in leaving a postem to try to contact them - the person who transcribed the record is very unlikely to see it.

Why doesn't the Info button work?

The information appears in a separate window. Unfortunately some browsers do not always bring this window to the foreground leaving you with the impression that nothing has happened. Look at the list of windows at the bottom of the screen and you should find the window you are looking for. The same applies to other links, such as Districts or the spectacles icon.

What does mono do?

It changes the colours used for the background so that the names print better on a mono printer.

What does "a gap in the data" mean?

Where consecutive entries in the results are not contiguous in the index there is a change of shade to indicate that there is a gap in the data between the two entries. This can arise for the following reasons:

• The search criteria themselves produce non-contiguous entries, e.g. all the entries registered in a particular district
• The data between the entries has not yet been transcribed
• It has not been possible to automatically determine that transcribed pages are consecutive; we manually correct these where we find them

Why are no results displayed?

If the results page was displayed but there are no results (and no message saying no results were found) you are probably having problems with the use of JavaScript. We use JavaScript to make displaying the results more efficient but some browsers, even though they claim to support JavaScript, don't provide implementation sufficient to display the results. For example, some web TV systems fall into this category.

To get round this problem see How can I avoid using JavaScript?

Why do my searches keep failing?

You can look at the details of the number of searches that were done here. You will see that very few actually fail on the server.

The design of FreeBMD is such that we always return a result from a search - if the server is too busy we say so, if the search took too long we say so ... we don't just say nothing. If you are getting no response from your searches it is probably a communications problem between you and us, and most likely a problem within your ISP. We have been told of people living next door to each, but using different ISPs, who get very different responses times.

What are the limits on a search?

There are a number of limits that are imposed on searches in order to make sure one person does not stop other people searching by using all the capability of the system. The limits imposed are as follows:

• More than 3000 results were found (we suggest you use the Count option first to determine if this limit would be exceeded)
• The search was too complex. The details of precisely how we determine a search is "too complex" are too difficult to explain here but we give hints on simplifying searches if this error occurs
• The search was taking too long (currently 3 minutes)
• There were too many other people trying to do searches at the same time (currently about 100)

How can I see only the most recent results?

You should use the Saved Search facility which enables you to see only those records added since you last did a search. See Saved Search Help for more information.

What program do I use to view a Saved Search?

Saved Searches can only be viewed online. Enter the name of the file in the Saved Search box on the Search page and click on View Saved.

How can I avoid using JavaScript?

JavaScript is a system that runs within a browser to generate information more efficiently. Our search results page detects automatically if JavaScript can be used. However, there are some situations where you might want to display results without using JavaScript. To do this use the following to define a search http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl?js=0

Is this the same person with two surnames?

Such cases are very common in the indexes, and usually indicate a person who was born illegitimate, but adopted the surname of her mother's husband (whether it was the father or not).

To take the above example, if Miss Bimrose had an illegitimate child, Sarah Jemima, that child would be Sarah Jemima BIMROSE. If Miss Bimrose then married Mr Bilton, it would be common for the child to go by the name of Sarah Jemima BILTON.

When Sarah married, she would be shown on her marriage certificate as Sarah Jemima BILTON otherwise BIMROSE, and the index will show her under both names.

Are these two different people?

Probably not. When the index was created, where the register was unclear two entries were created in the index. So in this case there is only one person, named either Teslar or Testar.

I did a births search and got a two entries that are almost identical apart from the page number. Can there really be two such people?

You should look at the Original Scan (click on the icon):

• If there is one entry then these are the same entry in the index transcribed by two different transcribers. We transcribe each record more than once to improve accuracy but, until the differences have been reconciled, you will find more than one record in the results. By looking at the original scan you can determine which version you think is correct (and if appropriate you can submit a correction).
• If there is more than one entry in the scan, the entries may be for the same person registered twice or they may be different people. The only way to find out is to order the certificates for each one.

How can I easily return to the search window?

When you click on the Page, hold down the SHIFT key at the same time. This will cause the results to be displayed in a different window, leaving the original search results in their own window. To do the next spouse search just go back to the original window.

What does district/county selected mean?

If you do a search specifying one or more districts (or counties) and then click on Revise Query you get this message below the district (or county) list. It is there to indicate to you that if you do the search again it will still be limited to those districts (or counties) and is necessary because the selected items may not be visible in the items displayed. The message does not change if you subsequently change the selection, for example to All Districts (or All Counties), which is why it says initially.

What does the download button do?

The download facility is explained here.

Why are some entries in bold text?

I did two searches within two different counties and then a search of the two combined, but the results did not add up. Whis is this?

What are the symbols beside an entry for?

The meaning of the symbols that may appear next to the button is as follows:

	The scan from which the transcription was made is available for you to view.
	A comment has been attached to this entry by the transcriber. This may indicate what the transcriber thought the entry should contain, especially where the entry was unclear or inconsistent.
	There is a Postem attached to the entry. A Postem is a message from a researcher about the entry, perhaps indicating additional information available or seeking to get in touch with people with an interest in the entry. See the Postem help for more information about Postems; click on the button to view the Postem associated with this entry.
	The entry has been added to the database since the previous update. See the home page for when the current update was done.
	The entry is a System Entry, that is an entry that is not in the index but has been added to the FreeBMD database to correct an apparent error in the index. Click on the button for more information including details of any entry this System Entry may replace.
	There is a System Entry linked to this entry; click on the button for more information including a link to the System Entry.

Why are there characters _*[ ] etc in an entry?

How can I tell where new entries have been added to the database?

Our volunteers continuously transcribe more entries but we only update the database about once a month since it is a big job to update over 100 million records. The date of the latest database update can be found on the home page.

There are a number of ways that you can tell where new entries have been added.

• The coverage charts indicate with a lighter colour the proportion of entries that have been added to the latest database. However, this only shows where there have been large numbers of additions.
• You can use a Saved Search to list those entries added since you saved the search. This is much more precise since it will identify the additions where there have been just a few entries added to a quarter.
• The symbol next to an entry means it has probably been added since the last update. The uncertainty is due to the fact that if the record has changed, e.g. the page number has been corrected, it will be marked as an addition.

What does the percentage in the search results refer to?

The percentage figure indicates how much of that quarter we have transcribed so far. The full coverage charts are given here. Please note, however, that due to limitations in the data available this figure is only accurate to within 2 percentage points, i.e. a given percentage of 84% means between 82% and 86% of the entries have been transcribed.

How do I report a missing entry?

To report a missing entry you need to submit a correction to the immediately preceding entry which you known since you have looked up the scan. Search for this entry and click on the button next to it, then click to make a correction. Enter the details of the missing entry in the correction form and in the source field put "According to FreeBMD scan the current entry is OK, missing entry shown".

Why are the transcriptions different from the search results?

When I click the button, why are there one or more entries shown that are slightly different from the search results?

The button shows you the actual transcriptions of the entry and there may be more than one transcription for an entry in the search results because it has been transcribed more than once. FreeBMD transcribes each page more than once to improve the accuracy of the transcription. There may be differences between these transcriptions and the search results for the following reasons:

• There may be a different use of capital letters; FreeBMD does not consider the letter case to be significant
• The entries may contain symbols (e.g. * or _) that indicate uncertainty in the transcription but the transcriptions match the entry when this uncertainty is taken into account
• The transcriptions may have been normalised to remove periods and some spaces (e.g. after Mac); since the same normalisation is done for search terms this allows results to be found irrespective of the typographical convention used
• The search results use the arabic numeral version of the volume (e.g. 3) even if the original scan used roman numerals (e.g. III) but the transcription will contain what is in the scan.

Why is the district for this entry not in the district list?

If you click on the district name ("St Olave" in this case) it will give you more information about the district, including the name that it appears under in the district list. In the case of "St Olave" it tells you that it is an alternative name for Bermondsey which is the name in the district list. The issue of alternative district names is explained here.

Where are the records I found previously?

Very occasionally records may be deleted from the database, for example if the record is erroneous or in the wrong quarter. However, by far the most likely cause is that you have done a search using the wrong parameters and the most common mistake is putting the first name in the Surname box and the surname in the First Names(s) box.

What does 'see D/39' mean?

Please see Late Entries.

What does a suffix on a page number mean?

This entry relates to a Vicar sending his quarterly return to the GRO late. Briefly, every Vicar in the country was supposed to send a return to the GRO for marriages during July to September 1841, to reach the Registrar General by the end of October. Particularly during the early years of civil registration, some Vicars were very lax about complying with this (they weren't happy about state interference in things that they saw as their domain), and often sent returns outrageously late. At the GRO, all the returns for a particular Registration District were gathered together, and placed in order (the dedication of the Church determined the order, and RO marriages were at the back), and all the Registration districts in a volume were likewise collated (in order of RD name). The pages were then numbered. When the return for a particular parish arrived after this process was complete, the pages were inserted into the proper place, and numbered with suffix letters. In that quarter of 1841 Southampton RD was made up of pages 215-224. Thus, the first parish alphabetically was pages 215/216, 217/218 was the parish that was second alphabetically (which got returns in on time) and 216 with a suffix relates to churches that sent in late returns that lie between those two.

How can I tell if these two entries are for twins?

Basically there is no way you can tell for certain if they were twins but the registration information can indicate the most probable situation. There are three possibilities to consider:

• The two entries are for twins - in this case it is most likely that the page will be the same or one different between the two entries. However, one could envisage circumstances in which one twin was registered later than the other - unlikely but a possibility.
• The two entries are for different people - the page is likely to be different. Obviously if the mother's maiden name (post 1911 entries) is the same then being twins is more likely. Otherwise, for a very common surname or in a closed community with many people having the same surname it is not at all unlikely that two different people with the same surname could given birth in the same quarter.
• The two entries are for the same person - whilst a child must be registered within 6 weeks, it remains possible up to the child's first birthday, to change the names in baptism and have the record amended resulting in a second entry for the same person. In this case, because one of the entries is a late registration it is likely that it will have a suffix page number.

How do I search for a double-barrelled surname?

• Remember that some double-barrelled names are joined with a hyphen (e.g. Bowes-Lyon) and some are not (e.g. Vaughan Williams). The name may not have been recorded in the way you expect.
• You can use a wildcard search on the surname (e.g. Bowes* for all names starting with Bowes)
• The entry may have been recorded with the first part of the surname appended as a given name, but possibly recorded only as an initial (e.g. John Bowes-Lyon recorded as Lyon, John B)

Last Updated 28th December 2010

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