PRIMARY AND SECONDARY GENEALOGICAL RECORDS

These are normally original records compiled at or close to the event to which they relate. Most are original records which provide information about events in a person’s life. A primary source is generally the first recording of an event. and they will usually only be from one perspective.

The main primary records are those which detail vital events such as births, christenings, marriages, divorce, deaths and burials; these records were usually created by the appropriate authority. However, there are exceptions.

When using primary sources you need to consider why it was compiled and for what purpose.  Was it meant to be readily available. Few official documents used in family history research were kept in their day with our hobby in mind today, so they would have been for a completely different purpose. Was it an official document?

Published versions of primary sources are ge nerally used if the original has gone missing or is damaged and can no longer be accessed due to conservation reasons. There is an argument that these could be regarded as secondary sources because they are later products than the original. Nevertheless, they are useful and are sometimes the only way researchers can find the necessary information.

Civil Registration - birth, marriage and death records

The only original record of such events is the record retained by the local registration office; these would have been completed at the time the registration or marriage taking place. The certificates obtained from the General Register Office (GRO) are NOT original because they are compiled and indexed from returns made by local register offices each quarter and forwarded to the GRO. They were not compiled at the time of the original event and do contain errors. However, most researchers will accept them as primary sources although they are from copy returns.

In the case of marriages which take place in a church or chapel, the original registers once full are lodged with the local registrar but again the marriage certificates issued by the GRO are in fact subject to double errors. The incumbent of each parish made a quarterly return to the local registrar who then made their return to the GRO so there are two occasions when mistakes could have been made and thus an error perpetuated.

The GRO even issue these as certified copies because they have no access to the originals, but they may not be accurate.

Census returns 

The 1911 and 1921 census entries are original records produced at the time of the event by someone in the household, usually the head of the household; hence they are primary sources. But none of the earlier census returns (1841 – 1901) are primary sources because they are enumeration sheets extracted by the enumerators after the event with information taken from the returns made by households or enumerators on the doorstep of a household. However, most researchers accept these as primary sources because they are the only records we have access to and would have been completed close to the date of the respective census.

Information on both civil registration and census returns is only that provided by the informant and therefore may be inaccurate or deliberately misleading.

Parish Records 

Entries of baptisms, marriages and burials within original parish registers are generally considered to be primary sources because most events were recorded at the time of the event taking place. Original marriage registers were usually retained in the church or deposited in local record offices. It is rare that access is provided by local registrars to the duplicate copies deposited with them once the register is full which could be some considerable time after the event.

However, bishops' or archdeacons' transcripts, which are annual returns supposedly being copies of all register entries made to the appropriate ecclesiastical authority, are secondary sources. This is because they are compiled some time after the event and become copies. Many of these records omit some information contained in the original register and nor do they have other additional notes and snippets which in themselves can also be valuable in research.

Many of the other records associated with parish life and classed as “parish chest” records were also generated at the time of the event including settlement certificates, apprenticeship records, examinations, officers' account books etc. Similarly equivalent records of the many nonconformist groups were created in real time.

Other records considered to be primary sources are:

Original wills 

Those wills dated and containing an original set of signatures are considered primary sources. Often we obtain office copy entries which are copies of original wills made into a register by the court clerks, so they are not original. Nor are they made until probate is applied for, which can be many years after the original will was made. So again, some errors do occur.

Occupational Records 

Most records relating to occupations such as military and naval service records are primary sources as they would have been completed at the time of enlistment or commencement of employment and throughout their service in real time. Those which include service histories such as railway or Post Office records were also completed as events, promotions etc happened..

Property Ownership 

Title deeds relating to the disposition of property, tenancies etc and the various taxes associate with property are created in real time and considered to be primary sources of information.

Emigration and Immigration 

Most documents showing the departure, arrival and citizenship of a person in a country are generated as they happened.

Records of the courts 

Most records relating to both criminal and civil court proceedings and subsequently records of imprisonment, transportation etc were generated as they occurred. There will of course be records such as printed calendars of prisoners, case details etc. which exist but most of these would also have originated at or very close to the actual event and could therefore be classed as primary sources.

Institutions 

Most records of establishments such as a schools, workhouses or establishments such as asylums or hospitals generated records in real time.

Original records as primary sources can detail relationships between individuals and provide primary information about a specific event.

These records are normally those compiled AFTER the event to which they refer and take many forms including printed calendars, biographical sketches, published histories etc. Many are compiled using primary sources.

Published family histories 

Although these are often compiled by reference to vital records, census records, family papers or local histories, few are properly sourced or show the original primary sources. Online family trees in particular can be anything from a bit vague to totally misleading, even fictitious - and very few are properly sourced. Many will indicate a series of census returns to show an actual date of birth of a person! At best such material could be used as a finding-aid but must never be relied on as fact or used to compile your own family tree without undertaking significant additional research, quality checks and more.

Printed materials

Very often books contain useful information such as Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy where it lists names, ranks held and date of seniority to that rank. Such materials including army and navy lists are a valuable and usually accurate resource but because they are compiled after the event, they are classed as secondary. Nevertheless, don’t ignore the information in such records.

Trade and Post Office Directories

These contain excellent items of information but are compiled from other information and are often a few months out of date before they are published. Therefore they are cpnsidered as secondary sources.

Newspapers

To some degree newspapers are unique because they could be classed as primary sources (being completed at the time of an event) but also as secondary sources because the information is often “second hand” or written by a third party. However, because newspapers, by their very nature, are of the moment, researchers may consider them a primary source.

You may be able to save a little research time because someone may already have extracted or compiled information you seek but it will still need to be checked out for authenticity.

Secondary sources are often useful in providing background information to help you understand about the places or subjects and describe the circumstances of life in a particular locality in a particular era. They can also point you in the direction of the original records you need to research to find the answers. Useful resources include:

• Geography - a map of the area is necessary to locate and learn about places where ancestors lived.
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• Information about how to do research - thereare many websites which give good advice.
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• History - this gives you information about the environment, education, politics, social, economic, and religious influences affecting where our ancestors lived.
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• Customs - of the area.

Primary sources are records that were created by those who were required to document accurate records, an eyewitness or a person involved at the time of the event. Some of these can also include family bibles, diaries, ancillary military records, naturalization records etc. However, a family bible would only be considered a primary source if the events were recorded at the time they actually occurred and in many cases no one would be able to authenticate that situation. Researchers should always aim to use primary sources for information they require because accuracy is paramount. However, even primary sources may contain errors.

Transcripts

Transcripts are normally documents which show all the information contained in a document; they are usually made at different times by various groups of people for differing reasons using a variety of technologies. So, there could be several transcripts of the material to be researched some of which will be more accurate and detailed than others. If information in more that one transcript match,  then this increases there accuracy

Translations

Very often translations convert Latin documents into the modern language of the country to which they relate. Not all translations are of a high standard and in many instances it is dependent upon the skills of the original scribes and their ability to use correct Latin (or other language) at the time. Many documents were heavily abbreviated and those abbreviations differed between scribes so translation and interpretation may be different. Whilst using translations is a good aid, it is still preferable to examine the original document. Although many researchers cannot read Latin or other ancient languages, if armed with a good Latin word list, important elements can be checked.

Abstracts

Abstracts are summaries of the contents of a document for a particular purpose. Not all were done with family history in mind so be aware that valuable information may have been omitted or misinterpreted.

Extracts

Extracts are selected portions of an original record, perhaps only those referring to one surname or one town. They may or may not be abbreviated and like abstracts they may miss vital information and are more often than not incomplete. This is particularly true of parish registers where only certain names or events have been included. For many these are the least reliable for comprehensive content.

Many documents associated with family history research contain both primary and secondary information. For example memorial inscriptions and gravestones, pension records, etc. Information may not be accurately known by the person instigating the document of gravestone. Researchers often are not just looking for primary source documents but any type of document that may contain clues to lead to other primary source. Don't just rely on a variety of secondary sources; you need the primary source information. 

The vital thing to remember is to check, check and check again!!