FT Academy Feb 2023: The answers

Answers to Challenges

Beginners

The census tells us that Susan was aged 20 (in 1871) and gives her place of birth as ‘Herts Watford’. A search of the General Register Office indexes (I tend to use freebmd.org.uk but the indexes can also be accessed on Ancestry and Findmypast) reveals the birth of Susanna Suttle registered in the March quarter of 1851 in the Watford registration district, volume 6, page 685.

Intermediate

The first step here is to look for the birth registration of the five-year old son, Amos. Using the GRO’s own online index we can find the relevant entry which tells us that his mother’s maiden surname was Neal. We can then find the marriage of Thomas Howard to Alice Neale, registered in the September quarter of 185 with the reference St Albans 3a 393. 

Advanced

Mary’s place of birth is given as ‘East Indies Allahabad’. She was 32 at the time of the 1871 census and a search of the British India Office Births & Baptisms database on Findmypast turns up a record of her birth. She was born on 17 December 1838 at Allahabad.

Thinking outside the box...

The main collection of records of the British in India are held in the India Office collection at the British Library. Some of these records have been digitised by Findmypast. As a retired member of the Bengal Civil Service, Mary’s father, John Theophilus Rivaz is likely to appear in a number of sources relating to the British in India. He is listed, for example, in the registers of the Bengal Civil Fund from which we learn that he died on 29 November 1882.
 

How you can join in

If you'd like to learn how to improve your family history search skills by reading Family Tree magazine check out your options. From single issues to subscriptions, or membership of Family Tree Plus online learning community, we have something for every family history enthusiast!