Question Details
- Question:
- I am tracing my family history and have come to a halt with my ancestor, George Bartley Cooke. Can you assist with some information such as birth certificate, immigration papers? Details I have of George B Cooke are that he was born in 1838 in the UK, mariner by occupation, immigrated to Australia by himself, he married in Australia on 12/11/1860, his father may have been named Richard Cooke.
I would appreciate any possible information available, which can be forwarded to me by email on brettmcguinness@optusnet.com.au
Thanks Brett McGuinness
- Answer:
- Thank you for contacting Ask Cymru.
The best place to begin searching for your relative would be by using one of the online genealogical websites such as Ancestry.com (or the UK edition given below)
www.ancestry.co.uk
The site is free to search but in order to view the full results a charge is made, either as a subscription or by Pay As You View. It may be worth you contacting your local public libraries in Australia to find out whether they offer free access to this website, as we do here in Wales.
The site includes indexes to Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDMs), UK census records from 1841 to 1901 and some passenger, emigration and convict lists for Australia.
If your relative was born in 1838 then I would expect him to be found on the 1841 census, but a brief search on your behalf produces a lot of George Cook(e)s but I cannot see one with Bartley as a middle name or a father called Richard. It may be easier if you are able to narrow the search by county of birth.
There were also quite a few entries in the birth indexes for George Cook(e)s in various parts of the country for 1838/1839 but again I could not see one with Bartley or the middle initial B. In order for a certificate to be purchased from the General Register Office the full reference needs to be supplied from these indexes (year, quarter, district, volume and page) or a search can be made at cost (see their website for details).
Certificates can be bought online, however it can be expensive buying certificates if you are not absolutely sure you have the correct birth registration.
http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates
If you know the county where your ancestor was born that would help in your research and it would therefore also be useful to contact the appropriate County Record Office as they would hold parish records for that area.
I hope this has been of some help and good luck with your research.
- Answered By:
- Cardiff, Cardiff Reference Library
