Family History Sources on CD from Valerie Neal
Derbyshire
This webpage describes a series of CDROMs of transcriptions of parish registers, and other
useful material for family history research in Derbyshire, produced by private Family History
researchers Ivor and Val Neal.
Information is transcribed from original sources in the County Record Office at Matlock, with
the kind permission of the archivist, who also agrees to them being available for purchase.
Parish register entries are transcribed directly
from the original registers themselves, sometimes with the aid of an ultra-violet lamp, so
the highest quality is assured.
Information on CDs include all readable Baptisms, Marriages
and Burials (CMB) for the period stated plus digital Photographs (JPG images).
The transcriptions are a result of Val's attempting to track the lives of those born up to the end
of 1837, and the data includes partial cross-referencing, to include (for example) putative place
of origin of parents on baptism records. Whilst this research is still in its early stages, the
progress so far has been included on the CD.
The Neals are to be commended for what must have been a very
difficult task compiling this CD, as these registers are in very poor
condition, with duplicated entries, entries in random order,
and in the case of Quakers, of the same baptisms being reported to
different meetings. However in my opinion everyone with roots in
the Peak District of Derbyshire is likely to be able to find something
of interest in this unique collection, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
A full list of what the CD contains is included below.
Baslow is an unusual parish in some respects. A sizeable proportion of Baslow couples (perhaps
even the majority) were married in Bakewell (the 'mother' church), so there are fewer marriage
records than might be expected.
In addition, whilst the extant registers span four centuries, portions in the 17th century are
missing, or damaged; however the Neals now have years of experience to draw on in deciphering
these 'difficult to read' registers, and every attempt has been made to read, and record whatever
records are available, using Bishops Transcripts when possible to supplement the result.
Knowing from my own research what a difficult register Baslow can be to work with, this
aid to research has my highest commendation. The overall result is without any measure of
doubt a major contribution to anyone's research in The Peak District of Derbyshire, and
I can thoroughly recommend it.
As usual, photographs of Bonsall are included on the CD as well as a full
transcription of available records. These include the very attractive photograph
of the church which appears on the CD cover.
This transcription is a 'gem' from the point of view of my own research - another major
contribution to research in the Peak District, which I can recommend. The photographs
are wonderful, and include villages of Foolow, Wardlow and Grindleford, besides Eyam
itself. Their close ups of Tourist Information signs in Eyam reveal the Stocks were
restored for the Festival of Britain in 1951, whilst the building behind them is the
Old Market Hall (something I didn't know, since I hadn't read the board).
This massive undertaking, which has taken over a year to complete, comprises
12,350 baptisms, 13,260 burials and 2,600 marriages, which incidentally is more than
Bakewell, with 10,260 baptisms and 11,760 burials. Bakewell does however have
more marriages - nearly 6,800 - as is to be expected as it was the "mother church"
for chapelries such as Buxton (yes really!) and Baslow, which weren't always
available for marriages.
Worthy of note is that a significant number of entries prior to 1813 provide a father's
profession, and for burials sometimes an age at death and what a person died of (smallpox
being common!). The transcription also covers gaps in the IGI, compiled from Bishops
Transcripts which are missing for a period around 1730-60.
The greater effort involved in its preparation and transcription is reflected in the
higher price of £20, plus the usual £1 extra for overseas.
An account compiled by Syvia Wright, illustrated by extracts
from various documents, including a Certifying Certificate,
transcript of the 1841 Census of St Werburgh Parish, Derby,
Green Hill House Lunatic Asylum, accounts of treatment and
images of some barbaric "treatment" devices.
We provide the information in a variety of formats (including PDF) to ensure CDs should be readable
on virtually any operating system. There are three database formats, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Works
and Comma-Separated Variable (CSV - suitable for importing into a spreadsheet such as Excel)
Word Processor (DOC) and Adobe Acrobat (PDF) versions are also included, listing records in both
chronological and in alphabetical order, although of course these cannot provide the full functionality
of a database or spreadsheet for sorting and searching.
Note: Access 97 and above users may wish to be aware there is a fundamental problem in
trying to open databases from any read-only media (eg CD), so you will need up to 500KB
of free space to transfer it onto your hard disk before you can read it.
The CDs also have photograph collections in JPG format, which can be viewed with your
favourite image viewer. IrfanView is a good
Freeware one, but you can also use Internet Explorer if necessary. Microsoft Paint, one
of the Windows 9x Accessories will also suffice.
Ordering Information
Prices quoted are in Sterling, and include postage and packing.
Payment may be by Sterling cheque, postal order, or via the PayPal system.
The e-mail address for enquiries and for PayPal is:-
Orders by post (accompanied by Sterling cheques) may be sent to:-
Val Neal
50 Main Street,
Middleton,
MATLOCK,
DE4 4LU,
England.
Make cheques &c. payable to "Val Neal", and
please be sure to state which of the above CDs you require!
The CDROM will be sent in a "Jiffy" (bubble wrap padded) envelope complete
with the "Jewel Case". Overseas orders are sent at "Small
Packet" Rate - please allow 7 to 10 days from dispatch for delivery.
Finally, please note that as a very strict rule none of us are able to provide individual
lookups from the material on offer, however if the information supplied here isn't clear,
or for technical support further queries may be sent to the email address provided above.
Disclaimer
This information is made available on GENUKI website by Rosemary Lockie, based
on information supplied by the advertisers. Please note that I have
no personal involvement with these items, other than being a very satisfied
customer. Whilst I have taken every care to ensure the information I've
supplied is accurate, I can accept no responsibility for errors or omissions,
nor for any subsequent loss suffered by any reader as a result of information
contained herein. Any transactions entered into as a result of the information
contained on this web page are between you and the advertiser only. Thank you.
21 Aug 2007
[Created 11 Aug 2005. Last updated 11 Sep 2007 - 13:56 by Rosemary Lockie]
