| There are 3622 total entries in the database | You have 0 personal entries |
The Sheffield Records Online GenSearch database has been designed to contain the
names and basic details of those people in your family tree who have a Sheffield
or Sheffield-related connection, including nearby areas such as Rotherham and
Ecclesfield. Its purpose is to allow you to find others who might be researching the same or related
family lines.
Adding your ancestors
You can very easily add and update your own ancestors' details using the Add/Update
Tab. Once entered you will be able to amend their details or delete their record.
New entries are automatically added to your list of previously entered ancestors
and displayed in alphabetical surname order.
In order to ensure that entries are meaningful the surname, forename and place of
birth fields must be entered along with at least a year of birth. Where precise
dates of birth are unknown the "abt" field can be selected. If you really don't
know where a particular ancestor was born but still believe they have a Sheffield
connection you can always enter 'Unknown' for the place of birth.
Searching the GenSearch database
Whether you have entered details of your own Sheffield ancestors or not you will still be able to search the existing database in order to try a find a common interest. The database can be searched by a combination of surname, forename, place of birth and a year of birth although searches must include a surname as a minimum. You may also search for individuals over a range of birth years and a maximum range of 100 years can be selected by entering +/- 50 years.
Once you have carried out a search you will be presented with a list of people from the database that match the details you have entered. If no matches are found then there are currently no people matching the criteria you entered but keep checking back as new entries will be added on an ongoing basis.
Should you see a match that you wish to have further details on you can click the
'Send Message' button that corresponds to that match and this will allow you to send
a private message to the submitter of that record using the private messaging
facilities of the Message Forum. Unlike many "Surname Interest" lists this does
not involve your email address which, depending on how you set up your profile on
the message forum, can remain hidden, and therefore not available to spammers.
Import
Although not yet available it will soon be possible to enter the details of your Sheffield ancestors by uploading a gedcom file, rather then entering them all manually. Gedcom files can be exported by most family history software programs. Only those gedcom entries that contain details of surname, forename, place and year of birth will be uploaded, the rest will be filtered out at upload time. Once imported the records will appear under the Add/Update Tab and can be deleted or amended as required.