APPENDIX IV - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 
 
 
Readers may be interested to learn the methods undertaken to collect all the information for this 
database. Basically it consisted of five steps.
 
Step 1
 
The first step was to download the State Archive Births, Deaths and Marriages data (specifically the 
Pioneer Series 1788-1888). This created the basis and scope of work for the remaining steps.
 
For baptisms this gave: the parish, year of birth, child’s Christian name, father’s Family and Christian 
names, mother’s Christian name and if she was not married to the child’s father her Family name 
as well , reference number. In the case of Anglican baptisms at least the reference number can be 
used to deduce the year of baptism.
 
For marriages this gave: the parish, year of marriage, groom’s Family and Christian names, bride’s 
Family and Christian names, reference number.
 
For burials this gave: the parish, year of burial, name of deceased, reference number.
 
Step 2
 
The second step was to transcribe all the individual parish registers.
 
For baptisms this supplied: the date of baptism, the date of birth, officiating minister, sequence 
number.
 
For marriages this supplied: date of marriage, groom’s parish or place of residence, brides parish or 
place of residence, who gave consent to the marriage, officiating minister, sequence number. 
(Witnesses to the marriage was also recorded in the register but not used in this work).
 
For burials this supplied: date of burial, date of burial, date of death (not always), deceased’s age, 
deceased’s place of residence, comments (occasionally), officiating minister, sequence number.
 
The quality of this information was very dependent upon the denomination, the parish and most 
importantly the individual chaplains.
 
The big change came in 1826 when Governor Brisbane issued formal standardized printed forms to 
all parishes for baptisms, marriages and burials. For baptisms the place of birth and father’s 
profession or calling were now required to be recorded. For burials the comments column (which on 
occasions provided very useful information) was replaced with the deceased’s profession or calling. 
The new forms helped with uniform recording and deciphering of the calligraphy but on the other 
hand some previously recorded information was lost.
 
It would then take until 1856 before civil registration of all births, marriages and burials was 
introduced with the more informative documents one is used to today.
 
Step 3
 
The third step was to research each individual entry. This is the step which literally took decades of 
time and effort.
 
For births this furnished: father’s name & year of ship of arrival and status upon arrival (or year of 
birth for the colonial born),mother’s name & year of ship of arrival and status upon arrival (or year 
of birth for the colonial born) ,parent’s year and church(place) of marriage if married.
 
For marriages this furnished: groom’s name & year of ship of arrival and status upon arrival (or year 
of birth for the colonial born), groom’s age, bride’s name & year of ship of arrival and status upon 
arrival (or year of birth for the colonial born) , bride’s age. 
 
For De Facto relationships this furnished similar information to that listed above for marriages but 
with the date of commencement calculated as one year before the birth of the couple’s first child.
 
For deaths this furnished: deceased’s name & year of ship of arrival and status upon arrival (or year 
of birth and parent’s names for the colonial born), deceased’s age if not previously recorded.
 
Most of this additional information came from previous work on "The Pioneer Register" and 
"Convict Families Which Made Australia" projects. Also the Census of 1828 was invaluable as were 
the earlier Colonial Musters to a lesser extent.
 
Step 4
 
The fourth step, and this is the "jewel in the crown" for the Family Historian, was to create 
alphabetical indices to the various base files.
 
For births this involved creating: an alphabetical list under the father’s name and an alphabetical list 
under the mother’s name.
 
For marriages this involved creating: an alphabetical list under the groom’s name and an 
alphabetical list under the bride’s name.
 
For deaths this involved creating alphabetical list under the deceased’s name.
 
These alphabetical lists have a reduced "data set" but having found a name on one of the above 
lists, using either the date of the event or the sequence number, the researcher can easily locate the 
entry on the relevant parish register.
 
Step 5
 
The fifth step, which is the most gratifying for this creator, is to publish the database and bring it to 
the general public. With the weight of wide scrutiny any errors are rapidly identified and corrected 
and any omissions rectified leading to the ultimate perfection of the information contained in the 
database. 

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