Please
read this first before using the search engine (below) and before submitting
data for inclusion on the site.
Our
thanks to the various contributors who are responsible for the content of this
database. At present it contains
mostly death notices, but we anticipate including all kinds of genealogical
records.
Delia
Robertson developed the concept for organising the data.
The goal was to be able to include any type of record or document and
every name that appears in or on it.
Ron
Smit developed and built the database.
If
you would like to contribute your own data, please make use of the Excel
template here. It is an Excel 95
template which you can download (right click, save as) and use in Excel
95 or any later version of Excel. When
it is complete, save it with a different name and send it to
Delia
Robertson.
Use
the same template to send any corrections you find in the records on the site
– not forgetting to save each submission with a different name.
The
template contains examples of extractions from a death notice, a marriage
certificate and a baptism record. Please
use those examples to submit your own extractions.
You enter one row of data for every individual named in the
record or document. Each row in
the template is divided into the following columns:
LastName:
Use this column to enter the last name as it appears in the record or
document. It could be married surname in the case of a woman, birth
surname of adopted individual, etc.
GivenName(s):
Use this column to enter the given names as they appear in the
record or document.
OtherName:
Use this column to enter another LastName used by the person referred
to in this row of data and as it appears in the record or document.
It could be the birth surname of a married woman, or the new surname of
an adopted individual, etc. If
there is more than one OtherName, enter the individual twice or more (in other
words create more than one row of data for the individual).
Role:
This would reflect the role of the person on the original document. The
advantage of doing it this way is that you don't have to have dozens of
different columns to accommodate all kinds of different roles in different
documents. The following show
some roles that might appear in different records.
On
a Death Notice it could include:
1.
Deceased
2. Father
3. Mother
3. Spouse
4. Son
5. Daughter
6. Person reporting the death/signator
In
a Baptism record it could be include:
1.
Person baptised
2. Mother
3. Father
4. Minister
5. Godfather
6. Godmother
7. Other witnesses
In
a Marriage record it could include:
1.
Bride
2. Groom
3. Witness
4. Mother
5. Father
Document
(Event):
Use this column to describe the event or type of document recorded,
i.e. death notice, baptism, marriage, death certificate, etc.
Year
(Event):
Use this column to enter the year of the event – NOT the date of the
record or document. If you think there is a necessity to enter the date in full,
please contact Delia Robertson to
discuss.
Place
(Event):
Use this column to enter the place the event occurred – NOT the place
the document or record was signed or is held.
Repository:
Use this column to enter the place where the record is held.
If it is one of the national archive depots, you need only enter the
city. If it is a church or
library, etc., you will need to provide additional information; e.g. NLSA
(National Library of South Africa), Cape Town
Reference:
Use this column to enter the reference to the record or document.
Please note that in most cases there is no need to provide the full
archival reference – you will need only the actual document reference.
For example, in the case of a Cape Town death notice, we need only MOOC
1435, we don’t need KAB MOOC 6/9/668 Ref 1435.
If in doubt, please ask.
Contact:
Use this column to enter the full name of the contributor – i.e. Delia
Robertson - not Delia.
Email:
Use this column to enter the contributor’s email address.
Using
the search engine:
This is fairly straightforward and you will probably wish to start by
searching on LastName. However, because we are using one row of data for each
individual mentioned in a record or document, once you have found one
individual by searching on one of the name fields, you can copy the reference
and then search on the reference to find all the individuals who appear in the
record.