I had great fun searching for the details of John James Boyde, my great-grandfather. The information I had did not match what was available on the IGI and in the censuses. I finally solved the puzzle by researching all the families containing John Boyd(e)s christened on the Island between 1855 and 1875, of whom there are 20, from their christening to the 1891 census. It was time consuming, but it worked and I found him. One of the reasons I could not positively identify him was that he was mis-described in the 1871 census. By the 1881 census, he was on his own, but just down the road from his family, as it happens. I received a lot of help from a couple of people, and it strikes me that my hand-written research might, if typed up, be useful to other people researching the Boyd(e)s, as it follows over 100 Boyd(e)s through some 35 years.

Two questions – is this information likely to be of use? And how do I best present such information on this site? Does anyone have any ideas? The information includes the christenings, parents, 1871, 1881 and 1891 census index family groups including siblings. I have Family Tree Maker and Office 97.

James McMenemy
Researching Agnew, Aylmer, Boyde, Callister, Comaish, Crellin,
Cretney, Gelling & Kelly – all on the Isle of Man.