DOLAMORE, St Albans, circa 1829
January, 2008
Eileen Shelton (eileen_m_shelton @t yahoo.com) of Ohio, U.S.A. asks: What information can I hope to find on the Christening records of David Dolamore b. 1827 and perhaps his brother Charles James Dolamore b. 1829 which for both of them took place according to LDS in 13 Feb 1829 at the Abbey, St Albans, Hertfordshire, and would I find more information if I came to England or just as much through ordering LDS CDs.
Baptism registers after 1813 will contain the occupation of the father, the address where the family lived (sometimes only the name of the parish) and the name of the minister, in addition to the information indexed by on familysearch. In addition, the minister may write additional information on the page margin, especially if the child was more than a few months old. The parish registers have been filmed (and are not normally accessible to the public to preserve them for posterity) so the images you would see if you visited England would be the same as those you would see in your local LDS Family History Centre. Most of the key records can now be accessed online or via the LDS and you should do as much as possible of the groundwork before you come to England - see Visiting Hertfordshire to look for Ancestors
The Dolamore family (which you may find spelt in various ways) looks interesting. James and Sarah Dolamore had the following children baptised at St Albans Abbey.
| Name | Baptised | Notes |
| John Dolamore | 6 April 1821 | ? |
| Charles Dolamore | 27 April 1823 | Buried at St Albans in 1827, aged 4. |
| George Dolamore | 27 March 1825 | Probably the George Delamore, 24, underbutler to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lambeth Palace in the 1851 census |
| David Dolamore | 13 February 1829 | Recorded in the 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1901 census - was an attendant at the British Museum |
| Charles Edward Dolamore | 13 February 1829 | In 1851 census he was a porter at Shoolbred & Co - a major drapery store company in Tottenham Court Road, London, and at the time of the 1871 census he was working in the Printed Book Department of the British Museum. He is also listed in later censuses. |
So if you come to England you will have to visit two major tourist attractions to see where the Dolemores worked. The British Museum is still there and the central court still contains the Reading Room - although the books have moved out to the British Library. At the moment the Reading Room has a false floor for a temporary exhibition (I was there earlier this month) - so if you plan to visit it you should contact the museum to find out when the Reading Room had been returned to normal. Lambeth Palace has a gateway dated from 1485. It is not normally open to the public but tours can be booked well in advance.
Page created January 2008