John Smith (1778-1860) and Jane Wain (1778-1863) | Thirsk, Yorkshire, England

Taking a break from unpacking our household belongings to blog a little about family history.  Always a great excuse for a diversion!  We just completed a transatlantic move from Sicily to Yorktown, Virginia...and I'm so happy to be back HOME.

This weekend, FindMyPast is offering FREE access (thanks for the heads-up, Kathy!).  While I wasn't sure exactly what I would find, I'm happy to report my research break definitely proved fruitful.

Here is a snippet of a marriage record from the parish records in Thirsk, Yorkshire (North Riding), England from 1799...including my 4th great-grandparents, John SMITH and Jane WAIN:

Yorkshire: Bishop's Transcripts of Marriages.  Thirsk, North Riding, Yorkshire, England.  Borthwick Institute for Archives.  Accessed via http://www.findmypast.com

While a little difficult to read, here's a transcription of the record:

John Smith, bachelor, and Jane Wain, spinster, both in this parish, were married in this church by banns on November 27th.

John and Jane eventually left England and settled in Deaborn County, Indiana.  I previously wrote about this exciting couple in THIS POST. An entire website is devoted to tracing the history of their children and grandchildren - http://www.ewbank-smith.org/tng/.

Happy hunting!  Now I'm off to hang a few pictures!