HUNGARY : Tracing a family - where to begin ? - HALAM

[Berlin-Bob]

For general genealogical information about Hungary and some links for research
try the Hungary page of the wiki.FamilySearch project^(*)

https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Hungary

amongst other things, there is a list of the counties / districts of Hungary.

Bob.


^(*)You can find out more about the wiki.FamilySearch project here:
Topic: New resource from Familysearch: research in other countries
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,259450.0.html

[Moncsisag]

gbrowne is searching Dodog name man. I believed it, I can help possibly.

[StrinaM]

Great info, thanks!

[Roy G]

Re Anna HALAM born 16th August, 1906, Budapest, Hungary

I dont know how long ago you were looking for the Budapest birth but about a year ago the LDS added more Hungarian records, but they seem to keep the new site a bit of a secret and the mode of entry not totally obvious.  When you do get in, you need someone to take your hand and guide you initially.

So the site is under                                 pilot familysearch.org
Dont enter anything, just click on              search our records.
After click on Europe
That gives you
            http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=allCollections&r=1
It lists of European countries, and last two of the Hungarian ones are most useful'

Not finished here though,  you're looking for a birth in Budapest in 1906
Click: Hungary civil registration 1895 - 1920
Click: Pest county
That will give you 12 of the 14 districts of Budapest (shown as Roman numerals with the IX and IV filed alphabetically not numerically)

Nothing is indexed, so without a known birth address, you still have to search each district for the year in question.  If you feel her parents were not too well off, leave district I - III till last for that the wealthier Buda side of the city.
Fortunately you do have the exact birth date, so that at least reduces the number of pages you have to scan through.

Good trick is to try to find the family address or district number from the death NOTICES also listed.  Although they are filed alphabetically, Ha and Ha with an accent are not consecutive.  So Hálám will appear WAY AFTER a name like Hazard where they start the alphabet again, this time usng accents.
So expect Hálám after a name like Hunt

I think there is something in the Hungarian mentality that wants to make the simplest thing into a major challenge.  Some will say thats an endearing quality, others, that it really p-----s them off!

Roy G from Budapest.

[gbrowne]

Hi Roy,

Thats a great tipoff, thanks very much.  I will see if I can find them in there.
What a useful set of data, but I don't think I would have found my way around it without your help !

Cheers,
Geoff.

[Roy G]

Glad to have been of help, and good luck.

Can only make suggestions based on my own experience and frustrations, but Hungarians also seem to squash their vowels, drop letters or "adapt" their names to western Europen equivalents, so be prepared to accept that what you find, may not be totally identical to what you seek.

The birth cert should be OK, but if they also married abroad, perhaps here in the 1960s, you've just missed the boat on that one.  The original release of State birth, marriage & death records by the LDS went up until 1972, but suddenly someone asked about "Data Protection" and all the later records covering the last 50 years were subsequently withdrawn from the Internet.

By the way, those Hungarian ladiies that came from the posh part of the city would always call it Buda and not Budapest, so if you ever met her, and that's what she said, districts I, II, or III should be where you expect to find her.  Its rather like saying someone comes from Brighton, and them correcting you with the phrase, "well Hove Actually."   

Get back to me with any probs
Roy

[Roy G]

I googled Ference J DoDog
One Internet site states that he is aged 65 plus and in 2009-2010 and was living in Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17.  At the same address were other occupants: Alice Dale & Anne E Marshall.

In 2002 other occupants of that same address were: Michael F Bryant , Margaret A Dodog & Brenda A Bryant

Looks like you now need a Buxted phone book.

Ference is the Hungarian form of Francis or Frederic by the way.

Roy G

[gbrowne]

Wow Roy, what a lead. 

Never even thought there'd be any of the family left in Buxton.

I wonder if the Dodog family knew my great-aunt Anna through being part of the Buxton Hungarian community, or if they were actually related. I will certainly follow this up today.

One thing Roy - could you possibly tell me how you would pronounce 'Ference DoDog' in Hungarian ?
I feel a phone call coming on

Thanks again Roy,
Geoff.

[Roy G]

Hope you found the site I referred to and felt like I did, that it would be wiser to reach for a Buxton Phone book (or Internet equvalent) rather than subscirbe to a site just for one address.

Have had a quick look on the LDS Hungarian birth registration site for Anna (or Aranka) Halam in 1906, but drew a blank.  But I stress it was only a qiuck look.  What worries me about the name is that by 1960 the average 54 year old Hungarian girl would have nailed a feller (or two) by then, and the surname she carried into your family could be that of a previous husband.  (see a piece abut the use of "ne" later)

I'm thinking aloud now.
I wonder whether your search for the marriage was just on FreeBMD or the main records held at the GRO?  If the former, do search the latter as well for the FreeBMD index peters out far too early.  A direct approach to the Registrar of BMDs in Buxton would not go amiss either.  Im told that such is the interest in Family History, some local Registrars have already started putting their past records into their own private databases to ease the searching workload.   While you are it, look up 'DoDogs' for that period, particularly Margaret A Dodog who I presume may have passed away between 2002-2009.

A 1960s marriage to a Hungarian also suggests she may have fled from the 1956 uprising, so there may be some papers somewhere where her case was assessed by Austrian or British authorities when she sought asylum in the UK.

As for pronunciation, the Hungarian language has lots of quirks.  Ference is said like "Clarence" but preceded by Fair.  Therefore Fair+ ense. 
A married woman then takes her husband's first and last names reverses them and puts -ne on the end.  For example, the wife of the afore mentioned Ference would therefore become Dodog Ferencene.  Ironic that Brits use 'nee' to show a lady's maiden name, and Hungarian ladies use it to show who they married.

To be honest, I've never come across the name Dodog before, but erring on the side of caution less it be connected to "DoggyDoos," I would opt for Doe-dog.

Roy G