Reference Centre, Genealogy 101

Answers to Genealogy FAQs - Finding Information on CityArk

First, the website address of CityArk is

Cityark Medway

As I know that quite a number of people have great difficulty finding any records on the CityArk website, I am including here a set of instructions for successful searching.

On CityArk, the first thing one has to be aware of is that its' search facility only searches the metadata of its' archival file inventory. For instance, you might be able to find some reference to an ancestor who didn't pay their taxes but you will not find a reference to a baptism, marriage or burial for that ancestor through that search facility. Nor will you be able to locate a link through to a parish register from that search. One has to go through the procedure that I will set out below.

A.  On the home page for CityArk, go to the link titled 'Parish Records (Archdeaconry of Rochester)'. Click on that link. You will then be delivered to a page where all of the registers are listed and linked to their respective images.

B.  On that register listing page, scroll down until you get to the listing for the parish you are interested in. Note:  All of Cityark's records are image based. So, you will have to go through multiple images one-by-one until you find what it is you are after. To learn about the marriage index please see the FAQ that deals with CityArk marriage index.  You can also search for an event on FreeReg and then come back to Cityark to retrieve the original parish register image of the event.

C.  Next I will walk you through getting to the registers.

D.  Clicking on the parish link will take you to a new page on which you'll see two sections - "Title" and "Hierarchy browser".  Each section is separated by a very faint blue line.  Next to "Hierarchy browser" you'll see a 'plus' sign.   Click on the 'plus' sign and all of the available records for that parish will open up as a list.

E.  The first entry in that new list should be "INCUMBENT - Registers and services" with a range of dates.  Click on the 'plus' sign next to this entry.  A new list will open that lists the type of register with another range of dates.  Read down the list until you find one that contains the event and time for which you are searching.  When you find the right file, click on the title of it.

F.  Once you click on the right file another new window will open. It will have the "Title" section and the "Hierarchy browser" sections. But, the "Title" section has a new line added at the bottom titled "Digitised version" with a link to a PDF file.  The PDF file contains the register images for that event and range of years.  Click on it and a new window will open up with the images from the original register.  You will have to read/scroll through the pages until you find the entry you are seeking.

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