Basic Search Help

Some general hints:

• Searches are not case-sensitive. (You can use UPPER OR lower case - or EvEn A mIx - it doesn't effect the search)
• Results featuring any of the words entered in the search query box will be found.
• If you separate words that you are searching for with a space it is the same as separating them with the Boolean term 'or' (see below for an explanation of Boolean searching)

Parts of words:

You can use a shortened form of a word followed by an asterisk (*) to search on the beginning of the word. For example, searching on charit* will find "charity", "charities" and "charitable".

Linking phrases to create more complex queries:

You can use the words AND, OR and NOT (what are often called the 'Boolean operators') to create more complex queries. Brackets can also be used to group terms. For example:

child* and foster*
will find instances of "child" or "children" and "fostered", "fostering" or "foster parent".

foster and not adopt*
will find instances of "foster" but not "adopted", "adoption" or "adoptive".

domestic or serv* and training
will find instances of both (1) either "domestic" or "service" or "servant", and (2) "training".

illegitimate or (single and parent)
will find instances of either (1) "illegitimate", or (2) both "single" and "parent".

Searching on a whole phrase:

You can find exact phrases or strings of words by searching for them in between speech marks - or double quotes - "" . For instance:

"The Rover League"

will find instances of the phrase "the Rover League".

Searching on a date or dates:

Adding "and 1900" or "and 190*" will find records dated 1900 or records whose dates fall between 1900 and 1909 respectively.

Advanced Search

The Advanced Search feature on Hidden Lives Revealed allows you to search either the majority of the site - or just a bit of it. For instance:

• you can search through all the photographs on the site for pictures of children playing
• you can search the list of homes to see if there was one near where you live
• you can search the children's case files for details of all the children who were trained for careers in service.

Unfortunately you can't search the Publication section from this box. You may browse or search through the publications on Hidden Lives Revealed here.