Genealogy Chat

Don't forget that from time to time ages can be mis-transcribed too. I had one relative who was father-in-law aged 7!! (Really 77). Hence YOB was insanely wrong.
And yes, I did correct it!
Jan

Good point, Deb.

I found my grandfather on one census using his Christian name and birth year. He was one of several boarders and the transcriber had read the wrong line for his surname, so it was totally different!

How about Norah, transcribed as Beval.....?

Now that IS amazing, beyond me I think!!
Molly

The most staggering find for me I think was a family of Smiths mis-transcribed as Waitt!! Now that's impressive. Just wish I could remember who did it!
A very close second (or even equal first!) was Winnie Legge in 1911 mis-transcribed as Winnie Tigg.
I've observed before that it's sometimes easier to look for other people's stuff as you come to it with a more open mind.
jan

Thank you, I am going to try for myself, but not much doubt that I will be back!!! What would we do without you?
Molly

I sometimes look for the 'shape' of the surname
ie. tall or short letters in the right place.
These sometimes form into odd-looking names, which I then investigate.

Start with just a few basic facts, when you search.... There is less chance for so many facts to be wrongly entered by the enumerator.... or for the person to have changed their age or birthplace since the last census!

Gwyn

We all have to start somewhere Molly so don't worry if you can't always find things for yourself. Just have a go and then if you still can't find what you are looking for - just ask on here. No one minds looking - that's why a lot of us come on here.

Kath. x

Thank you for your replies, I didn't realise how much time and effort it obviously takes to answer census enquiries. I thought you had an easy answer to it.
A bit humbling really,so thank you to anyone who has helped me so many times.
I am going to try for myself but how successful I will be I don't know.
Thanks again for all the hard work you put in
Molly

I tend to look at them if the name seems really odd or somehow "not quite right". I forget which census I was looking at, but I remember searching for a Thomas Hearsnep/Hearsnip and he just wouldn't show up at all.

Unfortunately it was the 1841 census so I couldn't search by place of birth so I started by looking at every Thomas born c.1806 in Lancashire (ideally living in Ormskirk district, where I knew he should be), which took forever - and eventually I think I spotted a "Thomas Hearsnoss". I thought "Hearsnoss" sounded like an odd name, plus sometimes "p" gets misread as one of those "f"s that they used instead of the letter "s" and, sure enough, the image read "Hearsnape" but the transcriber must have assumed it ended in "ss".

But then again, it is a strange name. Also, sometimes if you can spot letters that look vaguely similiar - capital "S" and "L", for instance - you can spot possible misspellings - I've found "Liggs" and "Legge" instead of "Siggs" before.

It depends where you are looking. If you use Ancestry you can often just put in a first name and place of birth, or first name and year of birth and then look through all the names that come up (especially the surnames that start with the letter your name starts with) and see if anything looks as if it could be a mis-transcription of the name you are looking for.

I'm not sure if searching on Genes works in the same way.

Kath. x

It amazes me how you find the correct image with a transcription error. For instance, Silvester was transcribed as Schlesser, what prompts you to look at that particular image when it bears no relation to Sylvester? The actual image is obviously Silvester but how did you get there? I always feel so guilty asking for help so many times when the answer is obvious, and wish I could do it myself..
Molly