Genealogy Chat

Can anyone help??? I am trying to trace my grt grnd father and family but none of them are on the 1901 census. My grd father and his brother and sister whom I know both lived until the 1970's were all born befroe 1901. How do I trace them if I think that maybe my grt grnd father may have been in the army and not in the country at the time? Would it have been normal for his whole family to have been stationed with him abroard. I would appreciate any tips, as I am a real beginner. Lorraine

Firstly Welcome! Secondly - have you discovered the carefully hidden-away pages on where to start and useful links? They're near the bottom of your Home Page and do have some useful stuff. Thirdly - the 1901 census transcription was done by people on piece-rates or in India. This means that either they were going to get the info on as fast as poss, irrespective of accuracy or they didn't recognise when the information, as they'd entered it, was likely to be inaccurate. In any event it was being transcribed from 19th century handwriting of elegance but doubtful readability. Have you tried using wildcards in your search? These enabled me to find Jason (as "JasAn"), Leonard (as "LeAnard"), Cocks (as "CoOks") and a quantity of other mistranscribed names. The places also appear to be equally vulnerable - and the occupations. And do come back to the Tips boards, won't you. People have been very helpful to me here and I'm sure you'll find the same. Good hunting! Christine

Hi Christine, Thanks for your lovely message. I will definitely be using this part of the site for help, hints and chats. Thanks for the advice. Lorrzine:-)