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ArchivesRe: Perils of taking census records as the gospel truth
in reply to a message by Cleveland Kent Evans
I see this all the time when I look through the British censuses (on Ancestry.co.uk). There are so many difficulties. Illegible handwriting, poor spelling by the transcriber and the fact that people weren't required to give their full legal name.
I have one ancestor who is down as "Annie", "Anna M", "Mary Anna" and "Marianne" on consecutive censuses.
Baptism records are even worse for mistakes in my experience.
I have one ancestor who is down as "Annie", "Anna M", "Mary Anna" and "Marianne" on consecutive censuses.
Baptism records are even worse for mistakes in my experience.
This message was edited 3/21/2008, 1:33 PM
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Replies
Mary Ann
aargh, I can completely sympathise with the Mary Ann dilemma, I have two ancestors by this name and they appear variously as Maryann, Maryanne, Marianne, Mary Ann, Mary Anne or Mary A.
I also have a Lilias, who appears as Lilias, Lillias, Lilly and Lily.
I'm also currently trying to work out whether a women called simply 'Arabe' was Arabel, Arabella or something else entirely.
aargh, I can completely sympathise with the Mary Ann dilemma, I have two ancestors by this name and they appear variously as Maryann, Maryanne, Marianne, Mary Ann, Mary Anne or Mary A.
I also have a Lilias, who appears as Lilias, Lillias, Lilly and Lily.
I'm also currently trying to work out whether a women called simply 'Arabe' was Arabel, Arabella or something else entirely.
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