An error in a record can occur anywhere in its history from original creation to trancription. I have come across some that are clearly a case of an "official" writing down what they thought they heard or even expected to hear. In trying to trace my missing gg-grandfather I came upon his mother's burial in Forfar in 1860 (in the days before Deceased Online when you could see the original entry in the burial records) and found that the ground was owned by gg-grandfather with an address in "Glasswell, Aberdeenshire".I looked in vain for this place then someone mentioned that there was a "Glessel" in Aberdeenshire which turned out to be the right place. I can only assume that the clerk taking down gg-grandfather's particulars heard the word "Glessel" but took that to be the same as a place near Kirriemuir called "Glasswell" on signs but invariably pronounced "glessle" in the Forfar / Kirriemuir area. Cheers, Bruce D ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nivard Ovington" <ovington1@sky.com> To: <angus@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 10:59 AM Subject: Re: [ANGUS] Prisoners > Hi Gavin > > With great respect you appear to be reading things into my post that I > did not put > > I did not at any point say it was the enumerator who was mainly at fault > > What I said and stand by is that the more common names are more likely > to be recorded or transcribed correctly than the more unusual names > (by anyone, enumerator, volunteer or paid transcriber etc) > > We find similar problems problems with any form of record, birth, > marriage, baptism etc etc > > There are various stages along the way from start to finish, an error > can creep in at any point, that can be by the most fastidious of > transcribers or recorders, they are human and make mistakes, I have done > so many times without realising it > > Although transcribers should always transcribe what they see, one person > will see one thing and another a different word or words > > Yes there are other transcripts but only Ancestry have a decent search > engine which enables all manner of search techniques, which to some > degree negate the poor quality of transcription > > My advice would be to use any transcription that is available but to > always obtain the original page image if at all possible > > No transcript is without flaws, but at least with Ancestry you have a > passing chance of finding people or places > > You also do not need a 2nd mortgage to use it as most libraries and the > LDS have it if you can't afford it at home > > Scotlandspeople may be reasonably cost effective but it quickly mounts > up, using Ancestry it can make your search on SP more targeted and > therefore cheaper > > Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > > >> I don't believe a name like TEVIOTDALE would commonly be mistranscribed >> by the Census Enumerator - as a surname, it is not particularly >> widespread, but it is also the name of a river valley in the Scottish >> Borders, and figures in Sir Walter Scott's pseudo-Jacobite song "Blue >> Bonnets Ower the Border", so is likely to have been perfectly familiar >> to an averagely-educated Scot of the mid-19th century. >> >> What is far more likely is that the name was mistranscribed at a much >> later stage (ie within the last few years) by someone entirely >> unfamiliar with Scottish names and 19th-century handwriting. Ancestry >> are rumoured to have had their Census transcriptions done in India, >> where data entry charges may be lower, but where familiarity with >> Scottish personal and place names cannot necessarily be guaranteed. >> >> But Ancestry's is not the only transcription available. Scotland's >> People transcriptions are generally more reliable, and Tay Valley Family >> History Society sell Census indexes for the counties of Angus, Perth, >> Kinross and Fife, and these will have been produced by people native to >> the area, who will be familiar with the names likely to be encountered. >> >> >> Gavin Bell > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ANGUS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2013.0.2793 / Virus Database: 2634/5923 - Release Date: 11/27/12 >