Joy, There are always exceptions and some incumbents were more conscientious than others but I have seen many more questions about inaccuracies in BTs than the other way round. I tend to agree with the Devon Parish Register Source Guide. (http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/councildemocracy/record_office/information_dalss/guide_sources/parish_registers/prbackground.htm) "Where these Bishops Transcripts still survive, they can provide a valuable alternative if there are gaps in the registers themselves." Cheers Paul -----Original Message----- From: Joy Langdon [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 26 April 2016 21:50 To: Paul Hockie; [email protected] Subject: Re: [DEV] BTs on FamilySearch - a question and a correction Actually, the parish register was not always completed when the event took place. The original instruction in the 16th century was that the entries were to be made every Sunday after Service in the presence of one of the churchwardens (see link on Parish Registers below). The information on the Bishops Transcripts held in the Devon Record Offices says "Some Bishops Transcripts were written out first, and copied up into the register before being sent to the bishop, and some do not contain all the information found in the register, while some contain more" http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/councildemocracy/record_office/family_history_3/bishops_transcripts.htm http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/councildemocracy/record_office/information_dalss/guide_sources/parish_registers/prbackground.htm Regards, Joy ----Original message---- >From : [email protected] Date : 26/04/2016 - 19:47 (GMTST) To : [email protected] Subject : Re: [DEV] BTs on FamilySearch - a question and a correction Jan, I have not heard of Dr Tom Jones or "source snobbery". There is an accepted hierarchy of quality of genealogical data. Prime or Vital information is data recorded when the event took place. Civil registration and Parish Registers are in this category. The next tier are those transcribed or based on vital information, BTs, Census, Poor law, Military and similar records. Following this we have reported information which can include newspapers, books and even family legends. With regards to BTs, they were a lists of BDMs sent to the bishop once a year just after Easter until 1813 when they changed to the calendar year. There were exemptions, omissions and late submissions and completion may be rushed. There are examples of the transcript correcting an entry but the presumption is that the register is correct and that the BT is a "back-up" copy. I don't think I said "reject BTs out of hand" . What I intended to say was that if only the BT exists, then that is the source we have to use. If the registers exist, then we should obtain a copy and, if they exist, compare with the BTs. If they exists, the Registers are, like civil registration, the "legal" entry. Cheers Paul -----Original Message----- ------------------------------------------ The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and the Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) List archive for Devon can be found at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=devon ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------------------ The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and the Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) List archive for Devon can be found at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=devon ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Here's the link to the article I mentioned earlier: http://www.bcgcertification.org/skillbuilders/skbld135b.html Skillbuilding: Perils of Source Snobbery >From OnBoard - Newsletter of the BCG Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, “Perils of Source Snobbery,” OnBoard 18 (May 2012). Dr Jones is the author of Mastering Genealogical Proof: http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/mastering_genealogical_proof Cheers, Jan Jan Murphy [email protected] ----Original message---- > >From : [email protected] > Date : 26/04/2016 - 19:47 (GMTST) > To : [email protected] > Subject : Re: [DEV] BTs on FamilySearch - a question and a correction > > Jan, > > I have not heard of Dr Tom Jones or "source snobbery". There is an > accepted hierarchy of quality of genealogical data. Prime or Vital > information is data recorded when the event took place. Civil registration > and Parish Registers are in this category. The next tier are those > transcribed or based on vital information, BTs, Census, Poor law, > Military and similar records. > Following this we have reported information which can include newspapers, > books and even family legends. > With regards to BTs, they were a lists of BDMs sent to the bishop once a > year just after Easter until 1813 when they changed to the calendar year. > There were exemptions, omissions and late submissions and completion may > be rushed. There are examples of the transcript correcting an entry but the > presumption is that the register is correct and that the BT is a "back-up" > copy. > > I don't think I said "reject BTs out of hand" . What I intended to say was > that if only the BT exists, then that is the source we have to use. If the > registers exist, then we should obtain a copy and, if they exist, compare > with the BTs. If they exists, the Registers are, like civil registration, > the "legal" entry. > > Cheers > > Paul >