Mike wrote:- > The name of my ancestor was Jane Walker and she was born at Ripley, > Derbyshire in 1860. > However when she emigrated in 1895 she arrived at in USA as Jennie. Later > she took the name Hilda J. > In the 1881c she was as a servant in Nottingham. > The 1891c is uncertain. There is a Jane Walker, charwoman, working in > Nottingham but her place of birth is given as Derby. Although the birthplace is quite clearly written as "Derby", it has been transcribed (don't ask me why!) as "Derbyshire" by Ancestry. I'd tend to agree with them as it was quite common a century and a half ago to abbreviate counties to the name of the county town in official records. Folk in those days were often very parochial in their knowledge. F'rinstance, my ggrandmother's birthplace was recorded as "Tatnel, Beds." by the Northchurch Herts. census enumerator. Although Totternhoe, Beds, is only about ten miles away, he didn't recognise the place from her yokelese pronunciation. FWIW, Mike (another one)