Hi I could agree with the theory of a full stop showing an abbreviated name if it wasn't for the following: 1) They are only found on Death records not on Births or Marriages 2) They are found on EVERY Death record in my particular scans, whatever the preceding Forename(s) or initials may be - Dave has this wrong in (2) below The only instances we've seen (so far) where this theory could be correct is after Eliza and Obed - which could be a shortened form but are also names in their own right To me it seems obvious that they have been put it as separators between the Forenames and the Age in Death records. Especially when we have an instance of 2 full stops after Sarah Ann E - that would be one full stop for the initial E and one as a separator. Sue E Sussex, UK My Family Tree Website is at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~sadovaston ----- Original Message ----- From: "Graham Hart" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: 28 October 2001 1:10 AM Subject: Re: Dave; Fullstop > Hi Garry, > > As Dave is not around at the mo .. here is his answer from a few days > ago on this list ... > > > Dave Mayall said: > > > 1) There are cases where there is quite distinctly a period following a forename, > > > separate from and different to the row of dots that follow. > > > 2) The use of such a period would appear to be against some but not all records > > > on a page > > > 3) we can conclude that either it means something or is poor typesetting > > > > > > We know that a period following a single letter means that the letter is a > > > contraction of a name to an initial, so I propose a hypothesis that a period > > > following a forename MAY indicate that there are further forenames not indexed > > > > > > Now, if my hypothesis is bunkum, we can easily tell the program at some future > > > date to ignore the periods. If my hypothesis is correct, and we decide as a matter > > > of policy to omit the periods, we cannot go back and have the program insert the > > > periods. We will have lost data. > > > > > > That explains why it isn't correct to omit the period. > > > > > > The question that we are trying to resolve is not whether it is right to lose this > > > data (it isn't), but whether it is realistic to try and capture it, or whether we > > > will lose so much of it through transcribers being unable to see the character, through > > > deliberate omission by transcribers who decline to follow policy, or through transcribers > > > who omit it without even considering that it may have data value, that we are wasting our > > > time. > > > Kiwiz Syndicate wrote: > > > > >The full stop *is* potentially valuable data. > > > > I cant' see any possible way a fullstop could be 'potentially valuable data' > > after a F'name, the decision seems somewhat pedantic to me . Please clarify > > 'potentially valuable' for me please. > > I understand that some people may find it pedanitc, but it is for a > reason. We believe that it might indictae a shortened name for example > and it may be a clue to the person reading the record. We should give > people as much info as we can .. > > Hope that helps > > Cheers > > Graham > > > > > Garry > > KIWIZ Syndicate Co-ordinator > > > > ============================== > > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp > > > ============================== > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp > >

And in addition - having just had a really good look at my current Death page (1893)! On EVERY record there is: Name(s). blank space Age then the row of dots before the District e.g SLATER, Mary Ann. 55 ........ Pancras 1b. 131 _____ Mary Elizabeth. 2 ....... Sheffield 9c. 378 Sue E Sussex, UK My Family Tree Website is at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~sadovaston ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sue Burton" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: 28 October 2001 8:40 AM Subject: Re: Fullstop > Hi > > I could agree with the theory of a full stop showing an abbreviated name if > it wasn't for the following: > > 1) They are only found on Death records not on Births or Marriages > 2) They are found on EVERY Death record in my particular scans, whatever the > preceding Forename(s) or initials may be - Dave has this wrong in (2) below > > The only instances we've seen (so far) where this theory could be correct is > after Eliza and Obed - which could be a shortened form but are also names in > their own right > > To me it seems obvious that they have been put it as separators between the > Forenames and the Age in Death records. Especially when we have an instance > of 2 full stops after Sarah Ann E - that would be one full stop for the > initial E and one as a separator. > > Sue > E Sussex, UK > My Family Tree Website is at > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~sadovaston > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Graham Hart" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: 28 October 2001 1:10 AM > Subject: Re: Dave; Fullstop > > > > Hi Garry, > > > > As Dave is not around at the mo .. here is his answer from a few days > > ago on this list ... > > > > > > Dave Mayall said: > > > > 1) There are cases where there is quite distinctly a period following > a forename, > > > > separate from and different to the row of dots that follow. > > > > 2) The use of such a period would appear to be against some but not > all records > > > > on a page > > > > 3) we can conclude that either it means something or is poor > typesetting > > > > > > > > We know that a period following a single letter means that the letter > is a > > > > contraction of a name to an initial, so I propose a hypothesis that a > period > > > > following a forename MAY indicate that there are further forenames not > indexed > > > > > > > > Now, if my hypothesis is bunkum, we can easily tell the program at > some future > > > > date to ignore the periods. If my hypothesis is correct, and we decide > as a matter > > > > of policy to omit the periods, we cannot go back and have the program > insert the > > > > periods. We will have lost data. > > > > > > > > That explains why it isn't correct to omit the period. > > > > > > > > The question that we are trying to resolve is not whether it is right > to lose this > > > > data (it isn't), but whether it is realistic to try and capture it, or > whether we > > > > will lose so much of it through transcribers being unable to see the > character, through > > > > deliberate omission by transcribers who decline to follow policy, or > through transcribers > > > > who omit it without even considering that it may have data value, that > we are wasting our > > > > time. > > > > > > Kiwiz Syndicate wrote: > > > > > > >The full stop *is* potentially valuable data. > > > > > > I cant' see any possible way a fullstop could be 'potentially valuable > data' > > > after a F'name, the decision seems somewhat pedantic to me . Please > clarify > > > 'potentially valuable' for me please. > > > > I understand that some people may find it pedanitc, but it is for a > > reason. We believe that it might indictae a shortened name for example > > and it may be a clue to the person reading the record. We should give > > people as much info as we can .. > > > > Hope that helps > > > > Cheers > > > > Graham > > > > > > > > Garry > > > KIWIZ Syndicate Co-ordinator > > > > > > ============================== > > > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp > > > > > > ============================== > > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp > > > > > > > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry's Library - The best collection of family history > learning and how-to articles on the Internet. > http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library > >

On Sun, 28 Oct 2001 08:40:04 -0000, you wrote: >Hi > >I could agree with the theory of a full stop showing an abbreviated name if >it wasn't for the following: > >1) They are only found on Death records not on Births or Marriages Wrong. Some Births and Marriages have been found with full stops after forenames. >2) They are found on EVERY Death record in my particular scans, whatever the >preceding Forename(s) or initials may be - Dave has this wrong in (2) below "In my particular scans".... but not in ALL scans. We set policy such that the same consistent rule is applied consistently to ALL transcribing. A rule that said "Transcribe the full stop if it is important" would be farcical. Transcribe what you see, and don't interpret. -- Dave Mayall