Hi all, Anyone who inputs names into a database from a handwritten source has a very difficult job. I index the Sussex Family Historian and know just how difficult this is, even if you speak the language and know the area reasonably well. I can't possibly be familiar with all the villages and hamlets in East and West Sussex, so I use a good map to narrow the odds of making a mistake. And as John has shown by typing 'mistrascribing' and 'mistrascribed' (sorry, couldn't resist that :-)) it is very easy to type the wrong thing even when you know what you should be typing. Even inputting from a printed source, as I do, results in occasional mistakes. Added to this, with my name having more than 50 variant spellings over the centuries, names are even harder to interpret and I have struggled many times with census returns. I do agree, though, that there is no excuse for making the job harder by getting people to transcribe when they are at a disadvantage from the start. For this reason, I rarely buy information from 'professional' sources. We should all be naturally suspicious of any information unless we have seen the original. In genealogical research, it pays to be pedantic. That's probably why it's taking me so long (30 years and still going)! Best wishes, and especial thanks to all those who have contributed to so much valuable information being available through SFHG (I've not been paid to say this!). Tony Hoklhma (sorry, that should be Holkham) 9967 On 08/08/2008, John Green <jandagreen@sympatico.ca> wrote: > Hello Everyone, > Thanks for your comments Marion and I could not agree more with what you > say. As you say knowledge of the district one is working on is so important, > but also the language of the country concerned, e.g. English and a > knowledge of at least the more common first names and surnames. I suspect > that some of the transcriptions I have seen were the work of persons whose > first language was not English and their geographical knowledge sadly > lacking. Even English county names mistranscribed for which there is no > excuse, for they can be checked in an appropriate book of reference. My wife > is Welsh and as one can imagine the mistrascribing of Welsh names, places > and counties is very common. However having had close attachment to Wales > for nearly 50 years I can spot the mistakes fairly readily. I have several > SFHG transcriptions and agree they are of an exceptionally high standard. My > surname is one of the more common but it too has been mistrascribed in > different ways. Best wishes to all, John Green 9502, in Ontario, Canada. > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Marion Woolgar" <listmail2008@btinternet.com> > To: <cainjo1@postmaster.co.uk>; "lesleywhiting" > <lesley.whiting3@btinternet.com>; "sfhg" <sfhg@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Friday, August 08, 2008 5:25 AM > Subject: Re: [SFHG] William Pestifold > > > >I didn't actually use Ancestry to find Lesley's family on the Brighton 1851 > > Census. Although it is there, it is mistranscribed as PATTISON. I think > > that it would take a lot of searching and lateral thinking to overcome > > that > > particular mistranscription. > > > > Instead, I used the SFHG's own Index to the Brighton 1851 Census which I > > bought years ago on fiche as each part was published (they are available > > on > > CD now). In this transcript and Index, the family is transcribed as > > PESTIFOTE?, which is a lot closer to Lesley's spelling of the surname. > > When > > I checked the Census schedule itself, I can quite see why the SFHG > > volunteer > > had difficulty reading it as it is very cramped writing. However, they > > made > > a very good stab at it indeed. > > > > Wherein lies the moral of the tale. I often overhear people at record > > offices, libraries and family history fairs saying that there is no point > > in > > buying census transcripts from Family History Societies (FHS) "because it > > is > > all online now and all you need is a subscription to a web site". My > > heart > > sinks when I hear that because the very best census transcripts and > > indexes > > will always be those that are made by interested volunteers who have a > > knowledge of the district that they are working on; and even then, their > > work is closely checked before publication by an FHS. I very much doubt > > that the internet search sites will ever be able to match that degree of > > commitment to quality control. > > > > Of course, no-one could ever afford to purchase all the Indexes that they > > need from FHS's and coverage is necessarily patchy because the work > > depends > > on volunteers coming forward and there has never been enough of them. > > That's where web sites like Ancestry, Findmypast etc score heavily and I > > had > > hoped that Familyhistoryonline would answer that challenge. However, > > there > > was trouble with that idea from the start with many FHS's refusing to > > sign-up to the idea and/or the contract with the Federation of Family > > History Societies (FFHS) and now the FFHS has sold out to Findmypast. > > "Big > > business" wins again. > > > > Best wishes > > > > Marion Woolgar > > Bognor Regis, West Sussex > > SFHG NO: 3323 > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > SFHG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > > in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SFHG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >