I hesitate to take issue with my twin, Peter Park, and, in fact, suspect that we are not that far apart in our thinking. Yes, undoubtedly literacy, or the lack, of it plays a part in the accuracy of the information recorded in the various census enumerators books. While statistics of literacy do suggest a higher proportion of literate people existed in Victoria times than popularly supposed, I do question their real abilities, and I base this on personal experience over the last 40 years in dealing with civil engineering labourers, whose spelling can be, shall we say, interesting. However there are a number of other factors that may, or may not, be relevant to a particular case: 1. The lists we see today are a copy of an original, and this introduces the potential for an error. When indexing the GWR probate registers, I came across the place Redding. Now of all people, the G.W.Railway's own clerks should have known how to spell Reading. I very much doubt if the person concerned came from a small place in Stirlingshire, and the context suggests Berkshire. 2. Places of birth for individuals may not be known - the first place I can remember living is in South East London, whereas my birth certificate (and hearsay reports from my mother!) say Northamptonshire. 3. The person compiling the schedule may not have wanted to bother others and so put down what they thought 4. Spelling of places would tend to be based on a guess of correct spelling. Frank Hardy