Genealogy Chat

Thats surprising, Somerset usually turns up at Somalia!!

don't forget the plain simple fact that often the enumerators could often be only a little more literate than the illiterate people they were enumerating. You only have to see the number of 'X his/her mark' on marriage certificates to realise how many people even upto 1900 could not write. They probably didn't even know how to spell their names correctly themselves ..... so the priest writing in the register or the registrar ro the census enumerator only added another layer to it all! ps .... I really should get ancestry to correct my Silufield to the Schofield it should be (and which it is on the image!). I think the best one I have come across was when I was looking up things for a friend. I kept getting the right name and birth date but birthplace 'Samoa'. Eventually I checked the image (after days!!) ..... sure enough it was the right birth place ...... Somerset.

LOL, Im down as Hoather on the bmd - I mailed GRO but they said it was something to do with digitising the images. Im still Hoather - gawd help my GG children.

Hi You need to check your own records on Ancestry too. I couldn't find my marriage but when I went throught it using my husband there I was only my middle name was noted as my Christian name and my Christian name was just a middle initial. In years to come some one looking for me may struggle! I emailed Ancestry and it took some months but eventualy they noted the error. Also Tunstall 1871 census was noted as Sunslade Diane

Hi, I agree about an L changing to an S or vice versa. I was looking for a great aunt on Ancestry, name of Rosa Boyd I found her with the new name of Role. Jill

If everyone corrected names in Ancestry as they came across them it would help all of us. I couldn't find a family until I came across it with a different surname spelling. Someone had corrected the daughter's surname but not the rest of the family ! Another time, I found a 1841 listing under a different spelling after a contact with another person, but they had not corrected the name. Please let's help each other. Janet

Not only on the census, but in the parish registers and even the civil registrations too! I spent ages trying to find a marriage between a Georgina and a John Boyde. From the census, I knew that Georgina was born in a small village, the register of which had been extracted to the IGI. There was only one Georgina listed in the right time frame, transcribed as Georgina Swinney. I even got to look at the film of the register, and it sure did look like Swinney but could find no marriage for them anywhere. John was from another small village, and there was no John Boyde marriage listed there either. Anyway, I finally found their marriage - which is listed on the GRO index (and the IGI) as ''John Bryde & Georgina Tummey''! So... not only was Georgina's surname at baptism mistranscibed on the IGI as Swinney (I found out later, from her children's BC's, that she was actually a Tummey), but also John's name at marriage was mistranscribed as Bryde at their marriage. As for the census, well Georgina (before marriage) was transcribed as Georgeiond Tammany in 1851 and Georgina Summey in 1861 !!! Then they decided to drop the E from Boyde for some (but not all) of their children's births! Grrrrr!

Not just misspelt - they change their names at a whim, as Kate says. I have an Agnes, who is known on censuses, marriage certificate and her children's birth certificates as Amelia - apart from the 1881 census where she is....Avril!! My G Grandfather was Sydney on all censuses after he was 10, and on all certificates - even his death memorial stone. His real name was Gifford. His brother Ivor preferred the name Frederick, my Great aunt Bella was really Beatrice,aunty Nell was Alice etc etc it goes on and on - even my brother isn't known by his birth name!!! maggie (or Margaret to future genealogists!!!)

I hunted for ages for the baptism of Daniel Green. It was on the IGI and I got the PR out to do a routine check but couldn't find him. When I looked at the actual date he was supposed to have been baptised, there he was - but I had read the entry as David Gubbin!!!! (and I KNEW what I was looking for!) OC

I've got another great one. Great-great-great grandma was named Ursula Smith, married to Edward Willday. I've had him mistranscribed as Edwa Willday, Edward Hillday, Edward Wilday and her . . . . it's like taking your pick. She starts off as Vrsula, then she's Ursula, then Ursala, then Mirala . For some reason in 1891 she's down under her daughter's name (Ada) which doesn't help me find the actual Ada (completely missing in 1891, as is her husband). Her other daughter (named Ursula Victoria) was mistranscribed as 'Wenta V'. Quite interesting really. I've contacted a descendent of her sister, who was most confused and enquired whether she was named Ursula but known as Mirala. One great thing about genealogy - it does wonders for your ability to interpret handwriting. Update - just located daughter Ada and husband in 1891. Ada is down as Edith - they must have heard it wrong.

Yes - dont expect Ancestry to make a correction if the image is as they have transcribed - only if you find a beauty thats obviously mistranscribed - I found an 'Alien Eady' yesterday - LOL - on the image it is clearly Alison Eady - that you can report for a correction but if its says Jack Smith and you mail them, 'my auntie told me his name was George' then obviously that is not a valid change.

Its not necessarily a mistranscription. Often names had to be spelt phonetically, there was no standard spelling, and the subjects were more often than not illiterate. Therefore, my Duvals have been spelt in various ways on the census' and in registrations. Took a lot of searching. Transcribers have to transcribe what they see, andnot what they think it should be.

This is the actual transcript from Ancestry for my Augustine Walmsley..............1891 census Augustine Floalmatey - abt 1826 Mumby, Lincolnshire, England Father-in-law East Retford Nottinghamshire Good job his first name was not run of the mill, it took me a while to find him as it was. Gail

I would use Ful*d for searches whenever a site allows it and you should hopefully pick up most minor spelling variations. You should see the ones I have for my Whiffen ancestors....Wiffen, Wiffin, Whifen,Wyffen, Wiffing, Whiffing, etc. etc.

To be honest, thats a really easy change! You try looking for Phoebe Olver who turns up as Phebe Chow or Charlotte Steers who is transcribed Charlotte Meins. You must look at the census images each time. And if you do find a mistrans then do report it to ancestry every time. Its very easy there is a box top right on the ancestry page for comments/corrections. Helen, just a thought, Ive often found an elaborate L transcribed as an S?

My favourite is my family who hailed from Porlska ??? where ??? I wasn't until I peered at the actual census image that I realised they meant Portsea. I'm hoping that my missing Harry Locke will show up as an extraordinary blunder somewhere.

Some of mine are too --FISHER ---USHER --- VOBER, same family different sur names !!! Ros

Definitely. My Dinnis branch are especially weird. They began as Dinnis, some changed to Dinniss, some to Dennis and some to Denniss. Really strange. I wonder if it was a regional accent thing. I've seen Castledine become Castledon and Branston become Braunston and Branstone. My Graysons also alternate between that and Grayston (sometimes the same people are giving their names differently at each census). So maybe the varying accents of places made it sound like the name was spelt differently to how it was. It seems to be my experience that when I'm on the correct line back, the spelling of a name is bound to change at some point.

Very common. Most of my family are like that :)

Would it have been normal to have mispelt names in the censuses? I have been searching for ages and couldn't find anything. Great Great Grandad went from Barnet Fullard 1881 census, to Barnard Fullward 1861census to Barnett Fullard (1901 census)?