Conflict between Kent Online Parish Records and FamilySearch.org database - which to believe?

Question

I have an ancestor, William Vollins or Vallins, who I believe was the son of Richard Vollins and Mary (Bowler), b 1777 in St Mary Cray, Kent (near Orpington). There are many other Vollins/Vallins family members in the Orpington area. He later married Sarah Crump in Wilmington, Kent (FamilySearch.org reference).

Here is the FamilySearch.org reference for his christening.

However, I have also found an index on the web site of the Kent Online Parish Clerk which suggests that he was rather the son of William and Mary Vollins.

The birth dates and christening dates are identical, but the parents' names differ. It has to be the same person being born, but perhaps the parents' names were mistranscribed. But for which record?

Does anyone have experience with the Kent OPC indices to know if it is likely to be more reliable or less reliable than FamilySearch.org?

Answer 1

In my experience, many FamilySearch baptism records for England and Wales are based on Bishops Transcripts rather than the original Parish Registers (although Parish registers of St. Mary Cray, 1579-1916 suggests they used the PRs in this instance), so there are three possible sources of transcription errors:

• by the incumbent of the parish, when he prepared his Transcripts for the Bishop
• by the OPC, when transcribing either the original PRs or the BTs
• by FamilySearch, when transcribing the source which they used (be it PRs or BTS)

You should contact both FamilySearch and the OPC to understand which source they have transcribed and if possible get an image of it or ask for the transcription to be checked. If both BTs and PRs are available, the PR should be the most accurate (but is not guaranteed to be correct -- after all, it may have been filled on some time after the event when the incumbent's memory had faded and he couldn't read the scrappy note he found in his pocket with the details).

This does illustrate the importance of consulting original sources wherever possible, rather than relying on derivatives such as indexes/transcriptions (whenever they were produced).

Answer 2

The parish register of St Mary Cray is available online at FamilySearch. The way you find it is to go to FamilySearch.org, click on Search just above the pictures, then scroll down to Browse all collections, then click on United Kingdom and Ireland. Then scroll down to England, Kent, parish registers, 1538-1911. When you click on that collection, you must then click on browse through 100,542 images. You then choose Kent, then scroll down and click on St Mary Cray, then click on the time period needed (baptisms, burials, 1755-1811). You are then able to read images of the actual parish register.

Your entry is image 13 of 73, and reads "Wm, son of Richd and Mary Vollins" It is preceeded by the birth date of May 29 and followed by the christening date of June 13.

Here is a link that bypasses all the scrolling and selecting and takes you straight to the image you need - https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-23164-10742-64?cc=1952887&wc=MM28-1DR:n1140519128.

By the way, Orpington is also available in the same collection.

Answer 3

You can ask Family Search to email you a copy of the transcription image if there is one available free of charge.

I would also ask the Kent OPC this question they are usually very helpful (well the Somerset ones are anyway) and they will maybe re-check the fiche for you.

Answer 4

I would definitely recommend getting a copy of the original scan or record. Many of these transcriptions are done from handwritten registers and they can be subject to the human error of the transcriber. I try to get copies of all records if I can, rather than rely on a transcription.