7
votes
Why would a family misspell their surname?
One possibility is that whoever completed the census return adjusted the surname to, as they saw it, fit in. This is certainly known to happen in Scotland as this link https://www.scotlandspeople.gov....
- 11.5k
7
votes
Deciding between two baptism records from ca 1744 for Thomas Fowler of Thorganby (Yorkshire, England)
As a fellow rookie, one trick the others haven't mentioned, is to search the marriage registers in the parishes of Thorganby, Nether Poppleton, Fulford and Stillingfleet in the years 1740-1780 for ...
- 141
6
votes
How to photograph documents on the screen of microfilm readers?
I do a couple different things that are compact and will not draw attention. This is to avoid the potential hassle of being questioned about the use of a professional camera / lens and full size ...
- 5,561
5
votes
How to photograph documents on the screen of microfilm readers?
What I do is:
1: Set up a tripod with my camera on it ( I use a DSLR)
2: Ensure that the camera and microfilm reader screen are in the same plane so that I end up with a square not distorted image
...
- 3,868
5
votes
Finding 1920s Adoption Information in New York State?
Okay, so there's good news and there's bad news.
The bad news first:
At the moment (February 2019) all New York State adoptees' Original Birth Certificates (OBC's), and usually their adoption ...
- 1,860
5
votes
Historical Census and Authenticity
When a question comes up about possible duplicate records and fraud, I think it's a good idea to step back and ask if you understand the record groups you are looking at.
We have a similar question ...
- 25.3k
5
votes
Why would a family misspell their surname?
They were illiterate.
They were literate, but someone else was doing the actual writing. I've got some really SPECTACULAR misspelling of he last names of my ancestors from the time when census ...
- 51
5
votes
Why would a family misspell their surname?
It probably doesn't apply in your case, but there are certainly cases of people changing the spelling of their name to appear less like a particular ethnicity. For a personal example, my grandfather ...
- 151
4
votes
Where to find Catholic Church records for the early 1800s Middlesex, England?
Westminster Diocesan Archives are based in Kensington and have a comprehensive guide to the sacramental registers they hold available through the Family History pages of their website.
https://rcdow....
- 1,356
4
votes
Accepted
Passenger list from Antwerp, Belgium to the UK in 1908?
Passenger lists to and from Europe were not routinely kept in the UK; only passenger lists from ports outside Europe were recorded. In a few cases passengers are listed where they joined at an ...
- 1,366
4
votes
Source for Russian Army records for the WWI period
There is a Russian website that has a project going to provide the data within pdf format spreadsheets. These are also in Russian and provided according to Russian province. You can find these records ...
- 41
4
votes
Deciding between two baptism records from ca 1744 for Thomas Fowler of Thorganby (Yorkshire, England)
The following may be relevant (and should also be available on Ancestry).
Reference: PROB 11/1815/360
Description: Will of Robert Fowler, Farmer of Thorganby , Yorkshire
Date: 31 May 1833
Held ...
- 141
4
votes
Where can you find UK marriage records post 2005?
For England and Wales, there are indexes of marriages from the General Register Office extending up to very recently (I believe updated quarterly). However, they are not available online at this time. ...
- 18.7k
3
votes
Accepted
Would variety store in Albany, New York, USA (1862-1872) leave records and what would it sell?
What records were created?
Some clues to what records might have been created can be found by looking at modern-day requirements for starting a business, then researching when that requirement was ...
- 25.3k
3
votes
Tracing Romanian & Hungarian ancestry?
You can do genealogy research in Romania, just that it has to be of the "legal" rather than the "purely historical" kind. What I mean is that you should start with your wife's birth certificate. It ...
3
votes
Tracing Romanian & Hungarian ancestry?
You're right, up until a few years ago it was very difficult to get any kinds of records from this area. The LDS has not gotten permission to film in the regional Romanian archives, though they've ...
- 1,860
3
votes
Accepted
Understanding the indexing process used to produce records searches?
Let's start with the original source material which you could use if you were at the Massachusetts Archives.
The following quotes are excerpted from the article Massachusetts Vital Records in the ...
- 25.3k
3
votes
Why would a family misspell their surname?
In 19th century England there was strong anti Irish sentiment.
In 1836 Benjamin Disraeli wrote this:
[The Irish] hate our order, our civilization, our enterprising industry, our pure religion. This ...
- 31
3
votes
Where to find Catholic Church records for the early 1800s Middlesex, England?
The generally accepted source for information about what Roman Catholic parishes were where and when in England (and ?) is
"Catholic Missions & Registers 1700-1880", vol. 1-6;
Author: ...
- 11.5k
3
votes
Why would a family misspell their surname?
Different spellings due to illiteracy are not limited to the 19th century, and there can be an additional component; I can attest to such a case. I grew up in a small town in upstate New York. One ...
- 31
3
votes
Deciding between two baptism records from ca 1744 for Thomas Fowler of Thorganby (Yorkshire, England)
I don't believe you have enough information to make a determination based on the Genealogical Proof Standard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogical_Proof_Standard
You might also check out this ...
- 71
3
votes
Deciding between two baptism records from ca 1744 for Thomas Fowler of Thorganby (Yorkshire, England)
In Nether Poppleton Robert Fowler appears to have a large family - unless there's two Roberts with families almost overlapping. His children's names include Ann, Jane, Lucy, Margaret. Mary, Robert and ...
- 141
3
votes
Side notes with dates on parish records
Is there a column heading or is this in a page margin?
Typically printed baptismal records had extra columns for confirmations, and for comments. I've also seen vaccination records, emigration notes, ...
- 7,946
2
votes
Why would a family misspell their surname?
Sometimes it was to avoid embarrassment e.g. Ramsbottom becoming Reams.
Here is a more recent typical local example from rural Ireland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_O%27Connor_(...
2
votes
How can I access records from Morocco?
Most of the records are not digitized. They are housed in the Moroccan municipality and/or Ministry of Justice archives, perhaps.
- 21
2
votes
Historical Census and Authenticity
There was a newly-wed couple in 1930 in Ohio who was recorded twice: in the households of both sets of parents.
There was a family in 1930 in Texas that was recorded twice: they moved between the ...
- 7,946
2
votes
What does 'civil' mean in a location
I believe this is a quirk in the way FamilySearch indexed a particular town record book for Minot, Maine. Many, if not all, of the entries from the indexing of the film (#11550) of that book use "...
- 3,867
2
votes
How to photograph documents on the screen of microfilm readers?
I use a point and shoot camera from Canon mounted on a tripod. It allows me to install CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit). This software provides additional camera features. I use a preinstalled ...
- 5,417
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