Unconfigured Ad Widget

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Take care - even with primary resources

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Take care - even with primary resources

    I have been chasing down some missing people in my husband's tree following details in a will. Having found his 3rd great grandparents had a daughter who had slipped under the radar, I have traced her marriage and a number of children.

    Ellen Sophia Reed was born to this couple and her birth registered in the April quarter of 1843 in Bristol. She was baptised Ellen Sophia Smallwood Reed in Bristol on 6th July 1845, the same day as her sister Rhoda Thomas Reed. (Thomas is the mothers maiden name).

    Imagine my delight when all the London information came to Ancestry and there in the burials was an Ellen Sophia Smallwood Reed dying in 1854. This was quickly followed by disappointment when it revealed this child was only 5 months old when buried. I put all this to one side for a while, but it kept nagging at me , so I finally ordered her death certificate which arrived today.

    It is the Ellen Reed I was looking for and low and behold her age is incorrect on the death certificate as well - given as 9 years - despite being registered by her mother. I can only be thankful that the unusual names in this family have sorted it out.

    So it goes to show that even primary sources can be wrong so that every avenue has to be followed and tied in with other information. Can you imagine how difficult it would have been if she had been Mary Smith!

    Now I just have to find out what happened to her sister Imogene Margaret Thomas Reed born 1849 in Ipswich, who disappears along with most of the family after the 1851 census!
    Helen
    Support the S.O.P.H.I.E. campaign, Stamp Out Predudice Hatred + Intolerance Everywhere.

    Visit the website at http://www.sophielancasterfoundation.com/index1.html

    http://www.illamasqua.com/about/sophie/

  • #2
    It's a good warning Helen.

    My great gradnfather's birth certificate has Joseph instead of James for his father. At first I thought it might have been 'Jas' transcribed as 'Jos', but the original is certainly Joseph.
    I've got a theory as to why, but of course I wasn't there at the time........lol

    The family lived in Mashbury, Essex, at the time of William's birth. William's mother, Eliza must ahve gone to visit her mother who lived in Great Waltham and William was born there. Eliza's brother is Joseph and I'd say he went off to the reg office and gave them William's details and the reg asks...."What's your name?" thinking he's the father........lol

    William was baptised back in Mashbury a few weeks later with James as his father and all the other kids have James.

    If I'd only bought the birth cert, I'd still be wondering.

    Comment


    • #3
      This highlights the fact that a source can be primary, secondary etc., at the same time.

      A burial record is only a primary source for the facts of the burial.
      i.e. the date, plot
      The additional information, name, age, etc is secondary information and in many cases is giving by someone making a guess.
      Cheers
      Guy
      Guy passed away October 2022

      Comment


      • #4
        Yes Libby - the certificate is only as good as the person asking the questions, and the person giving the answers..lol.

        As for the mistake in Ellens burial records, I suspect things were listed down and then entered into the official book at a later date - why - because there were 11 other burials on the day Ellen was buried as well as baptisms and marriages! The clergy must have been exhausted and one burial blended into another. Add to that bad handwriting and grieveing relatives and mistakes will happen. I have just gone through the records for this church more closely just in case Ellen's sister is there as well.
        Helen
        Support the S.O.P.H.I.E. campaign, Stamp Out Predudice Hatred + Intolerance Everywhere.

        Visit the website at http://www.sophielancasterfoundation.com/index1.html

        http://www.illamasqua.com/about/sophie/

        Comment


        • #5
          you will always encounter mistakes. i can two mariages where the wrong father is listed, and 3 deaths were the wrong husbands name is listed. but i know they are correct, from census returns, addresses, family relationships. it will throw you if the names are common, but if you know the family well enough, and the name is unusual, you can usually see where it is a mistake.
          the only thing i worry about, is when you quickly discard someone coz the father's dont match what you expect, and because your quick and they have a common name, it could be yours anyway, but that little info you use to discard them could b wrong!!

          Comment


          • #6
            I too have certificates which although for the right person, contain incorrect information.
            My most notable one is for a direct ancestor and I bought her birth certificate to confirm her mother's maiden name, which was thought to be BROCKHURST.
            Back came the certificate ( informant the child's father) and mother's maiden name is GREEN.... What??
            I have no idea why and unless John Bennett managed to find and marry two girls called Rebecca of exactly the same age and born in the same minute village, I think it is the same Rebecca whose name on a later child's birth certificate was indeed Brockhurst.

            On my maternal side, one branch has at least one or two children in each generation who are registered with one name and baptised another.
            All adds to the interest, but not easy to track, at times.

            Comment

            Working...
            X