Thanks Trevor

There was significant debate amongst the transcribers before settling on this method of recording. If this project was funded and had significant resources, fully handling the changing style of calendar would be possible, in the meantime to support a simple cost effective index / search the following was adopted

Section 4.2

Pre 1752 parish registers with double dates

Insert in the 'Year' column the modern date using a single year (e.g.
1671)
Insert in the 'Memoranda' column the double dates (e.g. Old style
date 1671/72)

http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=9808

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

The main reason why we decided to list the old style dates the way we have done is so people are able to search for a record by 'Year' or 'Year Range'. For example, if you were searching for the the baptism of a person by entering 1661 in the search box it would return no matches, if we had listed the year in the 1661/62 format.

The way it is now you will at least be able to search and find the person you are seeking and we do make a note to the effect that it is an old style date.

In order to have nearly 800,000 records in a database which people can search through with ease and speed, a few little compromises had to be made. You will surely agree, in making these few compromises and having all these records available that you can almost instantly search through, is much more convenient than going to the Archives offices and searching through thousands of records using a microfiche reader with the hope of finding the one you are seeking.

I agree, it is important to strive to be as accurate as possible and this is our aim, but when you transcribe details from old original records and put them on a website in a medium they were never intended for, you must allow for some minor variations.

The following is on our main Parish Records web page.

Disclaimer
As with any transcript, please use this data as an aid to your research only, and not as a definitive source. Therefore, if you find some information of interest, we strongly recommend you check the original source for yourself to verify that the information is correct as we cannot accept responsibility for any inaccuracy it may contain.
http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?mode=page&id=1

Hi

I agree that for family historians accuracy is important and for those that require it and have the personal resources to meet their criteria for absolute accuracy, transcriptions can only ever be seen as providing a quick and easy guide to which original records they should inspect themselves.

Most of us do not have those luxuries of time and unlimited financial resources. From the outset of my research I was less interested in the precise dates of baptisms, marriages, deaths, addresses etc. than I was in building a picture of the families in my tree and setting them in their historical, economic, geographical and social contexts.

I find it more interesting to know that my ancestors were agricultural labourers, living and working in a particular area, whilst their siblings moved elsewhere or climbed the social ladder than the precise date of their baptisms. Personally I find the search methods available on your site (particularly the opportunities provided by the advanced search facility) superior to anything available elsewhere. I have found people I am looking for on your website by just using an initial, the first two numbers in the century and less than half their surname. It's fantastic and free.

Of the 5,000 people in my tree currently, the families I know know most about are the Haxtons from Edinburgh, thanks to Scotlandspeople online, the Moody's of Gloucestershire, thanks to excellent online transcriptions for North Nibley and the Baileys of Monmouthshire/Forest of Dean thanks to Mike John's excellent site for Monmouthshire and of course your site. For everything else only Ancestry's census collection and IGI have been really helpful because there is nothing to match what you have provided for the areas where my other ancestors and their families originated.

I think you made the right decisions when setting up your search systems and other family history sites could learn from you. Well done, I love you all!

Ralph

Without wishing to be pedantic, it was 2nd September, 1752, not 4th September, 1752, that was followed by 14th September, 1752. "Give us back our eleven days" was the hue and cry.

David Steel
Adelaide