Some thoughts on Transcripts (General)

by admin , Forest of Dean, Sunday, August 03, 2008, 17:47 (5965 days ago) @ woolcomber65

>> There are several John & Sarah REEKS in the Parish Records, but I cannot find a reference to REEKES.

Some thoughts on Transcripts
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/downloads/Miscellaneous/Some_thoughts_on_Transcripts.pdf

Very often when when people mention that there is a mistake in
one of the transcribed census or parish records, it turns out that it
is not a mistake at all but is exactly as it is in the original record.

A transcript is a reproduction of material originally presented in
another medium. For instance if the original record clearly shows
a surname as WALKINS and we know it really should be WATKINS,
it is tempting to change what is written, but if we do that we are
not doing a true transcript of the record.

Another point to remember is that many of our ancestors were
unable to read or write and so they would give their name
verbally to the clergy or enumerator and their name would be
written down with the spelling of what they believed to be correct,
another person could spell their name in a different way. An
example of this is with some of my own ancestors whose surname
was WOAR but it has also been written with variations of WOOR,
WOORE and HOARE on the original records.

So next time time you look at a census or parish record and start
to blame the transcriber because a surname is not spelled how
you think it should be, give some though to other reasons why it
is spelled the way it is.

As with any transcript, please use the data as a finding aid only,
and NOT as a definitive source. Therefore, if you find some
information of interest, it is strongly recommend you check the
original source for yourself to verify that the information is
correct.