Never trust the spelling of a surname!!!

[Dorset Girl]

When hunting never rely on either Ancestry or FMP coming up with alternative possibilities! In 1871 George Reeves was just that - it has taken days to find him in 1861 and 1851 - and this is why.
1861 - Ancestry - REVES
1861 - FMP - READ

1851 - Ancestry - REIVES
1851 - FMP - REWES
None of these names came up in the searches - however vague I made them!
Hard slogging but at least another (knee high) brickwall smashed!
Marion

[LittleSpark]

Yes, it is amazing how surnames are mistranscribed - they've caused me many a headache over the years but with a little perseverance it's so rewarding when you find that elusive family member.
So well done Marion for smashing down another brickwall.

Sheila

[Kerrywood]

Well done, Dorset Girl!

I would always recommend searching the census without entering any surname at all -- assuming your provider allows it, and you have enough other information to search on.

[Nicolina]

well done. It is so rewarding when you make sense of some of those ridiculous mis-spellings. One of my main lines is ILES for which I have a long list of alternate spellings but one ancestor kept eluding me until I found him as JILES. I still haven't worked out where the J came from.

[spison]

Excellent News Dorset Girt! One of my Jones family was transcribed - it was dreadful writing - as James and one of my Isons has been left off Ancestry completely for 1841. I only found them by reading the whole village. (Thank goodness it wasn't Warrington and Manchester where the Joneses hide!)
Jane

[Jeuel]

My own sister in law's surname is misindexed in the marriage indexes as Searce instead of Pearce! No idea how, the S isn't near the P on the keyboard.

As for mistranscriptions in the census, my favourite would be Howard for Stevens - not a single letter the same. I only found the Stevens because a son with a different surname was staying with them!

My grandfather's first name was Jeuel and its wrong on every census (not now, as I've sent in amendments!). My ex's gt x 2 grandfather Zusman is recorded as
Zusman Zuzman Guzman Luisman Tesman Zuseman and Zuesman!