Ive had quite a breakthrough today. for weeks ive been trying to trace the records for what i believed was a second great aunt Fanny Walker born abt 1902. she shows up in the 1911 census records with Thomas Walker(Father) Mary Walker(Mother) Eva Walker(sister) and her brothers Percy, Fredrick, Norman, and Albert. up until today ive found no birth or death records on her.
Out of frustration i took a closer look at the 1911 census and noticed something unusual. in the box for her age (9) it was placed in the box for the age of a male member.
Fortunately since i have recently had some work done on my tree by other members of the forum, ive noticed them using GRO indexes and have recently signed up for a GRO account.
Knowing that the mother Mary Walker's maiden name was Sandles i did a GRO index search using DOB 1902, Walker as the family name, Sex as male and Sandles as the mother's maiden name.
I was quiet supprised when the search came back as a match, there was my Fanny Walker who was in fact indeed a male and called something Quite different. Turns out the relative was actualy Stanley Thomas Walker born 1902 in Chipping Norton. once i added the correct information on my tree in ancestry his birth and death records flew up.
Dont know what happened with that census but at least i put an amendment on ancestry's record stating that Fanny Walker is Stanley Walker! lol
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Thread: Success even with census errors.
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04-04-2017, 1:05 AM #1
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- Feb 2017
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- Australia
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Success even with census errors.
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04-04-2017, 1:40 AM #2
Great work Whiskeyboi. Give yourself a pat on the back for perseverance and ingenuity. An example to us all to look a little closer at what we think we know.
ChristinaSometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
William Burroughs
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04-04-2017, 4:24 AM #3
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Was just looking at the Fanny entry on the 1911 census.
it could spell "Tommy" if thats the case Stanley's middle name was Thomas.
Or it could spell "Finny" as there is a faint dot above the A.
When i asked people around Moreton in Marsh on a Fb group page a few weeks ago, a lady mentioned that a finney/finley Walker was a border in her aunts house later on in time. It was common for people to refer to a person by a nick name. The spelling (which is in cursive) aside, at least now i know who it relates to.
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04-04-2017, 5:11 AM #4
Hi
I just took a look at the census and I think it says Tommy. Look at the name Norman directly above him. What should be an "o' in Norman looks the same as what should be an 'o' in Tommy.(if you see what I mean) It is the same for Thomas, the father. Even in the capital "O" in Ostler (Hotel) the stroke comes half way down the 'O' before joining up with the 's' It is the same where Mary has written the address Moreton in Marsh and in boy at the end of the word ploughboy.
ChristinaSometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
William Burroughs
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04-04-2017, 5:53 AM #5
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- Oct 2004
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It's surprising what a difference a new online database can make to your research - in this case, the GRO Historic births and death index. I suspect that it's been a tremendous help to most of us.
Though as Whiskeyboi has proved, detailed scrutiny of any document is so important. Here, once you've spotted the age in the 'male' column, and then check out the formation of the T in father Thomas' name and the F of sibling Frederick's name you can see that the name written on the form is Tommy.
PamVulcan XH558 - “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”
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04-04-2017, 7:18 AM #6
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- Feb 2017
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Ive certainly learnt a lesson today, and that is although census records are vital in research (a nice way to pick up additional relatives) they can sometimes be prone to errors and misinterpretations.
Sometimes the writing is difficult to understand or parents used nicknames for there children instead of their actual names.
Out of this, i have learnt not to be too trusting or reliant on one source but to use multiple sources to determine factual information when a source appears to be incorrect or ambiguous. As Pam has said, detailed scrutiny is a must for documentation.
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