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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Topic started by: ikas on Sunday 02 November 25 11:20 GMT (UK)
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Apologies if this is widely known but it was news to me.
Peter Calver reported in his latest newsletter that there is a problem searching for Mac names on the 1881 LDS census. I have checked his example and although I get different results than those he records there does seem to be a problem. Searching for John M*Pherson on SP 1881 census gives 987 hits but only 140 on LDS. The problem appears to relate to the surname format on LDS census. Searching for Mac Pherson and Mc Pherson on SP version gives no hits but 20 and 821 hits on LDS version. (single space between c and P in both cases).
I frequently use the 1881 census (LDS) first before spending credits so I will have to change my search pattern with Mac surnames in future.
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The extra space after the c has always been a problem on FamilySearch as well as on the LDS 1881 census CD-ROM version, and it doesn't appear that you can get round it with wildcards.
If I search for M*c*pherson in the SP index to the 1881 census I get 10,913 results, but I only get 1,654 in the LDS version.
If I replace M*c*pherson in the LDS search with M*c pherson (i.e. replacing the second wildcard with a space) I get 9176 results.
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Searching *Pherson on the 1881 LDS census will show all results, with and without the space.
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I didn't think of that one, Douglas. ;D Looks like a solution