What I like about ancestry compared with 1911 site

[lesleyhannah]

I've done my fair share of moaning about ancestry in the past, but one facility they offer which I really appreciate is the opportunity to add corrections to their sometime bizarre transcriptions. Whenever I find a family member whose name has been mistranscribed I notify ancestry and my correction has always been added to the original - which means others researching the family will find them quicker than I did. I've also been grateful for other people whose corrections I've benefited from.

So when I came across an in-law ancestor, surnamed Greer/Grier who had been transcribed as Green in the 1911 census I automatically sent in my correction. However, I received a reply that my correction had been rejected as they believe their transcription is right. Heck, I've got the man's birth certificate. Believe me finding Irish relatives is hard enough even when they get the names right - but others trying to find Irish-Liverpool Greers will have that much more trouble now.

Am I just unlucky, or does the 1911 site often refuse user-submitted corrections? So, for once I think ancestry has got it right!

[LizzieW]

I sent a couple of corrections to 1911 site and they accepted them.  I'd send them an e-mail telling them why you know the name is Greer not Green.

What I don't like about the Ancestry corrections is that they don't actually "correct" they just put a mark by the wrong name so you have to click that to find an alternative.  I prefer the Findmypast way, if they agree with your correction to a mistranscription they actually change the transcription so that the correct name shows. 

I had an instance with Ancestry where someone had "corrected" one of my ancestors names because they assumed she should have had the same name as her mother, when in fact her mother had re-married, and the original transcription was correct.  I was unable to get that corrected so it remains wrong on Ancestry.

[lesleyhannah]

I actually prefer the ancestry way - if you do a search on a particular name you will get their transcriptions plus any corrections. If they just alter the original it could mean that people who made a well-meaning incorrect correction could get their suggestion accepted - so if ancestry had accepted the incorrect suggestion you quote it would mean you wouldn't find the person using her correct name. I'd just assumed 1911 would add my 'Greer' as an alternative - I was surprised when they just rejected it, on heaven knows what grounds.

Anyway, it's their loss - we do their work for them by sending in our corrections so I'm not going to pursue the matter.

[Nick29]

What I don't like about the Ancestry corrections is that they don't actually "correct" they just put a mark by the wrong name so you have to click that to find an alternative.  I prefer the Findmypast way, if they agree with your correction to a mistranscription they actually change the transcription so that the correct name shows. 

I had an instance with Ancestry where someone had "corrected" one of my ancestors names because they assumed she should have had the same name as her mother, when in fact her mother had re-married, and the original transcription was correct.  I was unable to get that corrected so it remains wrong on Ancestry.

I'm afraid your post doesn't make sense.  What if your correction to FindMyPast was wrong, and they accept it ?

Ancestry don't make changes - they offer alternatives, which will turn up on searches, but the original transcript will stay the same.  In the past I made suggested correction, which Ancestry accepted, and shortly afterwards I found out that my correction was wrong.  I can't get it changed, but at least I know that the original transcription is still there.

[LizzieW]

I didn't say Findmypast just accept corrections without checking that the census has been mistranscribed, but they don't just give alternatives that are not shown on the census, just because someone, somewhere today, decides that a person on a census in the 1800s didn't know their own surname.

What I said was that Ancestry has put up an alternative name of an ancestor of mine that is totally wrong.  The mother has a different surname from her 19 year old daughter, because she was widowed and then remarried, and the daughter kept her original surname, which is what most people of about 18 or 19 would do even today.  The census is quite clear and correct, but someone - and I don't know who - decided that the census was wrong and gave Ancestry the alternative name for my ancestor which they accepted.  Now that is misleading for anyone looking at Ancestry and not having the full history.  Like you, I cannot get this altered, so there it is on Ancestry to confuse anyone in the future.

Lizzie

[Nick29]

Yes, but surely it's better to have the alternative name as a suggestion, which people can ignore if they want (and I often have, when it has been impossible to prove), whereas you suggest that FindMyPast's method is better, which changes the transcription completely ?  That's what's confusing me.

Ancestry is very shortly going to bring in a new feature where people can both suggest mistranscriptions on a census page, and make notes for others to read, so with this, people can give their reasons as well as their suggestions.

 

[lesleyhannah]

[What if your correction to FindMyPast was wrong, and they accept it ?

That's what I meant, Nick, but you put it much more clearly! I think ancestry's system is far better. I do understand Lizzie's frustration, knowing the wrong surname is attached to her relative, but in fact having both names searchable can be an advantage for people who don't know the family's history.

Anyway - anyone searching Liverpool Grier/Greer (of Irish descent) in 1911, try Green!!!

[stonechat]

On Ancestry I found a Booth actually spelled Both

You can also add this as a correction - the family were clearly the right one, the enumertor had written it wrongly
Just mark as incorrect original

It might help someone else

Bob

[LizzieW]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree.

Lizzie