Is it worth the bother?

[c-side]

I've had a few experiences of this over the years and my way of dealing with it is to sling everything I've got onto spreadsheets.  One each for baptisms, marriages and burials.  Then I sort by date, by name, by parents/spouse - any which way that might be useful.

Then I attack it with a few highlighter pens and often a lot can be eliminated leaving the choice much smaller.

Very good for a rainy winter afternoon 

Christine

[maidmarianoops]

search
put just
no christian name just all surnames at the same time 
Bale, Ball, Bull, Beale, Bell ,Beal, Bail.
in surname search
with uk and leics

and keep narrowing down your search

sylvia

[joboy]

I've had a few experiences of this over the years and my way of dealing with it is to sling everything I've got onto spreadsheets.  One each for baptisms, marriages and burials.  Then I sort by date, by name, by parents/spouse - any which way that might be useful.

Then I attack it with a few highlighter pens and often a lot can be eliminated leaving the choice much smaller.

Very good for a rainy winter afternoon 

Christine

Yes Christine ..... I have done the 'spreadsheet trick' just have you have using separate sheets for births marriages a burials together with a 'miscellaneous' sheet for any instance where the name or variant turns up and it has been a wonderful help   ....... much better than using your memory.
The very important thing is not to discard anything
Joe

[Jebber]

Don't foreget the importance of Wills, even people of very modes means often left a will, these can  be a great help in distinguishing between families, I have solved many such problems this way.

Jebber

[Sloe Gin]

people could often not spell their names resulting in number of variations that are recorded.

Isn't it more the case that there was no right or wrong spelling until relatively recent times?  People just wrote names down as they sounded, and as long as the people around at the time knew who was meant, no one thought any more of it. 

It was probably not until the late 19th/early 20th century that spelling really became standardised.  Even in the first decade of the 20thc, my grandfather and his siblings were variously registered as Davis and Davies, and while all the rest of them went with Davis, one of his brothers insisted on spelling his name Davies and passed that down. 

As for the tangles - I agree with those who are saying don't give up!  Write it all down and keep it to one side somewhere, as you never know when something will turn up to confirm or eliminate something.  If and when something does, you'd be kicking yourself if you hadn't kept notes of all the candidates.

[joboy]

people could often not spell their names resulting in number of variations that are recorded.

Isn't it more the case that there was no right or wrong spelling until relatively recent times?  People just wrote names down as they sounded, and as long as the people around at the time knew who was meant, no one thought any more of it. 

It was probably not until the late 19th/early 20th century that spelling really became standardised.  Even in the first decade of the 20thc, my grandfather and his siblings were variously registered as Davis and Davies, and while all the rest of them went with Davis, one of his brothers insisted on spelling his name Davies and passed that down. 

As for the tangles - I agree with those who are saying don't give up!  Write it all down and keep it to one side somewhere, as you never know when something will turn up to confirm or eliminate something.  If and when something does, you'd be kicking yourself if you hadn't kept notes of all the candidates.

I totally agree with your slant on the reasons regarding spelling it adds to my own views appertaining to the repression of education for the poorer classes.
Even the clergy had limited but somewhat better education and they wrote down (recorded) what they thought they heard at events from people with no education at all who may have had speech impediments and the recorder may well have had hearing defects,not interested (other than the money) or had been at the altar wine or any or all of the above.
We are fortunate indeed to have what information is available to us today from whatever source .... it should be carefully noted even if it remotely looks as though it might not fit your needs remembering that the person(s) who hand wrote the records did not have the high degree of free education that we have available to us today so that perhaps in time it may well fill a slot in your family tree.
Joe

[joboy]

Don't foreget the importance of Wills, even people of very modes means often left a will, these can  be a great help in distinguishing between families, I have solved many such problems this way.

Jebber

jebber of course you are correct .......... wills are very important and another of my pet likes is the importance of recording Marriage Witnesses.
The late Ted Wildy .... God Bless him had the brilliant idea of instituting a Marriage Witness Index a sample of which can be found here;
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ausvic/mwi.htm
Joe

[bill_eastoe]

Regarding the spelling of surnames over the centuries

If it looks Rite and sounds Write it either is Wright, or could be Right.

Bill

[Nick29]

Don't foreget the importance of Wills, even people of very modes means often left a will, these can  be a great help in distinguishing between families, I have solved many such problems this way.

Jebber

jebber of course you are correct .......... wills are very important and another of my pet likes is the importance of recording Marriage Witnesses.
The late Ted Wildy .... God Bless him had the brilliant idea of instituting a Marriage Witness Index a sample of which can be found here;
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ausvic/mwi.htm
Joe

Useful, but quite a few marriages that I've come across in my family tree had 'professional witnesses' - i.e. people who would turn up at weddings and volunteer to be witnesses for the price of a mug of ale.  I suppose an index could identify these people, and save the research time that I've spent researching complete strangers !