Incorrect Census transcriptions on Ancestry

[aghadowey]

Just used Ancestry on 3 day offer and for once really got some fantastic information but sometimes (1930 U.s. Census) it took lots of searching by first name, birthplaces to find relatives that I already knew about. Great-grandmother was Feld and couldn't find her brother, nephews, cousins, etc. Already had names, birthdate & places but they weren't in index. Tried Field but finally found some of them under names like Filt & Fred. My grandmother's uncle is still hiding there somewhere (I know where he and family were living but couldn't locate them in 1930).
One surprise however is my grandmother's cousin, wife and daughter appearing in census 3 times! Names, ages, etc. all match us except in one census his parents listed with wrong country of birth.

[scruffypup]

Another Ancestry classic. If anyone out there wants to know what happened to  my hubbys great great aunt Alexandrina Nellis after she married Alfred OTTERBURN , in the 1891 census she became Alexandrina CATTERBUM and on the 1901 census she was Alexandrina OTTERSTROM, so best of luck anyone researching the OTTERBURN family of Pickering.

[Ruskie]

I have a Rallmine instead of Catherine.

... and Pallot's births on Ancestry:

in the Parish of: Felmal Sut On In A
which is actually Female (as in sex of the child) Sutton in A, Nts (as in Nottinghamshire I imagine)

and another parish:
Female Matlock

The mind boggles.

I actually feel quite sad that someone is probably looking for these unrecognisable ancestors. At least on FreeBMD they use * or - if they can't decipher something rather than making it up!

[Willow 4873]

Hiya all

While we are on this topic can I ask - what happened to the syntax? button. It came in useful for finding these mis-transcribed names

Willow x

[ibi]

I have just been searching the 1841 census for a male with first name Lane -- and there were hundreds with that forename - page after page, when I checked some, they were all actually Jane.

So anyone out there looking for missing Janes .. think L
and no, I haven't amended them, there were too many to check.

Barbara 

So I can add J/L to the following list of possible initial, capital letter confusions 

Any more additions ?

L/S and the reverse
D/P and the reverse
I/J and the reverse
M/N/T and the reverse
H/K/F and the reverse
U/V and the reverse
M/W and the reverse
R/P and the reverse
Q/L and the reverse
I as G
P as G
G as Cr or Ci
As or Ar as Ch
Ag as Cl
Cl as A
St as H
H as Th
J as L

ibi

[BettyofKent]

I'll add C/O
I've found quite a few men called Clive transcribed as Olive

Betty

[O1dgobbo]

Hi

It's easy to get scornful of the poor Ancestry transcribers, who I suspect are non-English people working for a pittance.  And I have to confess that despite my feelings of superiority I do make transcription mistakes.  However, it is a pity that Ancestry does not seem to maintain a surname dictionary that might help them to identify the more outrageous mistranscriptions.  Talking of which, has anybody noticed the large number of British families with the surname Wanker.  I looked at one the other day and it was actually Parker.  I have just looked at another couple, one is hard to read but looks something like de Wenkse (1891 Stratford-le-Bow St Mary) and the other has a very strange initial capital but I am pretty sure is Rankin Bermondsey, 1891).

Have fun

Gobbo

[kerryb]

Apparently much of the transcribing is done by machine, so I doubt it earns anything at all 

Kerry

[Ecneps]

by machine??  how??