Incorrect Census transcriptions on Ancestry

[mitch7532]

Its not just names but places on Ancestry. A number of Norfolk birthplaces are listed as being in Norway (don`t they know the counties of England), though an enumerator managed to place Kings Lynn in Ireland so sometimes Ancestry isn`t to blame!

Neil

[RedFox]

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

Kerry

The "official" line is that it's all done by human beings!  ibi 

If technology has developed voice scan, why not transcribing by machine.  It makes as much sense as some of the "efforts" we view.  It's easy to get cynical about all the errors, but have you tried to transcibe old handwriting?  I had to give it up.       RedFox

[aghadowey]

If technology has developed voice scan, why not transcribing by machine.  It makes as much sense as some of the "efforts" we view.  It's easy to get cynical about all the errors, but have you tried to transcibe old handwriting?  I had to give it up.       RedFox

Old handwriting, and spelling, can be very difficult to read but being familiar with local places names, surnames, etc. can be a tremendous help to transcribing records. However, many of the mistakes are really silly (like Norway instead of Norfolk).

[MarthaJane]

Old handwriting is difficult, and a lot, particularly 1841 is faded, but it is lack of knowledge about UK geography and UK names that is at fault.  By farming it out to India and China you have people spending fruitless hours searching.  Far better to have had it done in the Uk and waited longer

[Ecneps]

many of the mistakes are really silly (like Norway instead of Norfolk).

Just found Torrold for Scotland (admittedly the town was Edenbro, but a local would have known that was Edinburgh, therefore Scotland)

[ricky1]

But you have to admit some of the writing on them census sheets are terrible, look how many times people on here give the H0 or RG numbers etc to ask what it says 

[MaryA]

I remember the start of this thread, the original intention was to be helpful and give some mistranscriptions that were found, especially those which were a common fault and would be useful  to try as an alternative when searching, but it seems to have become yet another "let's complain about Ancestry" post and also in more general terms complaining about mistranscriptions without providing any useful pointers.

Perhaps it should be unpinned now and allowed to run its course or die a death as there will always be new complaints about bad transcribing.

I notice that people are no longer happy with others lack of knowledge of the area in question - I've lost count of the number of birthplaces which I've been uncertain of because I couldn't read the word and also I didn't know the county so put a question mark against my best guess.  In these instances I always hoped that the recipient of my efforts would either have better geographical knowledge of the area than I did, or alternatively would make further investigations to find out what the place logically might be. 

I felt that at least I'd done the best I could and had provided some valuable details even if not with 100% success rate, but having read the criticisms above about mistranscriptions by people who don't know the area, I feel my efforts aren't worth a jot, why have I ever bothered?

[Ecneps]

I notice that people are no longer happy with others lack of knowledge of the area in question  but having read the criticisms above about mistranscriptions by people who don't know the area, I feel my efforts aren't worth a jot, why have I ever bothered?

I think the main complaints are about the (possibly) foreign transcribers on ancestry who have seemingly no knowledge of the UK, not the kind people like yourself who answer so many posts for people on Rootschat.  Of course your efforts are appreciated by the many people you've helped, and worth much more than a jot

Barbara 

[alicemaud]

I notice that people are no longer happy with others lack of knowledge of the area in question  but having read the criticisms above about mistranscriptions by people who don't know the area, I feel my efforts aren't worth a jot, why have I ever bothered?

I think the main complaints are about the (possibly) foreign transcribers on ancestry who have seemingly no knowledge of the UK, not the kind people like yourself who answer so many posts for people on Rootschat.  Of course your efforts are appreciated by the many people you've helped, and worth much more than a jot

Barbara 

Why foriegn....?......
I am born and raised in England and I transcribe for FreeCen.....I have done over 10,000 entries.....I can assure you that I have no local knowledge of Norfolk or Suffolk or Kent or Essex or Durham or Cornwall.....etc.....I was born and raised in a different part of the country.
There are times that I have spent an hour or more poring over maps and reading Genuki to try and figure out the name of a village or town. I don't think the Ancestry transcribers have that luxury.
If people are so unhappy with Ancestry then I would suggest cancelling one's sub...writing lots of letters of complaint and of course not asking for lookups from the people who have been duped into paying for such a lousy service.

Alice.....who is happy to have Ancestry as I have helped hundreds of people find rellies over the past 4 years.