Middlesex Part A - Dower - name or something else?
7th line down, John Nicholson Dower
There are no other instances of two given names, I checked Dower as an abbreviation or comment, it relates to the provision for a widow from a husband's will, so that does not seem appropriate for a child.
I think it should be indexed given name 'John'
surname 'Nicholson or Dower'
Comments welcome to get this right
Best Answer
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I would index the name as Given Name: John Nicholson Surname: Dower
When we do not know if a name is a middle or surname, we index it in the given name field. The "or" is only used for name variations.
• If you cannot determine whether a name is a given name or a surname, type it in the Given Names field.
- If alias names were included on a document, or if an individual's name was listed with various spellings on the document, include all variants, separating each with the word Or.
It is an 8 month old child. It is not unusual to have a middle name that sounds like a surname. Often people use a mother's maiden name as a Given middle name!
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Answers
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I also see no indication that Dower is a comment versus surname - but since this name is unique on the page does bring up the question - there is a comment in parentheses below. I guess my suggestion would be to use Nicholson as surname? Great question.
No surprise - there's a general indexing rule ... See Melissa's response below/above (best answer)...
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I'll go with Melissa; she's very experienced and helpful. This also brings out the value of this forum for helping each other.
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I agree - she gives excellent indexing help! Thanks again!
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Thank you for alerting me to the error in my original post, genthusiast! Typing to fast and not thinking...
Thank you Alan for the compliments. I had a lot of great mentors over these past 7 years of indexing! Just paying it forward...
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