UK, England, Lancashire—Nonconformist Church Records, 1647–1996 [Part B] [MSGZ-LTH]
Can someone explain what the birth years on these records are? It seems to say : Born followed by a y. The Baptism was in 1800. Also, it mentions Lancashire in the Batch name but not on the record - do I put Lancashire in the County field or mark it blank? Thanks!
Best Answer
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Hi Patrick, for the name I see Fazacorly (Fazakerley is a suburb of Liverpool, the area where these families lived, based on the abodes given, so I’d guess the surname was derived from their geographical roots). N.B. I think it’s always best to enter the letters that you can read rather than marking a field unreadable; it gives the researcher a better chance of finding the record. You can use wildcards to fill in the unreadable gaps: “?” for one unreadable letter or “*” for more than one letter.
I had a quick look at the other entries and for entry 2, I’d index the mother’s name as Margaret. The handwriting is terrible but the letter formations are very similar to the mother's name in entry 1, which you have indexed as Margaret. For entry 3, I see Hennery rather than Henry for the child. Just a suggestion, it’s your call.
For the birth dates, I would enter “blank” in the field but I haven’t worked on these records so others may have a different view. (I think it is clear that the birth year is the same as the baptism year.)
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Answers
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Can you share the batch so we can see the image and try to help.
Sheena
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Is this the info that you need Sheena? https://www.familysearch.org/indexing/batch/c9b7f4c4-c7cc-4d36-be5d-bab7fcc1c4e2
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So what I am seeing for this batch, looking at the first baptism, James Newton was baptized on August 31st 1800 and was born on August 23,1800. I am not quite sure what the letter means before the date, but I do not think it matters for this because you have a complete date available.
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The “y” you see on this page is actually “ye”, with the e superscripted. It is an old English form of the word “the”. It derives from an old English letter called a thorn, which was used to represent the “th” sound. I think perhaps it's an old fashioned use of language for an 1800 record but that’s what it is! So, born ye 23rd Augst = born the 23rd August.
Regarding your other question, I think the county field should be marked "blank" as no county is recorded on these records (in accordance with the field help instructions: If the locality was not recorded or was written as a variation of the word "unknown," press Ctrl+B to mark this field blank).
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Patrick, Ruth is right. The y stands for the and if no county is recorded on the actual document then you should mark the county field blank .
Sheena
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Thank you all for your responses, but I am still not clear about what to enter as the year of birth, as it isn't actually written on the records. It is easy to assume it is 1800, but the Instructions warn against assumptions, or am I missing something here?
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Also, can anyone decipher the surname in Entry 4 on this record? Jane ? Baptised Sept 28th 1800?
Thanks!
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Thanks Ruth! It's so good to get feedback about my Indexing! I'm new at this and at times it feels like I'm working in the dark as I don't get a chance to hear about any errors I am making. I'm trying to not create bad habits for myself!😀
Re: the surname query, I had hoped that the Reviewer may have had a better chance of deciphering it than me. I was at a complete loss! Thanks for your comments.
And I think a "blank" for the birth year is the way to go.
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Based on these field instructions
If only a 2-digit number was recorded, you can sometimes determine the first 2 digits of the 4-digit year from other information, such as the project dates or other contextual information on the image. Sometimes adjacent images give the missing information or additional context.
I'd go ahead and put the birth year and the baptism year as 1800.
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Thanks Ksalers, but there is no date recorded for the birth year (2 digit nor 4 digit), only for the Baptism year. I'm sure it is 1800 for both, but I'm trying to avoid making a habit of assuming.🙃😁
It would also be trickier if the Baptism happened in the first quarter of the year!
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You should not assume that the birth year is the same as the baptism year. I've had many many entries show different years for both. It appears that a family would decide to get baptized and in that case there would be birth years well before the baptism year.
Another assumption I've observed: some people assume the the burial year is the same as the death year. Odds are that a burial year in late January through December, the death year is probably in the same year but I don't think it should be assumed.
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Thanks John W O'Brien! Your comments back up what seems to be right.
I've learnt so much through making mistakes and seeking help here!
Thanks to everyone for your input!! 😀
Cheers, Patrick (from Australia😎)
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