What's gone wrong with Search?

Paul W

I have always been quite happy that by checking "Exact" has filtered my results list to something close to what I am expecting - albeit, there might be one or two mysterious inclusions. However, in the example below, I am being offered 57 results, only ONE of which relates to a John Harrison who was resident in Kent in 1861:

(See https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&q.birthLikeDate.from=1808&q.birthLikeDate.to=1812&q.birthLikePlace=England%2C%20United%20Kingdom&q.birthLikePlace.exact=on&q.givenName=john&q.givenName.exact=on&q.residenceDate.from=1861&q.residenceDate.to=1861&q.residencePlace=Kent%2C%20England%2C%20United%20Kingdom&q.residencePlace.exact=on&q.surname=harrison&q.surname.exact=on&f.collectionId=1493747)

Repeating this search, but changing Residence Place to Surrey gives me 5 results, 4 of which are for Surrey.

(See https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&q.birthLikeDate.from=1808&q.birthLikeDate.to=1812&q.birthLikePlace=England%2C%20United%20Kingdom&q.birthLikePlace.exact=on&q.givenName=john&q.givenName.exact=on&q.residenceDate.from=1861&q.residenceDate.to=1861&q.residencePlace=Surrey%2C%20England%2C%20United%20Kingdom&q.residencePlace.exact=on&q.surname=harrison&q.surname.exact=on&f.collectionId=1493747)

One more "test", based on a Lancashire residence, provides 38 results, ALL of which relate to a John Harrison who was living in Lancashire in 1861:

(See https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&offset=20&q.birthLikeDate.from=1808&q.birthLikeDate.to=1812&q.birthLikePlace=England%2C%20United%20Kingdom&q.birthLikePlace.exact=on&q.givenName=john&q.givenName.exact=on&q.residenceDate.from=1861&q.residenceDate.to=1861&q.residencePlace=Lancashire%2C%20England%2C%20United%20Kingdom&q.residencePlace.exact=on&q.surname=harrison&q.surname.exact=on&f.collectionId=1493747).

(Not illustrated: 2 out of 2 correct returns when using Norfolk as Residence Place.)

I wonder if anyone can provide an explanation for such inconsistency? Otherwise, I would be grateful if a moderator would escalate this to the appropriate team of engineers for their investigation into this erratic behaviour.

(Note - I did try this out as a general search, too, i.e. using the same search criteria, but not using the 1861 England & Wales Census filter. Same problem.)

Áine Ní Donnghaile

@Paul W I tried running your same searches and got the same baffling results.

Unrelated, but I've also had similar strange results on that other genealogy website - specifying a state of birth and looking for a marriage record in the same state but getting results from several unrelated locations.

Have you flagged your post to make sure a moderator sees it to escalate?

Maile L

I will send this on for investigation.