Place names on census records
Why are so many place name incorrect on FamilySearch census records? Can this be edited by users?
To clarify: The place names show up incorrect after the record is attached as a source citations.
Answers
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If you look at the extract/index of the record, are there 2 place name fields, one with the word "(original)"?
If so, that is the result of the automated placename algorithm that has run amok. You'll find MANY threads on the topic here in the Community.
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Thanks for your reply. I've discovered that if the place name indexed on the census record doesn't match the FamilySearch standardized name (evidently name spellings have changed over the decades), as you say, the algorithm will "run amok." And, yes, I found that when I edit the place name on the index to FamilySearch's standardized version, the entry appears correctly in Sources. Many thanks again.
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I have bumped into a similar problem when I exported search results (Search/Preferences/Export). The search showed hits in Cleveland (UK) for a person that I knew came from Darfield a good distance away. My interest was piqued until I got to his entry in the Tree. The Residence field corresponding to Cleveland was -
, Yorkshire,Yorkshire (West Riding), England
Notice the preceding comma. Where the Place should be is a blank. If you have used a Lookup in spreadsheets you will realise that Nulls and 'no matches' need coping with or you may get the wrong answer. If you put the Place above into the FS Search on its own, the first suggestion for a standardised place is Cleveland.
The two versions of Yorkshire as the name of a single county do not help.
Solution? Easy, edit the Residence - Sorry, I'm not allowed. UK Census data is one source type that FS does not have images for to check my changes against. It's true, it says that in the FAQ's.
Never mind, I'll replace "Cleveland" in the xls out with "Yorkshire". But what about real Clevelands?
A query tells me there are 10,000 people in the 1851 census in the "comma Yorkshire" place.
Anyway back to Darfield (the Yorkshire one). Records with the single word are exported as Darfield, New Zealand.
The Standardised Place is very important for finding people.
Now, let me rant about a person born in one house but recorded in the Chapelry, Parish, Bishop's Transcript, ED, GRO and Civil Registration District . . .. .
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And, unfortunately, the word "original" (mentioned in my February comment, above) has now been removed, making it impossible to see what may have been indexed and what has been converted by a flawed algorithm. We have been told that engineers are working on a fix, but we have had no update in a LONG time.
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