1921 Canada Census - Religion abbreviation help
Most of the abbreviations in the religion column are obvious, but I have come up with one which is a mystery to me. It is Paft as far as I can figure. Definitely a P as compared with the Pres abbreviation above it. Definitely not a small p, but rather an f consistent with this fellow's handwriting. At first I thought it might be short for Papist, but other Catholics on the page are listed as being R. C. so not that and I am sure, as I said, it is not a small p but a small f. So what? What on earth can Paft actually stand for? I am fairly conversant with most denominations but this one is baffling to me. Any help out there? It is in the West Lorne area of Ontario if that is any help.
Answers
-
It might be helpful to share the batch code so we can see what you see, sometimes what would be ss looks to us like fs because that's how people wrote in cursive during the time period. I know I'm not explaining very well but that's because my brain is older than I am and I'm almost older than dirt 😎
0 -
I am not quite as old as dirt, but I have been doing this for well on 20 years now. It's not the infamous double s which looks like and fs. Definitely Paft. I just handed it in with Paft for that family and someone else will have to figure it out. Oddly enough, I am transcribing one now that has a family of Christian Scientists in a podunk town out in Saskatchewan. Who knew? First time I have come across Christian Scientists anywhere and certainly wasn't expecting them out in a farming village in SK.
1 -
I think you did exactly right 😎
1 -
Pacifist? Yeah, not a religion.
The enumerator's instructions, page 27 (page 14 of the PDF), say in part:
The information regarding the religious belief of every person of mature years enumerated in column 3 must be written out in full, — abbreviations must not be used.
(Emphasis original.) It doesn't sound like the enumerator remembered this part of the handbook, though, so it really could be anything. I agree with maryellen that you did it exactly right by indexing what you saw. Hopefully, the family researcher who uses the index to find this person will have a better idea of what that entry means.
1 -
I don't think many of them knew that rule. Almost every census page I do has abbreviations in its religion column. I am always amazed at how careless some census takers are in terms of spellings, penmanship, nicknames instead of full names, township and municipality switched or ignored completely, all manner of errors. I have been a census taker in the past and its really not that difficult to fill out. It's more difficult to find some people at home and willing to do it. I remember being so good at it that I was given all the "problem households" to do and did manage to get most of them done with a sense of humour, a reminder that it's the law, and a boast about how incredibly fast I was at doing it (by that time), lol. I was a census taking speed demon.
2