This post is half admonishment to self and half my best advice to you. I know transcribing records is never going to be the sexy bit they cut to on WDYTYA, but it is the bedrock of so much of what we base our conclusions on later. So, don't be tempted to rush it or 'tidy up' the discepancies as you go along - write it down EXACTLY as it appears and take your time.
I'm still wrestling with the Irish family reconstruction exercise I talked about in my previous post, and part of the reason why it's taking so long is that I didn't transcribe the records I'm relying on properly or completely at the start. In my excitement at finding a great resource online, I raced through the registers, composing families 'on the fly' in my spreadsheet, until I got well and truly lost amidst my own errors and omissions.
So, I went back to school and did my homework properly this weekend, and lo and behold, I solved a couple of people puzzles straight away by being much more methodical. Spreadsheets can be a great tool for sorting out familes in parish registers - copy the information into columns and you can sort by names, places or dates and all sorts of patterns can emerge - I've found second wives and half siblings for families like this.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to finish my lines ... "I must not rush transcribing records"!
I'm still wrestling with the Irish family reconstruction exercise I talked about in my previous post, and part of the reason why it's taking so long is that I didn't transcribe the records I'm relying on properly or completely at the start. In my excitement at finding a great resource online, I raced through the registers, composing families 'on the fly' in my spreadsheet, until I got well and truly lost amidst my own errors and omissions.
So, I went back to school and did my homework properly this weekend, and lo and behold, I solved a couple of people puzzles straight away by being much more methodical. Spreadsheets can be a great tool for sorting out familes in parish registers - copy the information into columns and you can sort by names, places or dates and all sorts of patterns can emerge - I've found second wives and half siblings for families like this.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to finish my lines ... "I must not rush transcribing records"!