'Blank' Census Entries - How Are They Indexed ? .....

[WilmaM]

I was searching for a family in the 1891 census.

I'd not had much success looking for either of the parent's in 1881 - elastic ages and difficult surname so I thought looking for their eldest child would help in 1891.

Elizabeth MURDOCH would have been 4 or 5, she was born in 1886 in Glasgow and her mother Annie died in Bridgeton in 1892 so I was pretty confident that they would still be in the area.

However I just could not track her down so I tried her Father Joseph - found him first try but he was at the bottom of a page [ very clearly him as a yarn twister] so I pressed the 'view next page' button but AAAGGHHH the top 4 entries were almost blank .....

I can see that the first entry is a married female aged 24
the next is a daughter aged 4
then a 2 year old son and a baby girl possibly Mary aged 9 months.
[ that all seems to tie in nicely]

I have sent in a contact form and am promised a paper copy.

But my question is [ you thought I'd never get to the point ] if the paper copy [ or indeed the original document] is in a similar state were these people indexed and if so - how ?

[LesleyB]

Hi Wilma
I've certainly seen on-line images which were so faint as to be impossible to read, but when the photocopy arrived in the post following the contact form, its been clear and straightforward to read.

Can't help with your indexing query though! Not sure if these were compiled from the films or the original books.

Best wishes
Lesley

[DavidWW]

....an awfy lot snipped ..............But my question is [ you thought I'd never get to the point ] if the paper copy [ or indeed the original document] is in a similar state were these people indexed and if so - how ?

If that's the case, i.e. the info is unreadable on the original, then they won't be indexed

However, the good news is that while there are many unreadable images, there are relatively few original ED books that can't be read with or without the assistance of an expert at GROS and/or enhancement techniques such as UV light etc.

Sadly, however, there are missing records, particularly for a number of Fife registration districts from 1841, which are reported to have "fallen off the back of a horse" when crossing a river somewhere ..........

David

[WilmaM]

paper copy arrived this morning

Wonderfully clear image

No wonder I couldn't find 4 yearold Elizabeth - she's LIZZIE

I've replied to Roslyn Robertson attaching the downloaded image and asked if it could be refilmed to prevent anther person having this difficulty in the future.

[DavidWW]

.....snipped .......... No wonder I couldn't find 4 yearold Elizabeth - she's LIZZIE

Not unusual , along with a whole series of other variants

Leslie Alan Dunkling's "Scottish Christian Names: An A to Z of First Names" is my "bible", so to speak , and there's one or three other sources I'll have a look at if this doesn't help, plus another few if Irish or Scottish Gaelic names are in the frame..............

I've replied to Roslyn Robertson attaching the downloaded image and asked if it could be refilmed to prevent anther person having this difficulty in the future.

I'm sure that she will do everything in her power to achieve exactly that objective

David