IGI, FHC, PR data Simon Dean and a misunderstanding

Charani may have been in error in saying, "The IGI isn't made from
transcriptions" for it is often made from Bishop's Transcriptions but
I don't think that was what was meant.

Charani...

There was a word inadvertently omitted: solely. The IGI comprises
some extractions but an awful lot of patron submissions which can
range from wishful thinking to guesswork to fiction.

Simon Dean...

Good. Because I didn't say the IGI was made solely from
transcriptions/extractions either! Glad we agree with each other then.

However, in saying, " The point you have missed is that the IGI is a
transcription . . . . . . . ", Graeme Wall made an error. The
details contained in the IGI's batches ARE NOT transcriptions, the
information is extracted by using a double extraction programme from
the specified source documents and even then, the data in batches have
been deleted slowly from what the batch contained originally. That is
the major problem with batch data and is why one needs to check source
documents. Regarding any gaps anywhere, that's the way of written
history isn't it?

So, Simon Dean, anything in the IGI except batch data, should be
assumed to be wishful thinking and if the same details happen to be
found when checking PR's/BT's etc. at the FHC or RO, so be it. Get
a print of it for your files and think youself lucky, for many
researchers cannot get to an LDS FHC let alone an R.O.

Simon Dean...

I honestly didn't mean transcription in the literal meaning of the word,
as a like for like duplication. I meant it more in a basic sense of an
abstract copy.

Maybe I was just thinking to my work being a transcriber on FreeBMD...
Is that an Index, or a transcription? Rhetorical question though.

Just to clarify, that's the gaps, can be anywhere, therefore the IGI
can't even be relied upon for sequential records within the same film?

Personally, I consider anything from the IGI wishful thinking! Anything
at all. Even other peoples family trees out there on the internet!
People make mistakes. It's human nature. Until I've proved it myself and
dug the records out, I tend not to place too much faith in it.

Some of the IGI is more accurate than other bits of the IGI and allows
me to build a prototype skeleton allowing to flesh it out fully later,
but even then, I treat it with a pinch of salt. I was just hoping to put
my skeleton together a little quicker.

I chose not to include my beliefs and workings with the IGI because it
wasn't needed in the context of question.

The whole business of not being able to get to various Records Offices
of FHC has me thinking. Are there any co-operatives out there or
anything like? Where people help each other out by looking through
records at various R.O.s or FHC? Someone was telling me about data in
Gwent that he can't get to... Im quite often in Gwent with my job...
What I would give for some one to look through a Parish Register in 1781

roy...

Further to my message about the whereabouts of the registers for
Castleford Parish Church (All Saints), on re-consulting my sources I
have noticed a discrepancy between the two books.

The National Index of Parish Registers for Yorkshire West Riding
shows that the christening registers for Castleford run from 1653 to
1861 and these are, as I told you, at the West Yorkshire Archives
Service, Wakefield branch. However, I looked also at "Yorkshire
Parish Registers" by Colin Blanshard Withers and this appears to show
a substantial gap in the registers! According to Colin, they run from
1653 to 1782 and then from 1835 to 1961. So you should be able to
find Luke's baptism in 1781 and that of an earlier child, Mark, in
1779, but presumably not the others baptised after Luke (if indeed
they were all the children of the same man).

The BTs, however, appear to be complete for the period 1721-1850 and
both sources agree on this. These are not at Wakefield but at the
Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, York.

I note from clicking Source Call in the IGI at familysearch that all
the IGI entries were extracted from the BTs and not the registers. I
note also that the last three entries - Mary Ann DEAN baptised in
1797, another Mary Ann in 1799 and a John in 1801 - spell the name
without the final E. Of course, this may or may not mean anything, as
we know, but it does tend to suggest the possibility there were two
different men called John Dean(e) baptising children in Castleford,
since the sequence of six children whose names were spelt with the E
runs from 1779 to 1795.

My instinctive feeling is that you really ought to consult both the
registers and the BTs, even if this means a 2-day stay in Yorkshire,
as it almost certainly will, given the distance between Wakefield and
York. One word of caution: booking in advance at the Borthwick is
normally essential, however, they recently moved from cramped
premises in the centre of York to new accommodation at the
university, so there may well be much more space for researchers now.
It's as well to check first, though.

Alternatively, there are plenty of researchers who go regularly to
both the Wakefield archives and the Borthwick and these advertise
regularly in the various genealogy magazines, especially Family Tree
Magazine. You might find using one of these (or two) cheaper than a
trip from Birmingham to Yorkshire when travelling and overnight hotel
costs are taken into account.

Roy Stockdill

One would be in less danger
From the wiles of the stranger
If one's own kin and kith
Were more fun to be with

Ogden Nash

for Castleford and find the details on Luke Dean(e)'s baptism...

Simon Dean...

I plan on looking at the FHC first. They appear to have baptisms of
1653-1785 then 1835-1905. This I guess correlates with those dates
above. Hopefully it won't be too frustrating however.

Simon Dean...

I've been meaning to want a look up there myself.

Simon Dean...

If that wasn't bad enough, Luke Deane, then became Luke Dean and married
Sarah Hutchinson, in Austerfield, moved back towards Wakefield, and had
a child called Mary Ann Dean in 1812.

Simon Dean...

I certainly plan to take some time off this summer, and have a bit of a
break in Yorkshire with a camera, pen, paper, and lots of family records.

Simon Dean...

Hrm. That would be handy. Can you recommend some good magazines I should
look out for and where I can get them from?

Cheers
Simon

Similarly, I could do the same in Birmingham... hrm. That get's me
thinking. I might get together a website... when Im next off to the FHC
or Register Office's, I'll make an announcement and get some requests...