UK Indexer Help

Additional help can be found on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.

DeCiphering the Transcription

Dictionaries

The dictionaries - accessible from the main UK Indexer page - can help you to find possible matches to a name.

On the main UKIndexer page click on 'dictionary'. You will be presented with a page similar to that shown in figure 1 (below). Enter a name into the search box. An asterisk can be used as a wild card. For example entering Rober* will produce results such as Roberts and Robertson as surnames and Robert as a forename.

Figure 1. Dictionary page

Click the 'Find it' button. The resulting window will be similar to that as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2 Dictionary Search results

The frequency at which the name occurs in the census database is indicated alongside the possible variations of the name. Common names such as the surname 'Roberts' and the forename 'Robert' obviously have more occurrences than less common names such as 'Robery'.

Wildcards are especially useful if part of a name is indecipherable. Using 'R**ert' as a search string will give suggestions as to what the missing letters could be. It is likely that the above would be 'Robert' but, it could also be Rupert etc. Comparison with the census page should help in deciding which name is relevant.

General Transcription Deciphering Pointers

It is unusual if a census page is written in more than one hand. Therefore it is possible to compare the style and construction of handwriting to other entries on the same or adjacent pages.

If you are having difficulty in deciphering a name, browse the image or adjacent images to confirm whether or not the formation of the letters is the same as that in other names.

The census enumerator occasionally spelt names incorrectly. It is better to record the entry as written by the enumerator. In some cases, where for instance parents have broken with tradition, the name is correctly spelt even though it may be different from the norm. For example two relevant but different spellings of the name 'Claire' exist. Or should that be 'Clare'. The records will still be locatable due to the sophistication of the search tools employed by the Genealogist.

It can take a while to get accustomed to how a particular enumerator wrote. First names are more readily recognised and so give a basis as to what letter shapes an enumerator uses. When trying to interpret a line you should look at the line above and follow any 'descenders' - down and try to imagine the line without the clutter of 'descenders' from the line above.

If a name is particularly difficult to read you will need to assemble a range of names from the possible letters.

As a general guide the following rules apply:

• Letters such as p, f and q normally have straight 'descenders' going below the line.
• Letters such as y, g, j are likely to have loops to the left whereas letters that swing to the right could be f or q.
• Look for the crosses on t and the dots on j and i. Look for straight strokes of l.
• If you can’t distinguish a forename don’t forget to look at the column the age is written in to check the gender of the person and their position in the household.
  “Dau” or Daughter, “Son” etc.
• Earlier census material may show a different surname spelling to a later one; as literacy improved these variations reduced in number.
• Please use the forum. It is there for everyone to use. Often your question may already have been answered. If not create a post and either an administrator or another indexer will answer your question.

The Tools

Once you have logged in, the UKIndexer home page displays links to both the ‘Page Tool’ and the ‘BMD Tool’. Selecting either tool will automatically allocate ten pages to your personal folder. Once selected the pages need to be reviewed and returned within three days, otherwise they will be automatically withdrawn from your folder and redistributed. This is to ensure that the project isn't being held up should circumstances prevent a user from completing their allotted work.

Accuracy is of the utmost importance when reading the census image and editing the data. With an entry that is difficult to read, try to enter at least the initial letter of a name followed by a ‘?’. This will at allow the entry to be shown in the correct letter group when a searched is performed on the 'Genealogist' website.

Page Tool

The ‘Page Tool’ will open two windows – an edit page, and an image page.

The top window is the edit page and it represents a page of transcribed census records. The bottom window shows an image of the original census page.

Figure 3 Showing both the edit and image pages.

The lines highlighted in red on the edit page are those identified as potential errors from the transcription.

Figure 4 Highlighted errors

The uppermost of the errors shown in figure 4 above indicates that the Head of the household has a different surname than other members of the household. It cannot be assumed that this isn't true so an inspection of the census image (figure 5 below) is required.

Figure 5 Consulting the census image

The image shows that an error in transcription has occurred. This error is not with the highlighted James Royle but with his wife having being attributed the wrong surname.

The second error highlighted in figure 4 concerns a daughter named Thomas which warrants investigation.

On occasions the data has been transcribed in reverse order with the top record relating to the bottom entry on the image and vice versa. If this occurs then click on the drop down box (located top left in the edit window) named ‘Order’ and click on ‘Desc’.

Should the image not correspond at all with the data to edit, look at a few pages immediately prior to and following the current image. This can be achieved by using the links located at the top centre of the image window.

Whether or not you find the image please use the 'Report Problem' link to alert us that the images need to be re-aligned with the data. This link is found at the top-right of the data page. If you have located the correct census image then please proceed to checking the records.

As previously indicated there will be more mistakes than just those highlighted. Check each line of the data against the corresponding entry on the image (this has the added advantage of more available credits). If an incorrect entry is evident then double click the name or field you wish to amend. This will reveal a text box where the correction can be entered. Figure 6 illustrates the surname of Fielding being changed to Royle.

Figure 6 Changing a surname

Pressing the 'Enter' key or double-clicking the left mouse button will amend the table to recognise the changes that have been entered. The field that was changed will now be highlighted in bold type.

This process should be repeated for every mistake that is encountered. When the page is completely checked press the 'Update' button as shown in figure 7 below. A temporary display will provide a list of the records that will be updated before returning back to the edit page. Press the 'Done, upload my work' button. The window should then automatically close. Further census pages can be accessed from the UKIndexer home page.

Figure 7 All done

BMD Tool

The ‘BMD Tool’ will open a window – this is list of data found on a page of the BMD.

On this page only the highlighted lines show areas that possibly need checking. Once the window is open scroll down to the bottom and click 'Open Image'. This will open a second window which contains the original data from the BMD's.

Look for areas which are out of alphabetical order this is usally highlighted if you see an incorrect area, click the line with the data to open a new window as an edit page, once you have edited the data click 'Edit Data', the window will then close and the original page get updated with the new information. If this does not happen click 'Refresh' to see your changes. Once you have finished checking all the page click 'Done' at the bottom of the page to finish.

Report unreadable entries or any other problems you notice or encounter on the forum by quoting the name in the first record.