M*CH*MORE One Name Study
CONVENTIONS
The following conventions are used for the spelling of surnames and for
dates and text notes in the family data.
Surname spelling
Surnames are always spelt in capitals (except for the "c" in McDONALD,
etc.). Any name spelt in lower case except for a capital initial letter
is a forename.
Up to about 1850, when most M*CH*MOREs were illiterate, the spelling
of a person's name was at the whim of the recorder and therefore often changed
from record to record. We have adopted the convention of using the spelling
in the first known record—usually their baptism. Where the surname is spelt
differently in a subsequent record, or in the transcription of that record,
the actual spelling is shown in parentheses at the end of the record.
|
|
Dates |
| |
date |
date as stated in church register*, civil registration
certificate or personal communication |
| |
[date] |
date as stated in International Genealogical Index (IGI) |
| |
yyyy.q |
year and quarter as stated in the UK Civil Registration
Index |
| |
(date) |
estimated date, usually calculated from age stated in a
census or on a death certificate (probably accurate to within one or two
years) |
| |
yyyx |
estimated date, based on date of marriage, date of birth
of spouse or children, etc. (probably accurate to within 10 years) |
| |
yyxx |
estimated date, based on a record (will, burial, electoral
role etc.) which contains no statement of age (accurate to within 100 years) |
| |
*Before 1752, the calendar year began on 25 March. For
example, church registers included what we would now consider to be 24Feb1743
in 1742. On this site, we use the common convention of referring to this
date as 24Feb1742/43.
|
|
Text notes |
| |
(text) |
name spelling, when different from a person's stated
name (forenames, surname or both) |
| |
[text] |
editorial comment |
| |
text? |
best guess at transcribing text |
