It pays to check the PRs

[emeltee]

I came across an anomaly the other day looking for a marriage in Durham of a Thomas Rontree. Durham Records on Line had him marrying an Elizabeth Welford 1659 in Bishopton. However when I cross-checked it on other sources eg FreeReg, fmp which has the Northumberland and Durham FHS marriages, and with the George Bell list on Genuki, they all stated that Elizabeth Welford married a Thomas Robinsonne.

I queried this with Durham Records and they have checked the entry and Rontree is the correct surname so who got it wrong in the first place and who copied whom? I don't know why, but I have always been under the impression that FreeReg got their info from images of the PRs however, now I am not so sure.

Just goes to prove you can't trust transcriptions and you really do need to check the original entry.

Emeltee

 

[benny1982]

Transcriptions are a finding aid only. That includes the IGI and all parish register CD's.

The IGI for my ancestors marriage in Suffolk says Roper but the original says Rosier. Also some transcribers think the "transcribe what you see" rule means "transcribe the first thing you see". Always take a closer look.