BMD index transcription errors

[lisajk]

Can anyone tell me how reliable the BMD records are in terms of accuracy of transcription?  I'm finding real difficulty tracing one family branch and can't believe that, of three siblings, none had children; I seem to have reached a dead end.     I know it is of course possible that all three were childless but seems unlikely.  In two cases I haven't yet even been able to trace a marriage.  Unfortunately it doesn't help that the surname is common (Osborne) and has a number of variant spellings.  The general time period is 1940s - 1960s.  Does anyone know how frequently mistakes appear, e.g. Osborne being entered as Osborn or Osbourne?  My past experience with other family branches appears to suggest that it's rare, but then I was dealing with unusual surnames and fewer possible variants.

thanks!
Lisa

[Necromancer]

Less rare than the 19th C Census !  But 20th C BMD errors are not uncommon..... I have found 2 in my bunch - so hopefully %age-wise thats not an indication !

An error with Osborne is most likely only after the OSB I'd hazard to guess  ... so even tho it increases your search, worth just trawling that way ?

[trish251]

Hi Lisa

Are you looking in the full indexes - the FreeBDM transcriptions haven't got to your dates yet, so you will need to trawl through the images where hopefully you may pick up any errors (providing the first couple of letters are correct)

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/rectype/vital/freebmd/bmd.aspx
Select the COMPLETE BDM Index ranges & images. The partial ones on ancestry are a copy of FreeBDM

This is an interesting discussion on the records
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mikefost/

Trish

[lisajk]

Trish
thanks, yes, I am looking at the complete records - but it's so slow when you have a relatively common name with a number of possible variants.   I've got to the stage when I can only confirm by ordering the certificates, but when you've a list of 30 potential marriages, none of which seem any more likely than others, it all starts to get very expensive, even with reference checking.  And then, as happened to me last week, because the names are so common it's possible to get a certificate that on the face of it looks correct (and on which you then base days of further research) only to find that in fact it's not and all that research is wasted!

What joys!

the books look interesting too - thanks for that

Lisa

 

[trish251]

In Australia we cannot access birth indexes less than 100 years old - so at times I think it would be nice to have something to trawl through! Thus said it seems like a long & potentially expensive task. Would the telephone records, or some other type of information make the search a little easier? War records could also be of assistance perhaps if any of your folks were of the right age.

Trish

[sillgen]

If you write to the local register office and specify that you only want the certificate if it is a child of x and y or marriage to John Smith etc then you may save money.  They do not charge for checking in the way that the GRO does.   They will not need the full reference just the date.  The births should be easier as they state the mother's maiden name.
Andrea

[behindthefrogs]

thanks, yes, I am looking at the complete records - but it's so slow when you have a relatively common name with a number of possible variants.   I've got to the stage when I can only confirm by ordering the certificates, but when you've a list of 30 potential marriages, none of which seem any more likely than others, it all starts to get very expensive, even with reference checking.  And then, as happened to me last week, because the names are so common it's possible to get a certificate that on the face of it looks correct (and on which you then base days of further research) only to find that in fact it's not and all that research is wasted!

You have never had it so good.  It wasn't so long ago that the only way to search the indexes was to visit the Family Record Office, or its predecessors, in London.  Drag the huge volume for each quarter from the shelf to the desk, copy out any relevant information and then return the volume to the shelf before moving onto the next one (if someone else wasn't looking at it).  On a good day it took about five minutes to search each quarter.

David

[sillgen]

You have never had it so good.  It wasn't so long ago that the only way to search the indexes was to visit the Family Record Office, or its predecessors, in London.  Drag the huge volume for each quarter from the shelf to the desk, copy out any relevant information and then return the volume to the shelf before moving onto the next one (if someone else wasn't looking at it).  On a good day it took about five minutes to search each quarter.

David

Ah, those were the days!!    Many a "happy" hour have I spent struggling with those books!
Andrea

[Sylviaann]

I used films at the local library or LDS centre.  You had to go to the drawer take out the film for the quarter put it in the film reader and search.  There were usually 3 or 4 films for each quarter.  The first one usually being A-G.  As mine was a G surname I had to scroll through the film to get to G then when finished rewind the film and put it back in the drawer.

After 2 hours, the maximim time allowed, you ended up with an acheing  shoulder.  Now you only get RSI in your wrist and finger.

Sylviaann