*UPDATE* Ancestry - weird place names - the penny drops !

[Nick29]

For ages now I've been mumbling under my breath about "stoopid Americans" when using Ancestry(.co.uk) when obviously English place names in other people's trees have gained American state suffixes - i.e. Edenbridge, Kent becomes Edenbridge, Kentucky, USA.  When I first saw it, I thought it was Americans making wild assumptions, but now I'm pretty sure that it's Ancestry doing this - automatically assigning a county and state to anything which doesn't end in "USA".

Has anyone else noticed this (you probably have - I'm fairly slow on the uptake sometimes  ) ?  And more to the point, has anyone complained to them about it ?

[stanmapstone]

These transcription errors usually come about from the use of drop-down lists by the transcribers. They type in the first few letters and the list 'suggests' a possbile placename which is very easy for the transcriber to select.
See http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,273480.msg1574740.html#msg1574740

Stan

[Nick29]

Ahh, that's interesting, thanks 

I've emailed ancestry.co.uk to complain - I don't suppose there's much they can/will do about it.

[ozlady]

I thought my ancestors were from Somerset. According to Ancestry, some of them are from Somalia!

[chinakay]

Yes... and Dolwyddelan is apparently in CARlow.....I reckon some others of us have noticed this as well...

Cheers,
China

[ozlady]

There are some real corkers on there. One of the best I've seen is Pontypridd transcribed as Patrick's Port!!!

[kerryb]

I've seen Sussex as South Essex which could be understood I suppose except that Kent and London are in between. 

[mrs_tease]

I've had someone die in the civil war and its shown as Warwickshire!!

[Nick29]

My wife's grandfather (who died in Southend, Essex) allegedly died in a hospital in Peru, according to Ancestry's One World Tree.  I've had one or two ancestors who have allegedly died in this hospital too.  It must have been the Victorian version of the NHS