Author Topic: GRO Online Index  (Read 3841 times)

Offline clairec666

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Re: GRO Online Index
« Reply #27 on: Sunday 24 March 19 11:29 GMT (UK) »
Very useful. Do you know if MMNs have been added for all entries yet?

As the GRO is free to search, I shall happily use that without worrying about FindMyPast while my sub has expired.  Anyone tried that javascript ?

The GRO's website has been great for me, but there are a few entries I haven't been able to find on there (possibly due to mistranscription). I'll have to pay a trip to the library to look on Findmypast.

Another benefit of Findmypast's search is that you don't have to enter a surname at all and just search by mother's maiden name.

I haven't tried the javascript as yet, since I'm finding so much from Findmypast!
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Offline Girl Guide

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Re: GRO Online Index
« Reply #28 on: Sunday 24 March 19 11:42 GMT (UK) »
I would say that Free bmd, Find My Past and the GRO have all got their particular strengths.  You just choose whichever website can provide what you are looking for at the time.  :D
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Offline cuffie81

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Re: GRO Online Index
« Reply #29 on: Sunday 24 March 19 11:47 GMT (UK) »
People started noticing the MMN on FindMyPast in early January 2018 but I don't recall any official statement from FindMyPast as to how they got the data (presumably a deal with the GRO) nor how many records had been updated (I presume it was a mass update).

What I have noticed is that FindMyPast records only list the MMN if there's exact matching GRO record. If there's any discrepancy, such as a name spelling, then the FindMyPast record doesn't have the MMN. For example, there's a discrepancy in the surname in the following birth record and the FindMyPast record doesn't have the MMN.

GRO:
1878 Q4 James Charles Stopleton (mmn: Williamson); Woburn; 03b; 398;

FindMyPast (and FreeBMD):
1878 Q4 James Charles Stapleton (mmn: -); Woburn; 03b; 398;


It would be interesting to know if the FindMyPast update was a one-off or if its ongoing, and incorporates any corrections in the GRO records. If anyone has an example do let us know.
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Online BumbleB

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Re: GRO Online Index
« Reply #30 on: Sunday 24 March 19 12:02 GMT (UK) »
cuffie81 - but if you look at the images of the original printed GRO Index (via FreeBMD or FindMyPast), you will see that the surname of Stapleton appears in the correction position, i.e.  Staples, Stapleton and then Stapley and that Charles James appears between James and John Andrew G. 

So GRO have corrected/changed the surname to Stopleton at a later date.
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Offline cuffie81

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Re: GRO Online Index
« Reply #31 on: Sunday 24 March 19 12:33 GMT (UK) »
cuffie81 - but if you look at the images of the original printed GRO Index (via FreeBMD or FindMyPast), you will see that the surname of Stapleton appears in the correction position, i.e.  Staples, Stapleton and then Stapley and that Charles James appears between James and John Andrew G. 

So GRO have corrected/changed the surname to Stopleton at a later date.

My suspicion is that when the GRO built their new index, based on transcriptions of the original register (rather than the original index), is that they incorrectly transcribed the name from the register. That's just my guess though.
Anderson Banks Beard Brewer Caves Clarke Clinch Cooling Cuff Denton Gamble Gibson Gunn Hunt Mills Muncey Norris Notzke Reid Robinson Searle Smith Trundle Turner Weedon Wells Wilson