Quote:
Originally Posted by Retlaw
Aye Margaret, like Ossy Kid I have been at this game a long long time, at first it was hard work, but then it became easier as the mind learnt new tricks, thinking straight ahead doesn't always work, you start to think sideways as well, and you have to have a large pile of salt handy. One of the great difficulties is interpreting badly written indexes, and what it should mean, but even after all these years, I still feel good when a puzzle is solved.
As for that who do you think you are, I think they do a lot of research into dozens of so-called stars, before they pick one to carry on with, and sometimes they've spent so much on the programme that they can't afford to drop it, so little fabrication, and who out there is gonna prove em wrong.
Donkeys years back, when Jack Broderick was deciphering the old parish records. I was creating indexes, we both came to the conclusion that if anyone claimed they could trace their family back to 1700 with absolute certanty, they were a damned good liar, the spelling in those days was enough to make you want to shoot yourself, and the number of John the son of John, whew let me out of here
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Yes Retlaw, you are right about the not thinking in straight lines, and also about the writing.
Those Bishops transcripts are very hard to read...even to someone like me with practice at illegible writing.
It also gets very confusing when children have died and the next child (of the same gender)is named after the deceased...and some of the records do not let you look at the actual document. They only let you look at what someone has transcribed.(not to be trusted, I try to find corroborative evidence from elsewhere)
On one of my relatives they are transcribed as Bratcliffe when they were actually called Ratcliffe. Being able to look at the actual document which also has the parents on it made the difference to me accepting or discarding the information.
So yes, I have still a very long way to go to achieve the skills and knowledge that you and Ossy Kid have. It is something I can aspire to( even though I haven't got the years ahead of me that you both had).
The salt cellar stands at my right hand alongside a very large box of patience
