Conventions used on this site

This page provides information on the conventions I have used thoughout the site. They may not conform to any standards (if indeed there are any standards for these things!).

Citations for Scottish BMD -

These follow the pattern of - yyyy: xxx (nnn),ccc

• where
  • yyyy is the year of registry
    xxx is the name of the district
    nnn is that district's number
    ccc is the consecutive number that year

Citations for English BMD -

These follow the pattern of - yyyy/q: xxx (vv,ppp),ccc

• where
  • yyyy is the year of registry
    q is the quarter
    xxx is the name of the district
    vv is the volume
    ppp is the page
    ccc is the consecutive number

Citations for Scottish census -

These follow the pattern of - yyyy: rrr,eee,pp sch:ss

• where
  • yyyy is the year of census
    rrr is the Scottish registration district number
    eee is the Scottish enumeration district number
    pp is the page number
    sch:ss is the schedule number of the property (where known)

Citations for English census -

These follow the pattern of - yyyy: cccc,fff,ppp,nn sch:ss

• where
  • yyyy is the year of census
    cccc is the PRO Class
    fff is the PRO folio number
    ppp is the PRO piece number
    nn is the page number
    sch:ss is the schedule number of the property (where known)

Citations for USA census -

These follow the pattern of - yyyy: eee,sss,pp,nn

• where
  • yyyy is the year of census
    eee is the US enumeration district's number
    sss is the supervisor's district number pp is the sheet number
    nn is the entry number(s)

Date Formats -

This site is produced in the UK. In order to avoid confusion with our 'cousins' across the pond (dd/mm/yyyy versus mm/dd/yyyy), I have used the first three letters of the month's name. Original documents may have used a fully numbered system, but I have taken the liberty of converting all dates in my transcripts. Where any fully-numbered dates still occur, they will be in the format dd/mm/yyyy.

Census Dates -

Censuses ask who was resident in a particular building "on the night of". Is midnight at the start or the end of a day? All my census dates are quoted as being "on the evening of" (up to 23:59). They may, therefore, sometimes appear to be one day in advance of the date quoted for a census in some sources.