British (and Irish) Newspaper Archive Special Offer

[peter]

I usually presume ages on the censuses are rounded up a year for the most part.

Do you have evidence that this is the case? If not it seems like a very big assumption.

In my experience the ages of young children, servants, and very old people are more likely than most to be overstated, but there are plenty of people whose age is understated, so if you presume their age has been rounded up you'll be at least 2 years out.

 

[peter]

OK, got the point. Did you have time to look at the attachments? What do you think of them?

I haven't had a chance, but I've seen plenty of examples of wrong ages in the past, and I'll be writing about one in my next newsletter - which is notable because all the evidence is that the DNB has the wrong birth year.

 

[Bob Spiers]

because all the evidence is that the DNB has the wrong birth year.

I wish you wouldn't use acronym's, what has Dunn & Bradstreet to do with a wrong birth year? Not Dunn and Bradtreet? I am sure Drum and Bass does not cut the mustard and likewise several other Google inspired suggestions, So an enlightenment would be appreciated.

 

[Susan48]

I wish you wouldn't use acronym's, what has Dunn & Bradstreet to do with a wrong birth year?

It stands for the Dictionary of National Biography, Bob.

 

[peter]

It stands for the Dictionary of National Biography, Bob.

Yes, and when you type 'DNB acronym' or 'DNB abbreviation' into Google that's what it will tell you. (If you know or suspect that something is an acronym, why leave out this vital piece of information?)

 

[At home in NZ]

I wish you wouldn't use acronym's, what has Dunn & Bradstreet to do with a wrong birth year? Not Dunn and Bradtreet? I am sure Drum and Bass does not cut the mustard and likewise several other Google inspired suggestions, So an enlightenment would be appreciated.

Agree.
I also searched Google and found 'Draw No Bet' and 'Daily News Bulletin' among a list in an acronym site.

 

[At home in NZ]

Yes, and when you type 'DNB acronym' or 'DNB abbreviation' into Google that's what it will tell you. (If you know or suspect that something is an acronym, why leave out this vital piece of information?)

My previous post was being typed at the same time as yours.
I have never heard of that dictionary and what you say about leaving information out does not make sense to me.

 

[Bob Spiers]

It stands for the Dictionary of National Biography, Bob.

Thanks Susan, and the ink on my posting was hardly dry when you responded. That did not come up in a quick Googling, indeed even when typing it in full it offers ODNB (Oxford). Thanks again.

 

[peter]

My previous post was being typed at the same time as yours.
I have never heard of that dictionary and what you say about leaving information out does not make sense to me.

You're right, leaving out the information that DNB is an acronym doesn't make sense - and that's what I was saying to Bob.

 

[At home in NZ]

You're right, leaving out the information that DNB is an acronym doesn't make sense - and that's what I was saying to Bob.

Thanks.
Referring back to my attachments, they were provided for you because you said you would like to see Irish records.

 

[Bob Spiers]

Yes, and when you type 'DNB acronym' or 'DNB abbreviation' into Google that's what it will tell you. (If you know or suspect that something is an acronym, why leave out this vital piece of information?)

That a bit like the pot calling the kettle... why not type Dictionary of National Biography in the first place in stead of its acronym. As for the need to type acronym or abbreviation when looking up what IS OBVIOUSLY ONE SUCH, Google will automatically offer these categories by default.

 

[peter]

Referring back to my attachments, they were provided for you because you said you would like to see Irish records.

Sorry, that was when I was under the misapprehension that the examples were of the wrong date in the marriage register. But I will take a look because having just knocked down a 20 year 'brick wall' I've now got some Irish ancestors, to be sure.

 

[At home in NZ]

Sorry, that was when I was under the misapprehension that the examples were of the wrong date in the marriage register. But I will take a look because having just knocked down a 20 year 'brick wall' I've now got some Irish ancestors, to be sure.

Good luck with that! I'm here if you need help

 

[peter]

That a bit like the pot calling the kettle... why not type Dictionary of National Biography in the first place in stead of its acronym. As for the need to type acronym or abbreviation when looking up what IS OBVIOUSLY ONE SUCH, Google will automatically offer these categories by default.

But Google didn't do that - you said yourself that if you type just 'DNB' into Google you will get Dun & Bradstreet etc. The Dictionary of National Biography isn't anywhere on the first page of results (it's halfway down the second page, which you presumably didn't get to), whereas if you search for 'DNB acronym' or 'DNB abbreviation' it comes out at the top of the first page.

The reason I didn't type 'Dictionary of National Biography' in full is the same reason I don't usually write 'General Register Office' or 'births, marriages and deaths' in full - I expect most experienced researchers to be familiar with them. The person who sent me the example that I'm going to feature in the newsletter wrote DNB, not Dictionary of National Biography, in his email - he clearly expected the recipients to know what it stood for.

I will admit that it's an abbreviation which is used more in general history than family history, since few of us have ancestors worthy of the DNB, but it's such a key source that it's available free online through my local library and probably yours too.

 

[Bryman]

That a bit like the pot calling the kettle... why not type Dictionary of National Biography in the first place in stead of its acronym. As for the need to type acronym or abbreviation when looking up what IS OBVIOUSLY ONE SUCH, Google will automatically offer these categories by default.

Well mentioned Bob. I have never heard of DNB before and the general rule of using acronyms is to fully expand the acronym at the time of it first being used. Perhaps not necessary for GRO and BMD as they are in very common usage amongst family historians but DNB is certainly not. I would also expect GRO and BMD to be expanded initially if addressing a more general audience rather than family historians.

But Google didn't do that

I think that you will find that it did but included many others (like Netherlands Central Bank and German National Library) before getting to the reference that you intended. In my case that was on page 3 (as ODNB) and I only went that far because I had read the earlier posts in this discussion. Normally, I would have given up long before. I have not needed to add the word "acronym" to any previous search in order to get an explanation. I would even go so far as to suggest that a definition of the abbreviation "DNB" be inserted in the newsletter before the example that is going to be featured. I think that very few of the newsletter readers will know what DNB stands for without advance notification.

 

[peter]

I think that you will find that it did

You only have the compare the two sets of results to see that Google didn't - if it had then you would have got the results below.

The usual acronym for Dun & Bradstreet is D&B not DNB, for example they have a division called D & B Credit. They use DNB as their domain name because you can't have an ampersand in a domain name, and that's why they come top of the list when you search for 'DNB', but not when you search for 'DNB acronym' or 'DNB abbreviation'.

I don't expect everyone to know what DNB stands for, but I do expect researchers to know how to use Google. It's possible that in New Zealand you get slightly different results from those shown below, but Bob is in the UK.

 

[canadianbeth]

Well, I am glad I only subscribed for three months; apart from that one article about the stolen ring, I have not found a single mention of any of my other ancestors. I guess they were just not newsworthy enough, although I do have an article that I saved several years ago about my grandmother. That did not appear this time.

 

[peter]

Well, I am glad I only subscribed for three months; apart from that one article about the stolen ring, I have not found a single mention of any of my other ancestors. I guess they were just not newsworthy enough, although I do have an article that I saved several years ago about my grandmother. That did not appear this time.

If you're only looking for your direct ancestors you could well be disappointed - I think I've only found mentions of two of my direct ancestors (excluding the ones who went bankrupt, so appear in the London Gazette rather than the BNA).

But when it comes to wider family I've found a wealth of articles, from speeding fines to bigamy, theft of rhubarb to the apprehension of criminals, flower shows to bowls clubs, sports days to examination results. And then there's the one who was indirectly responsible for the death of a fellow factory worker - that was a particularly sad story - and the one who was charged with handling stolen jewellery but somehow got off (he was imprisoned some years later for an offence he couldn't wangle his way out of).

Almost all of those articles in involved relatives with uncommon surnames, just a small fraction of the total - if only I had the time to search for everyone in my tree there would be many, many more discoveries.

 

[canadianbeth]

The article I found referred to my 2nd great-aunt but I found it by entering my great-grandfather's full name. The aunt in question took the ring but it was found in the home of my great-grandfather, where she was staying at the time. And the surname is quite common - Joyce. Neither of them went to jail.

I do not remember now how I found the article about my grandmother (Florence Barratt), but the headline said Bristol Girl's Diary - A Date of Singular Significance. I did not find it again using either her name or the title of the article.

 

[peter]

I do not remember now how I found the article about my grandmother (Florence Barratt), but the headline said Bristol Girl's Diary - A Date of Singular Significance. I did not find it again using either her name or the title of the article.

Very strange - I had no problem finding the article. Perhaps you didn't clear the search filters?