Conventions used in 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 - T: yyyy: xxx (ddd),ccc
  • where
    • T is the document type (B, M or D
      yyyy is the year of registry
      xxx is the name of the district
      ddd is that district's number
      ccc is the consecutive number that year
Citations for English BMD -
These follow the pattern of - T: yyyy/q: xxx,vv,nnn,ccc
  • where
    • T is the document type (B, M or D)
      yyyy is the year of registry
      q is the quarter
      xxx is the name of the district
      vv is the volume/district
      nnn is the page
      ccc is the consecutive number
Citations for Scottish census -
These follow the pattern of - yyyy: rrr,eee,nn sch:ss
  • where
    • yyyy is the year of census
      rrr is the Scottish registration district number
      eee is the Scottish enumeration district number
      nn is the page number
      sch:ss is the schedule number of the property (where known)
Citations for English census (to 1901) -
These follow the pattern of - yyyy: cccc,ppp,fff,nn sch:ss
  • where
    • yyyy is the year of census
      cccc is the PRO Class
      ppp is the PRO piece number
      fff is the PRO folio number
      nn is the page number
      sch:ss is the schedule number of the property (where known)
Citations for English census (from 1911) -
These follow the pattern of - yyyy: cccc,ppp,ddd/ss,nn sch:ss
  • where
    • yyyy is the year of census
      cccc is the PRO Class
      ppp is the PRO piece number
      ddd/ss is the enumeration district/subdistrict numbers
      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,nn,cc
  • where
    • yyyy is the year of census
      eee is the US enumeration district's number
      sss is the supervisor's district number
      nn is the sheet number
      cc 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.