Roy Stockdill is a well-known English genealogist, recently known for his "Famous Family Trees" series at Findmypast.com. Roy's latest article shows that even the pros can be fooled, at least for a short time. Perhaps there is a lesson here for all of us.
The subject is author Colin Dexter, an English crime writer, known for his Inspector Morse novels which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as a television series from 1987 to 2000. Roy described the experience:
"If you read the article you will see that I was initially led astray by a mistranscribed census entry and got the wrong people as Dexter's father and grandfather. I had to go down the 'old-fashioned' route of getting Births/Marriage/Death certificates before I could pinpoint the right man.Indeed, we all need to be reminded to not be mislead by the Internet or by transcribed records. Always look at the originals! You can do that either in person or by viewing images online or on microfilm. The lesson is to never depend upon what someone else transcribed.
"I think you will find it interesting because it warns against putting all one's research emphasis on the internet - perhaps not what many people want to hear but I do believe it's a timely and valid warning!"
You can read Roy's excellent article at http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/tag/roy-stockdill/.
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