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Hi Tery

it isn't that our ancestors MAY NOT have been able to read or write


they were practically all illiterate

school was almost non-existent for the "plebs", most of them started work at 7, or even 4 or 5


They couldn't read or write, so didn't know how to spell their names.


To add to it, the enumerators for the earliest censuses were sometimes only slightly more literate.


Add to that the problem of thick provincial accents ............. try to imagine someone in Yorskhire trying to understand a Devon accent, for example


and you'll see why we have all these problems.


Add to that, the fact that age meant little to our ancestors, and you'll see why birth years can differ.



Plus, sometimes they don't know where they were born, OR they misunderstand a question like "Where are you from?" as being where they had just moved from, not where they were born.




That's why the use of wild card symbols * and ? are advised in all searches

Flip*nce will find Flipence/Flippence/Flipince/Flippince/Flipance/Flippance ... or even Flippunce

Flipp?nce will find Flippence/Flippince/Flippance


all without having to do duplicate searches.




sylvia

Thanks to all who have responded to my message. Sorry I have not answered before but had to go away for a couple of days. No wonder we have difficulty finding anyone with all the variations. I suppose it may be that people could not read and write back then. Thanks again Terry

You don't give a time span but several of these offspring born Pewsey.
1851 England Census
about Thomas Flippame
Name: Thomas Flippame
[Thomas Flippance]
Age: 39
Estimated birth year: abt 1812
Relation: Head
Spouse's name: Emeline
Gender: Male
Where born: Milton, Wiltshire, England

Civil parish: Milton
County/Island: Wiltshire
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Disability: View image

Registration district: Pewsey
Sub-registration district: Netheravon
ED, institution, or vessel: 2
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 124
Household Members: Name Age
Thomas Flippame 39
Emeline Flippame 39
George Flippame 15
Henry Thos Flippame 14
Mary Jane Flippame 10
Charles Flippame 7
Anna Maria Flippame 5
Betsey Flippame 2

maybe if you gave us some names and dates, we might be able to help you




sylvia

A tree on Ancestry has a John Flippence born 1828 Milton Libourne, married to Anne Hibberd in Pewsey. Their children were born in Pewsey before emigrating to Australia.
John's father and siblings were born Milton Libourne.

Having trouble joining the Pewsey Flippences to the Milton Lilbourne Flippences ( maybe Flippance) on my family tree.HELP! Terry.