On some occasions, it has become apparent that quite
a few people do not
truly understand the purpose of Surnames Lists such as the Yorkshire
Surnames
List and what they are here for.
In the first place, regional surnames lists are essentially
a LISTING SERVICE
that offers researchers from all over the world to post the Surnames
they are
interested in, in the hopes that other researchers interested
in the same names
will contact them.
The list is upgraded regularly, more or less often
according to the number of
incoming postings or requests for changes/amendments to data that
has already
been posted.
As all the data that is submitted has to be downloaded
and entered manually,
whenever possible you should use the form that is supplied on
the site. This
ensures the lowest margin of error when the data is entered. Of
course, if your
software/server refuses to accept the form, which occurs in a
very minute number
of cases, you may have to contact the List Administrator and send
him/her the
relevant information, using the format indicated on the site.
These postings, or submissions as we call them, contain
the SURNAME only - no
forenames of any kind. They may or may not contain an indication
of the date(s)
the submitter is particularly interested in. No date is interpreted
as all
dates. They may or may not contain one or more locations. No location
is
interpreted as everywhere in Yorkshire.
There is no form for amendments, so requests have to
go directly to the List
Administrator who will do them manually. When requesting an amendment,
please
don't forget to give the old information as well as the new so
that the List
Administrator can find the correct submission(s)/data.
As genealogy is a frustrating, albeit incredibly rewarding,
addiction at the
best of times, submitters should take care to ensure that all
their data (email
addresses and URLs) are up-to-date and do not bounce. Failure
to do so will
usually result in all your entries being deleted from the list.
Researchers cgo to a regional surnames list and look
up the names they are
interested in, in the alphabetical index. It is not unusual, particularly
in
the case of more common names, to find that many other people
have also
submitted the same name.
If you find a name that you are interested in, just
click on the email address
that is given and a pop-up form appears that enables you to contact
the
submitter directly.
Regional Surnames Lists such as the YKS one are NOT
LOOKUP SITES. The names
that are posted ARE NOT THE LIST ADMINISTRATOR'S names. Therefore,
please do
not contact him/her and ask for information on your family(ies).
He/she cannot
help you. The best place for such requests is on one of the genealogy
lists.
Genuki is an excellent place to obtain information
about other regional surnames
lists in the UK: http://www.genuki.org.uk/
I hope I have answered many of the questions I have
received lately. If you
still have queries, feel free to email me at YKSsurnames@yahoo.com
and I'll do
my best to answer them.
are pleased to announce some new CD publications
and
various books, including "Yorkshire Probate"
by Colin Blanshard Withers
(author of 'Yorkshire Parish Registers')
