Is it possible for records to change or be deleted on the IGI or familysearch?

+11 votes
210 views
Sixteen years ago in 2004 when I was doing a lot of family history research I printed many records from the IGI as it was commonly known. Today I am re researching some of the same records I searched for back then with different results

For example, I am searching the 1881 Census for England and Wales for Matthew Parsons Houghton and his wife Ann Houghton and still have the record I printed on 20/03/2004  where they were living at Radford House, Coventry Holy Trinity, Warwick, England.

Today, I find the dwelling field is missing showing Radford House as is the occupations heading in the list of occupants at the bottom of the page.

Also, when searching today for the source on the 1891 Census on William Ebenezer Dobson I had found a month to two months ago but not listed under sources I was completely unable to find it.

Do other members have the same experiences?
WikiTree profile: Matthew Houghton
in Genealogy Help by Matthew Watts G2G2 (2.5k points)
edited by Matthew Watts

Posting of extracted records can change, as well as posting of the films as well. I looked in Ancestry for this record, and found the following (image is available there as well).

Name: Matthew P. Houghton
Age: 62
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1819
Relationship to Head: Head
Spouse: Ann Houghton
Gender: Male
Where born: Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Civil Parish: Coventry Holy Trinity
County/Island: Warwickshire
Country: England
Street Address: Radford House
Marital status: Married
Education:
Employment status:

image

View image

Occupation: Boarding School Proprieter (SM)
Registration District: Coventry
ED, institution, or vessel: 28
Neighbors: View others on page
Piece: 3075
Folio: 85
Page Number: 6
Household 
Name Age
Matthew P. Houghton 62
Ann Houghton 59
Ruth Houghton 22
Ada Houghton 17
Agnes Houghton.                
 

Source Citation

Class: RG11; Piece: 3075; Folio: 85; Page: 6; GSU roll: 1341734

The Ancestry exacted record also lists all the children at the boarding school.

It is still available on Family Search page. I did a search for Matthew Houghton with Residence in Warwick, England in 1881 and this was the top result.  There are links to other items for him on that page. Shows the same family list as above

There have been  changes in both presentation and the amount of detail given on the FS 'transcriptions' for the England and Wales census.

 Printouts from 2002   show that at that time  household records included all servants, employees, inmates etc. 

The 'form' had headings  in the same order as on the original  census so 1881: (name, relationship, married status, gender, age, birthplace, didability.)

 Underneath was the 'source information'( Dwelling Place [house name/ number and Street if present  in original] Census Place, Family History Library Film Number, Public Records Reference (i.e RG11 for 1881 census) Piece/Folio numbers, page number.)

There was also a link to the previous household and the next household.(very useful)

Now, as in Matthew's example ,  https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27N-G2VC they don't  always include the address (sometimes they do: another  1881 one  that I just compared had a partial address under 'residence note'.  It included the Street name but not the number(s)

 Disabilities are rare but  I've not seen disabilities included in FS recent transcriptions * Whether they chop up households seems to be variable

*In this 1871 example.The address (Dogkennel Farm, Southampton Road ) isn't included nor is the fact that James Ford  is blind.https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VFJ3-MRK

Both are important parts of the family history. (Jame's blindness possibly  helps explain his late remarriage to an ex servant  and the relatively unusual name of his infant daughter )

It's one of the reasons I find FS less useful for 19thC English genealogy  than those sites which have census images.

3 Answers

+7 votes
I know records are occasionally removed from FamilySearch. I encountered one today as I was updating the profile of a relative and adding her husband. Their marriage record had been removed from FamilySearch. I did not find a replacement yet on FamilySearch so I need to see if I can find one on Ancestry. I left the source citation on the profile, but with a note saying the record had been removed.
by Nelda Spires G2G6 Pilot (559k points)
+7 votes
I know that at one time, Family Search opened up their indexes for correction, and I even sent a few in regarding spelling, smudges on dates that need clarification, and such. I don't know what they did with all of the requests for updates, but I suspect they applied at least some of them. They also have people who do review and correct records on a regular basis, and they solicit indexing support on records from volunteers. There is a review process for what each volunteer does, so it's not like it's not double and triple checked before accepted, however, mistakes are still made there.

So I suppose it doesn't surprise me that records change, or even have introduced errors like missing data from time to time. I'd hope it's a small percentage, but I can't say I have any idea how many changes are introduced. I haven't myself encountered a lot, but it does happen.
by Scott Fulkerson G2G Astronaut (1.5m points)
+8 votes
I read a few months ago that FamilySearch sold some rights for original documents to Ancestry.
Therefore FamilySearch is not allowed to publish them anymore for legal reasons, but you can find them now at ancestry.
by Dieter Lewerenz G2G Astronaut (3.1m points)
I feel frustrated and a little upset with familysearch because many years ago I found an ancient family who are my ancestors called the D'Oylys from Suffolk going back to the 11th century which had been researched by a group at familysearch called The Medieval Family History Unit which apparently no longer exists. Now today I am entering my profiles on Wikitree for Pergrine D'Oyly of Overbury Hall of Suffolk and cannot find him on familysearch.

Can you find any D'Oylys of Overbury Hall or Pond Hall of Suffolk that go back to the 11th century? I have say searching on familysearch used to be much easier and provided more information than I can find today.
Thanks, Dieter, for this information. I've been frustrated lately not finding records I had located before being a member at WikiTree and now can't locate the same records. Why sell to Ancestry when FamilySearch and the LDS church are very wealthy? Hope this is limited at FamilySearch for I'm a great microfilm user!

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