Tree - Conventions
It may be useful to understand some of the conventions used in interpreting the information available and setting up the data displayed on the family tree.
- Birth Dates where set to "bef nnnn" (nnnn indicates the
date)
This convention means the birth date if before the marriage date if known or the birth date of the first child.
Occasionally also used to set a date for a parent where the only child also uses "Bef" for a birth date, with an additional 20 years subtracted e.g. Parent = "Bef 1830" and Child = "Bef 1850" - Birth Location where birth date is set to "bef nnnn"
The location is taken from either the marriage location or the first child - Birth date contains "Est" and the estimated date is the
same as the birth year for the husband
This is expected to be closer to the "real" date in preference to "Bef nnnn" as indicated above - Birth date contains "Est" and a full date e.g. "Est
1 Mar 1873"
This is usually when an event for the individual contains this date with no other explanation. Note that this date could also be a marriage or death date - Birth date contains "Est"
Usually set at two year intervals to birth dates of siblings where known - Surname in brackets : e.g. <surname>
This is occasionally used where a wife's maiden name is unknown
e.g. Jane <Clampit> indicates Jane "surname unknown" wife of "Clampit" - Date looks similar to : 1/10 Feb 1617
This indicates the day is not clear and may be either "1" or "10" - Date looks similar to : 1/2 Feb 1617
This indicates the day is uncertain, probably because date is a Julian date - see Utilities/Genealogical Dates for more information - Date
looks similar to : 1 Feb 1617/1618
This indicates the year is uncertain, probably because date is a Julian date - see Utilities/Genealogical Dates for more information - The date looks similar to : 1670/1680
This is the same as between 1670 and 1680 - Name contains "?", "Unknown", etc
This is generally avoided and usually means the information has been imported from another source and has not yet been cleaned up
If anything is unclear or you have any other ideas for conventions then please contact the webmaster.
