* Add unrelated individual

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HumScumDave
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Add unrelated individual

Post by HumScumDave » 07 Apr 2012 10:42

Prepare yourselves for a stupid question...

I'm using Ancestral Sources to input census information (because I'm lazy, and like the fact that's everything's cross-referenced, etc). However, one of my relations was a servant, living in the household of her employer. When I enter the information for anyone else in the household, AS obviously creates them as individuals in the GEDCOM.

Now, I don't see the need for having people who are unrelated in the file (so have just shoved everyone else as an entry in the notes), but am I being short-sighted? Is there a good reason I might want them? And on the flip side, if I have a servant living with my family, is there a reason I might want to create them in the file?

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Jane
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Add unrelated individual

Post by Jane » 07 Apr 2012 11:19

A relation of mine was a farm servant in a household in 1901, by 1911 he had married the households daughter and was now a Farmer with 50 acres. So it's up to you, but I have found several occasions where servants later turned out to be related to the households they worked in.
Jane
My Family History : My Photography "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad."

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tatewise
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Add unrelated individual

Post by tatewise » 07 Apr 2012 12:29

I also use AS, and have similar scenarios.

Usually, I only enter relatives in the AS Census Grid, and if necessary create new Individual Records for them.
The other Household members I edit into the AS Auto Text that becomes the FH Text From Source transcript in the Sources Record.
Incidentally, I also add other relevant details to the AS Auto Text transcript, aided by a custom template, such as:
District:      
Sub-district:      
Enum.District:      
Eccl.District:      
Parish:      
City/Borough:      
Address:        
County:      
This is then an accurate transcript of the linked Multimedia image of the Census Return.

If later on I discover that another Household member is related, it is fairly easy to add the Individual Record, the Facts, and Source Citations.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry

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LornaCraig
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Add unrelated individual

Post by LornaCraig » 07 Apr 2012 12:45

My own approach is to get A.S. to create new individuals in the gedcom if they are definitely related (e.g. a previously  unknown 'Niece' or 'Grandson' of the head of the household) but I would not ask AS to create new individuals if all I know about them at the moment is that they were my ancestor's employer or servant.
However I do record all the information for the household in the Text box. Then if I later discover that they were related in some way I add the new individual to the file and simply copy and paste the census event from one of the others in the household, changing the age, occupation and place of birth fields as appropriate. Copying and pasting the event will also copy the source citation, and I already have the source created with the full household listed in the Text from Source box (using method 1 for recording censuses in AS).

[Edit] Tatewise's reply arrived while I was typing mine. It looks as if we use a similar approach.
Lorna

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NickWalker
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Add unrelated individual

Post by NickWalker » 07 Apr 2012 19:46

I'd recommend the approach suggested by Tatewise and Lorna. As the help file says: Note that if a census entry includes someone who does not appear to be of interest or any relation to you (e.g. a lodger or landlord) you should not feel obliged to add them to your file. Just leave them out of the census entry and perhaps just add them to your source text (if you transcribe your census sources) or source note.
Nick Walker
Ancestral Sources Developer

https://fhug.org.uk/kb/kb-article/ancestral-sources/

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