User talk:Streeter

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Towns and villages [9 December 2007]

Hi, the short answer to your question is we don't. When someone says they were born in Greenwood, New York, that could either refer to the town or the village. So in cases where towns and villages have the same name, we have a choice: we can either

• have one place page that refers to both the town and village,
• locate the village as a contained place inside the town (this doesn't always work because villages often cross town boundaries), or
• have two place pages both located under the county, and make one of them the "default" and put "(town)" or "(village)" after the name of the other one.

We chose to keep two separate place names, and make the town the default for New England states (since towns seem to be more important in New England), but the village the default for New York and Wisconsin (since it seems like villages are thought about more commonly than towns here). So if someone lists "Greenwood, New York" in their GEDCOM, we'll match that to Greenwood village (the default), but if they list "Greenwood town, New York", then we'll match that to "Greenwood (town)".

This has been a tough decision, and I'm not sure we've come to the right conclusion. I'm open to suggestions from someone who knows more than I do about these areas. --Dallan 16:28, 9 December 2007 (EST)

[28 April 2008]

Thanks! Always appreciate a helping hand. Q 07:53, 28 April 2008 (EDT)

Re: Charlwood [20 May 2016]

I call myself a genealogical geographer or a geographical genealogist. Strictly amateur. However, for the past couple of years I have been trying to add flesh to the bones of WR's places database.

On first investigation, most of the counties of England have included a pretty mixed bag of entries. I have added the second-level administrations at different historical periods and grouped the places found in WR into their proper places, and then inspected Wikipedia, A Vision of Britain through Time, Genuki, and maybe the Victoria County History for more information about the places at different eras. Most entries only have the modern Wikipedia one added to them, but if Wikipedia is lacking in details, particularly for the period 1800-1950, I check with other sources. At the same time I try to set up a uniform spelling for places (without hyphens)--you would be amazed how many places have been duplicated. Spelling variants are automatically redirected to the main entry.

In 1974 the whole of England, Wales and Scotland was reorganized into "districts" which, in rural areas, simply grouped rural districts and urban districts together. But in more densely populated areas of the country, new counties were created, carving out areas from the old counties. Croydon was in Surrey until 1966 when Greater London came into being. (Greater London was the guinea pig for the nationwide reorganization that came in 1974.)

The other point I should make is that I work with parishes rather than a village or town within a parish with the same name. Otherwise people who lived outside a built-up area are missed out. Wikipedia contributors don't always think that way.

Practically all my work is done with what I can find online. I usually find local websites tell us little more that what day their rubbish is collected. I suggest going to the list of suggestions in Genuki, particularly the local family history society, or write (email) to the Genuki organizer for the county. Family history societies may have a booklet you can buy from their bookshop and most know how to handle foreign exchange should it be needed. For detailed information they may ask you to join the society, but each one follows their own rules.

Hope this helps --Goldenoldie 09:13, 20 May 2016 (UTC)