TERMS & CONS


1	What do the indexes consist of?	The indexes are compiled from a wide variety of newspapers/journals etc. and are usually about people involved with the law, accidents,inquests, obituaries, biographies, or people talking about their life and work. I don't know the contents of specific reports .

2	How are copies supplied?	Depending on the material, copies are supplied either as prints from microfilm, photocopies or prints of digital photographs. They are usually posted, or emailed.

3	What do the indexes cover?	The indexes cover the years 1830-1920 approx. Although there are some earlier and later entries. The indexes are not entirely exclusive so you should check all possible indexes for an entry.

4	What about accuracy?	Many of these are newspaper reports and we know how accurate they are.... As far as possible I have listed all the details given in the articles to make identification as positive as possible. In some cases relatives are also listed separately to aid identification. See 6.

5	What about photos?	Photographs are clearly indicated in the Police Index. Some BSI reports also contain sketches made in court of the person concerned but I don't know which ones.

6	Details on the index are different or not in the report	This highlights the main problem with press reports, that of consistent accuracy. Between reports and even within them, people change their names and jobs, move to another district and gain and lose years. Consequently, in BSI reports, some details are added retrospectively as later reports reveal further and probably more accurate details. In other cases they are drawn from other reports of the same event or from other sources. You may need to obtain all the reports to get the full story. For Police reports, some first names are derived from other reports which actually contain them. Further information is gained from Biographies and Career Resumes etc.

7	Surnames are not spelled the same	As every family historian knows, names have some weird and wonderful variants. As far as possible 'oddities' have been identified and rationalised, again mainly to iron out errors.

8	What about updates?	The indexes are an ongoing process and are updated and corrected as time and money permits. At present this is once or twice a year. We do not update files for minor corrections. These are added at the next major update.

9	Where can I find....	Please DO NOT ask me about other records. I have no idea either. And we do not keep any other details of the entries.

10	What's in the report?	There are over 400,000 reports listed on this site. The Police, WWI & WWII Indexes identify the type of report, but I don't know what's in BSI reports until I get them. MIning and Railway reports tend to be of enquiries into accidents/deaths etc. All reports give details of the date and source etc.

11	Delivery Times	Depending upon volume, reports are usually obtained 5/7 days from various places.

Home	Black Sheep Index	Police Index	Railway Index
Mining Index	Other Railwaymen	Other Mines	Great War Index
Minor Report s	Liverpool Builders	WWII Index	Wills & Bequests
The Demon Drink	Body & Soul	Masters & Mates	Learned Friends
	Lags and Screws	Dark Satanic Mills