As family history researchers or genealogists, we know that to find our ancestors in the records, we need to try all sorts of different spelling of their surname. One of my late wife’s paternal great grandmothers was born Alice Iland, though some records show that surname as ‘Ireland’, ‘Island’ or even ‘Ilund’ or ‘Hyland’. We accept that ancestors may not have known how to spell their name and informants on records may have been vague about spelling too. But we … Continue reading