Jerry I don't know where you get the impression that there is a "standard" of four fields/divisions. OK, Legacy has this sort of default setup, but in reality you can use as many commas as you like. It is as if somebody says that there is a standard way of writing your name using 3 fields - first name, middle name, last name. You'd get pretty annoyed if you had no middle name or had 4 names in total.
You say that the data you are using is mainly for England, so why not use the way that English locations are generally written? You'll find that it won't make one ha'peth of difference to how it is handled in Legacy, and it will look so much nicer on reports etc. I live in a village and write its location (in postal terms) as Burrington, Umberleigh, Devon, England or (for most genealogical purposes) as Burrington, Devon, England. Yes it can be 4 fields, but the 3rd one is the County, not the State. Just down the road there is the village of Umberleigh itself. So I would just record that as Umberleigh, Devon, England. In postal terms the address is the same - just 3 fields. I don't have to leave a blank line on the envelope. And what about those who live in hamlets outside of a village, but still in the parish. With 4 fields you'd have nowhere to record it e.g. Week, Burrington, Umberleigh, Devon, England So, as Ron says the right way to record English locations is to do it as it is done in England. There is no "least common denominator", unless you are using that as a pseudonym for the USA - which is what the 4 field notation was designed for - and it doesn't always work there either! I seem to remember that least common denominators related to dividing up similar items, location formats in different countries are like comparing apples and pears. Jack -----Original Message----- From: Jerry [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 18 November 2010 20:59 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Entering Locations/Places Hi Ron, Mike, etal. I understand your position being against the standard four divisions in the place names, since they don't fit the UK. However, I think the genealogy software and recommendations have to go with the LEAST COMMON DENOMINATOR, the same thing we learned in math class. Most indexes in the genealogy databases will not sort properly without standardization. If a person wants to use the "standard" four divisions with their locations, how would you suggest they enter an ENGLISH location within those four divisions? Thanks, --Jerry in Michigan On 11/18/2010 4:34 AM, Mike Fry wrote: > On 2010/11/18 06:29, Chris Clifford wrote: > >> I am a new user of Legacy 7. I understand the importance of entering >> locations consistently; however, the instructions are for town, county, >> state, country. The majority of my ancestors are from England and a few from >> Canada. How do I enter these locations, i.e., Lincoln, Lincolnshire, >> England? If so, isn't there a field missing as Lincolnshire is the county, >> but there isn't a state or province. Also, what would be the correct entry >> for Canadian locations; can anyone give me an example? > First of all - Ignore any recommendations in the documentation! And pay close > attention to Ron Ferguson :-) > > This is all written from a USA point of view and the structure oft-quoted > doesn't really apply to the UK way of doing things - and the rest of the world > to be strictly accurate. Also, the 4-part location doesn't always fit with the > historic way in which places were named. So, unless you're dead-set on using > the > Geo-Database - which only knows about modern names anyway - you are best to > forget the 4-part thing. > > Having said that, I would still advocate the need for consistency to avoid > unnecessary duplication of locations. I find with UK locations that there is a > need sometimes to distinguish between actual places and general areas. For > example, parishes that are usually known by the main church in that parish, > and > the civil registration districts. Add the occasional need for Hundreds, 'real' > Counties and Poor-Law districts to be thrown into the mix, and it soon becomes > obvious that the "One Size Fits All" approach of the Geo-Database and the > 4-part > USA location name, isn't applicable to the UK. > > I set my Registration Districts up according to a 3-part formula > > e.g. "RD: Walsingham, Norfolk, England" where RD is part of the name in order > to > distinguish between this area and the village of the same name. The short-form > can simply be set to "Walsingham (RD)", with no need for the County or > Country. > > Parishes, I simply name according to a 4-part format of > > <Church Name>,<Parish>,<County>,<Country> > > Oh yes! Apply the right-to-left sort as well. > Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
