Is there a tool with which I can look at place names?

Question

Hi! WikiTreers have done a lot of work on specifying the correct place name for different historical time periods. I was wondering if there is a tool with which I can peruse the options for a given place. Now, I go into one of the profiles I manage and I manipulate the birth field to see what the options are. Then I exit without saving the draft. But that's an approach waiting for a data error to happen. Is there another way to see the choices over time?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hope someone chimes in. But I understand Wikitree uses the Familysearch locations. Check the help for info.

Automatic Place Name Suggestions- WikiTree utilizes FamilySearch's Place Research database to make suggestions for location names based on what you type.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Location_Fields#

Comments

Thank you for the link, Greg. I didn't realize the location data was from Family Search. I had noticed some inconsistencies and wondered how to determine the most correct name. The link offers guidelines I can follow.

Answer 2

Hi Mary. As Greg says, the place options come from FamilySearch.

While you are editing the Birth Place or Death Place location field of a profile, if you start typing and look at the options which are presented, each line has a tiny pin icon at the beginning. If you click on that icon, a new browser tab will open containing a FamilySearch page with information about the location, often including for example variant place names over time. Perhaps this will give you the kind of detail you are seeking.

Comments

This pin link is pretty cool, although I see that other WT'ers are saying FS location names are sometimes wrong. I'm thinking I can compare FS names to specific Category standards, when I can find them. Thanks for the recommendation.

Answer 3

WikiTree uses the Family Search locations list, that's what you will see on the location drop down.

But, thousands of the FS locations are incorrect, using made up locations such as British North America. Which as a location never existed.

Lots of confused and mistranscribed locations, as an example the town of Simcoe in southern Ontario Canada and the county of Simcoe which is 250km north of the town.

A place called Home Township north of Lake Superior in Ontario confused with the Home District which was in the south of Ontario, they are almost 900km apart. Home District was settled in the late 1700s and early 1800s, Home Township was not settled until many years later.

There is no requirement to use the drop down list.

Many projects have lists of correct name locations for various time periods.

What places are you looking for?

Comments

Thanks for the response.

At the time i asked the question, I was trying to figure out the variations in location name for Quebec city, Canada in the 1800s.

I am also working on some colonial Massachusetts profiles.

I want to make sure the profiles I create are correct and consistent, if I can. If the drop down list doesn't provide what I need, I insert my take on the correct location name.

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If you need Québec location information the best choice is to look at this page and if necessary ask for help.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Quebec_Team

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Thank you. These project pages are useful.

Answer 4

As Greg wrote, the Location suggestions are based on the FamilySearch Places.

Some of those have errors. Many are missing.

You can try to apply for new Places. But 1st it takes a while, and 2nd they don't take each change, when there are many changes in a short time period.

I don't know about a possibility to list those Places for a special location.

But those are not the results of WikiTree users.

On WikiTree there is a mess of entries in the location fields. Which is not useful as reference.

There are some attempts to give a chronological list for a single place on the category page. And some regional projects have regional overviews. But not for each location.

To get a good historical location reference, a huge effort is necessary …

I would appreciate this …

Comments

Thanks for the perspective, Siegfried. I will continue my lookups to other lists. The categories sometimes help.