< after a date means the specific event has not been found, other data suggests it must be before this year
~ after a date means data is not sufficiently explicit to be sure - like an age in a census
> after a date means the specific event has not been found, other data suggests it must be after this year
+ with a date before a name indicates a marriage year. Without a date, the marriage happened, but the event date is not known and no assumption has been made. The marriage date may be qualified with <, ~ or >, which indicates an assumption.
Common Assumptions
Where a baptism date is known and a birth date is not, the birth year is assumed to be the same as the baptism year
A parent must have been born at least 20 years before the first child
A partner must have been born at least 20 years before a marriage, or
If a marriage date is not known, partners are assumed to be approximately the same age.
Unless a date of birth is explicitly given in a census, the age given in a census is assumed to be approximate.
If a person in a census is declared a widow or widower, the partner is assumed to have died before this date. There are a few instances where I believe the partner has done a bunk, so the status of widow(er) may be a convenient fiction. There is one instance where I am convinced the partner reappeared with a new family later! Until proven, such a person is recorded as if a different person with no connection.
The combination of some of these assumptions (a child whose year of birth is estimated, then the estimation of a parent's year of birth) can lead to gross error - so beware.
Name representations
William Darch (1789~ Winkleigh, DEV, ENG - 1867 Ashreigney, DEV, ENG)
Names are represented by forenames + surname. The surname may include a bracketed extra surname - this represents an intermediate married name for a woman. Then follows information which will usually uniquely identify the person in brackets. The format of this information is Year of Birth, Place of Birth - Year of Death, Place of Death. Each date may be qualified and any unknown element is simply omitted. Place names are further expanded by one or two acronyms which indicate County or State (not always used) and Country (always used).
In descendancy trees, a fixed space font (Courier) is used, so that you can follow the generations. Each generation is indented two spaces (dots) from the generation before and each child of parents is labelled with a letter, ordered as oldest first.
Where a person may still be living, their name is represented as 'Full name excluded (Gordon)' where the name in brackets is the natal surname of the person. This much information is presented to allow (encourage) possible descendants to contact me.