How to read an original record for evidence

In this post I share my thoughts on some confusing concepts in genealogy – original and derivative records; negative evidence; primary, secondary, and indeterminable information – all by looking at one original record from the BC archives.

Genealogy Search – BC Archives

Those of us fortunate to research in British Columbia rely on the Royal BC Museum and Archives for its free genealogy search tool. It’s simple to use: enter any combination of first and last name, location of event, and gender to access indexed results. Many records are digitized but today I’d like to talk about the indices.

An indexed record is a transcript of parts of the original record that have been entered into a database. To go further, someone or something read the original record and recorded the results into a computer. This transcribing process is subject to errors. For example, this is a record for Wing Yim Yip, aged forty-one, who died in Vancouver on 31 Oct 1947. There are three identification numbers about the source: a Registration Number, a BC Archives Mfilm number, and a GSU (Genealogical Society of Utah) Mfilm number, which suggests the records have either been digitized twice, or that the Family History Library assigned its own coding system. There is no link to the record online. I hesitated in requesting this record for two years, unsure if it was my uncle or not. Most of the details fit but for the age: Yim was twenty-one when he died.

What is a derivative record, again?

A derivative record is a transcript, translation, abstract, or original that has been amended. An index is a transcript, therefore a derivative of the original record. The BC archives index result shown above is a derivative record.

Ancestry

I looked for the record in Ancestry. In the “British Columbia, Canada, Death Index, 1872-1990,” I located this result. It’s also derivative, meaning not the original, but this index adds a birth year of “abt 1926,” and the age at death is different: “twenty-one.” This difference in age at death suggests that Ancestry was not relying on the transcribed information from the BC archives, and the matching microfilm numbers show this index is derived from the same source(s).

FamilySearch

My third site to look is FamilySearch. In the “Canada, British Columbia Death Registrations, 1872-1986; 1992-1993,” is this indexed result. It’s still a derivative record, but there’s more information: birth date, father’s name, mother’s name, correct age, and six total identification numbers about the microfilmed source. This extra information suggests that FamilySearch did its own indexing from the original records, and the matching GSU Mfilm number shows the same source.

BC Archives

I acquired the original record directly from the BC archives, for a fee.

An original record is the first written report of an event. Genealogical Proof Standards accept a microfilmed copy of an original record as an “original,” provided you also consider what errors might have been introduced in the process of copying. I have studied this record, a scan of a microfilm of the original, and it is a clear and legible copy I can accept as an original record. You should always try to acquire the original record to get as close as possible to the primary information, and to gather all the information possible, not only from what is written or typed, but also comparing handwriting, condition of the record, and any notes added in the margins. For example, there is a Birth Identity number stamped and written at the top of the page. You can tell it was added after the record was created because it’s crooked and cramped. It looks like the clerk went through a pile of records with a hand stamp for the words “BIRTH IDENTITY No._____” and then later, possibly much later, the handwritten portion was added.

In this excerpt may be seen at least eighteen pieces of information. Note the handwriting is dissimilar between the birth identity number and the answers to questions one through four. Also note the negative evidence – the lack of an entry – in the box “In Canada (if immigrant)” – showing that Yim was not an immigrant. Now let’s talk about primary, secondary, and indeterminable information and who is answering the questions: the informant.

Is it primary or secondary information: who was the informant?

With an original record in hand, you can analyze each fact as primary, secondary, or indeterminable information. You want to consider the informant’s point of view to verify the truth of the information. Was the informant a reliable witness? Were they likely or not likely to know the facts?

Primary information is provided at the time of the event by a person who was an eyewitness. In this record, question number nineteen is attested by Yip Kew Sheck, father, at Vancouver on 3 Nov 1947. He swears, “I certify the foregoing to be true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.” Taking this one step at a time, this means that Sheck provided the information for questions one through nineteen. In this sad example of a father burying a son, we can accept as primary information that Sheck was an eyewitness to the birth of his son Yim twenty-one years earlier on 26 Feb 1926 at Vancouver, BC.

A 1947 BC death registration also provides the medical certificate of death. This means there is a second informant of primary information: Dr. G.H. Hutton, who attested he attended Yim for a week shy of four years, and was present at his death.

The third informant is the district registrar. In this case, the registrar appears to be an acronym: “E.F. L.H.C.,” who stamped the registration. Here is an example of an eyewitness who was likely to have both primary and secondary information. The registrar would have primary information for the registration of the death on 4 Nov 1947, but secondary information about everything that took place before that date.

The third category of information is indeterminable, which is information without an informant. As previously mentioned, at the top of the record is the birth identity number of 26-09-518757. In addition, there is the Reg. No. 009233. A case could be made for the registration number being assigned at the same time the return was processed, on 4 Nov 1947, but the birth identity number is written by another hand, using a new coding system, close to the top of the page. Who provided this information? This is indeterminable.

How many different sources are there?

In this post I’ve provided four records for the death of Yim Wing Yip. The Genealogical Proof Standard provides that reasonably exhaustive research includes at least two different sources and don’t be fooled. There’s only one source here: the British Columbia Division of Vital Statistics. If I had accessed the microfilms, regardless of location, they would also be derivatives.

Postscript

There’s a mystery buried in this record. Where did Yim die? The record said St. Joseph’s Oriental Hospital, but there are two addresses listed in the 1947 directory: 236 Campbell and 406 E 13. In addition, Dr. Hutton’s address at 2647 Willow was the address for the Tuberculosis Hospital, and Yim died of TB. At this point I think it was the E13 location, because that is the present day location of Mount Saint Joseph Hospital.

If you’d like to read more about Yim, see The uncle I didn’t know I had – finding Yim.

Thank yous

To all my teachers, past and present, this is for you. I celebrate all who choose to share their expertise, whether it’s the first or the ten thousandth time they’ve stepped up to the podium to give a talk. Teachers are some of my favourite humans.

References

British Columbia City Directories, 1860-1955, Sun Directories British Columbia and Yukon Directory of 1947, [digital images], Vancouver, British Columbia, p. 759, listing for Gordon H Hutton (Eliz) chf of psychiatric serv Shaugh Hosp, Vancouver Public Library (https://bccd.vpl.ca : accessed 17 Feb 2022).

___ p. 984, listing for St Joseph’s Oriental Hospital Sister St Margaret 236 Campbell & 406 E 13, Vancouver Public Library (https://bccd.vpl.ca : accessed 17 Feb 2022).

___ p. 1460, listing for 2647*Tuberculosis Hosp-FA6644 W 12th intersects, Vancouver Public Library (https://bccd.vpl.ca : accessed 17 Feb 2022).

British Columbia Division of Vital Statistics, Victoria, British Columbia, “British Columbia deaths (1872-2000),” [index], death of Wing Yim Yip, 31 Oct 1947, registration no. 1947-09-009233, BC archives mfilm no. B13195, GSU mfilm no. 2032479, Royal BC Museum (https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca: accessed 1 Dec 2017),675 Belleville Street, Victoria, BC V8W 9W2,1-250-356-7226, access@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.

___ [digital image], death of Wing Yim Yip, 31 Oct 1947, registration no. 1947-09-009233, BC archives mfilm no. B13195, GSU mfilm no. 2032479, Royal BC Museum (https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca: accessed 18 Mar 2021). Record requested and received 15 May 2019. Fee paid.

British Columbia Division of Vital Statistics, Victoria, British Columbia, “British Columbia, Canada, Death Index, 1872-1990,” [database], index of Wing Yim Yip, 31 Oct 1947, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 17 Feb 2022).

British Columbia Division of Vital Statistics, Victoria, British Columbia, “Canada, British Columbia Death Registrations, 1872-1986; 1992-1993.” [database], index of Wing Yim Yip, 31 Oct 1947, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLPY-8HZ : accessed 17 Feb 2022).

Search our collection – Royal BC Museum, BC archives general search, Royal BC Museum (http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Genealogy : accessed 17 Feb 2022), 675 Belleville Street, Victoria, BC V8W 9W2, phone: 1-250-356-7226.