Uncertain dates¶
Old sources rarely give exact dates. "Born around 1850", "died before 1541", "married sometime between 1870 and 1875". This quick guide shows how to enter such details so that later you know what you knew — and what you guessed.
Two kinds of uncertainty¶
| What it says | Where it exists | |
|---|---|---|
| Precision | How much of the date you know: only the year, year and month, or the full date | Persons, events, and relationships |
| Accuracy | How certain you are: exact, approximate, before, after, or between two dates | Events (the Date accuracy field) |
You set the precision by writing only what you know: 1850, 1850-03, or 1850-03-15. The date is then shown with the same precision everywhere — if you only write a year, January 1 is never shown.
Never pad with January 1
If you write 1850-01-01 when you only know the year, it looks as if the day is known. Later you can't tell it apart from a real date yourself, and the birthday list, the calendar, and the duplicate search assume the day is right.
From source to date¶
| The source says | Enter it like this |
|---|---|
| Baptized in March 1872 | Baptism event 1872-03 |
| Born around 1850 | Birth 1850 and Date accuracy Approximate on the birth event |
| Died before 1541 | Death event 1541 with the accuracy Before |
| Married sometime 1870–1875 | Marriage event 1870 with the accuracy Between and End date 1875 |
| Lived on the farm 1850–1855 according to the household examinations | Residence event 1850 with End date 1855 |
Accuracy only exists on events. The person's dates of birth and death are taken from the birth and death events, but the accuracy doesn't come along — so the person list and the family tree show "1541", not "before 1541". It's a good idea to write in the person's notes what the detail is based on.
The same goes for relationships: the couple's relationship gets the marriage's date with the same precision, but not the accuracy. Enter the uncertainty on the marriage, and the date follows along to the relationship. → The relationship and the events
Where does it show?¶
- The reports write out the accuracy: "Around 1850", "Before 1541", and "1850 - 1855". → Dates in the reports
- Today's birthdays, today's events, and the calendar require an exact date. Persons and events with only a year or month don't show up there.
- The duplicate search compares at the precision both persons have. If one has only a year and the other a full date, it's enough for the years to match.
- The merge warns when two persons have different dates — check the source to see whether it's a typo or two siblings with the same name.
Mark what's uncertain¶
- Tag details you want to check later, for example "To verify". The tag can be searched for in the lists.
- State the source with a source citation and choose a quality, so you can see how certain the detail is.
- Don't clear the date and place of an uncertain birth or death — that removes the link to the event. Keep the detail and tag it instead. → Birth and death