Users of our Surname Search Service should always attempt to identify possible spelling variations to include in their search, since frequently surnames of individuals would be spelled in the early newspapers with whatever spelling variation the typesetter happened to be familiar with. Additionally, early typesetters frequently misspelled surnames of various individuals and this consideration should also be taken into account when reviewing the Online Listing of Surnames.
Since early typesetters weren't the best spellers as noted above, users of our Surname Search Service should also look for reasonable potential misspellings of your primary search surname. A potential misspelling can be included as a spelling variation as long as it is reasonable. Using the same BROWN example from above, the potential misspellings of BREWN, BROWM, and BROON for the primary search surname of BROWN would be considered to be reasonable. However, submitting the surnames of BROCK and BUSH as potential misspellings of the BROWN surname would not be considered to be reasonable.
