Errors in the Complete Peerage

[Chris Phillips]

The (fairly minor) error made by the Complete Peerage in saying that Ela de
Herdeburgh died without male issue, and the more serious tangle over the
fitzBernard family I was trying to untangle last week set me thinking.

I'd imagine most people here think of the Complete Peerage as one of the
most reliable secondary sources for medieval English genealogy, but
obviously there are bound to be errors there, and clearly many are not noted
in the recent volume 14 of Additions and Corrections.

Would it be worth trying to compile an online list of the known errors that
are not corrected in volume 14?

I'd be quite happy to maintain such a list on my web site, but as I can
think of only half a dozen examples*, it will be rather a short list unless
other people can point to some more errors.

Any contributions will be gratefully received.

Chris Phillips

*Actually, apart from the 2 examples mentioned above, I can think of only
(1) a minor error in the Argentein account, (2) the attribution of an
apparently non-existent daughter Mabel to Robert, Earl of Gloucester
(d.1147), said to be married to an Aubrey de Vere, and (3) the
identification of the Robert de Quency who married Hawise, Countess of
Lincoln, as a brother (apparently non-existent) rather than a son of Saher
de Quency, the first Earl of Winchester. (I don't _think_ these are
corrected
in vol.14, but I'd have to check.)

[Todd A. Farmerie]

Chris Phillips wrote:
>
> I'd imagine most people here think of the Complete Peerage as one of the
> most reliable secondary sources for medieval English genealogy, but
> obviously there are bound to be errors there, and clearly many are not noted
> in the recent volume 14 of Additions and Corrections.
>
> Would it be worth trying to compile an online list of the known errors that
> are not corrected in volume 14?

I had thought of something like this before vol. 14 came to be,
and even included an appropriate section for such corrections on
the GEN-MED web page. All we lacked was a volunteer.

taf

[Chris Phillips]

I wrote:
> > Would it be worth trying to compile an online list of the known errors
that
> > are not corrected in volume 14?

Todd Farmerie replied:

> I had thought of something like this before vol. 14 came to be,
> and even included an appropriate section for such corrections on
> the GEN-MED web page. All we lacked was a volunteer.

I'll try to put down the examples I already had in mind in some sort a
coherent form, with proper references, and send them to you. (It may take a
week or two.)

Hopefully that will act as a nucleus, and I'll be happy to volunteer to
"edit" any further contributions, as far as I'm capable.

Chris Phillips

[Chris Phillips]

I wrote:
> > Would it be worth trying to compile an online list of the known errors
that
> > are not corrected in volume 14?
Todd Farmerie replied:
> I had thought of something like this before vol. 14 came to be,
> and even included an appropriate section for such corrections on
> the GEN-MED web page. All we lacked was a volunteer.

I'll try to put down the examples I already had in mind in some sort of

[Annie Natalelli-Waloszek]

Dear Chris

amazing how much different the response is to the same thing suggested by a male; why don't you handle the corrections to Burke's
Peerages as well? Maybe they'll bother doing them; we'd all benefit from more reliable resources, and they certainly aren't
worthless just because of a few errors...

Annie
-----Message d'origine-----
De : Chris Phillips <cgp...@cgp100.dabsol.co.uk>
Ą : GEN-MED...@rootsweb.com <GEN-MED...@rootsweb.com>
Date : samedi 29 septembre 2001 20:54
Objet : Re: Errors in the Complete Peerage

[Gary Rea]

There are probably errors in every secondary source, and in some primary
sources, as well (census takers and other clerks and scribes often made
mistakes, too), so the problem, then, becomes not finding a source that is
error-free, but finding those that have fewer errors than the others.

Nothing is perfect, so you have to take what is available. Like archaeology
and history, not all is known and the researcher must oftentimes rely upon
conjecture and speculation, as well as common sense, to fill in the gaps.
Those who are expecting absolute accuracy are doomed to eternal frustration.

Gary

"Chris Phillips" <cgp...@cgp100.dabsol.co.uk> wrote in message
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