Locating a Specific Site

Create a tour stop (TS) for every location mentioned, even if the agent is only passing through; for example, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu travels to The Hague by long boat from Helvoetsluys, and her husbands orders carriages to take their party to Briel, Belgium. While in The Hague, she visits the town square (Voorhout) and the gardens.

How:
 A tour stop for both Lady Mary and Edward Montagu would have to be created for the following stops: Helvoetsluys, Briel, the Hague. Two additional stops would have to be created for Lady Mary: Voorhout and Favoriten Gardens. We would not create two additional stops for and relate them to Edward Montagu for these stops because we cannot say with a great degree of certainty that he accompanied her there. 

Be as specific as possible. Include the description of the building, landform, or other structure.

Asking the following questions might enable you to piece together the specific sit you are looking for:
Architecturally, which sites, details, buildings were extant while she was visiting and what buildings are known to have been demolished?

Socio-politically, what positions did an agents hosts hold? Much of this information can be found in the end notes of your source material and through other sources; however, sometimes this question still need further investigation, especially with the misspelling of a name or location. For example, considering social and political alliances, events, and other relational information in the region, it might be possible to determine in which “castle on the hill” the agent stayed while in Budapest in January 1717.

What historically significant meetings and events occurred while the agent was in that city that would indicate the location of a town center, assembly hall, or city center?  This question could shed light on significant events in the history of, for example, the Hapsburg Empire and could point to the location of other points of interest in uncovering other histories. For example, what effects, if any, did Lady Montagu’s epistolary criticism of the Imperial German Diet’s assembly to other aristocrats (i.e., Alexander Pope) have on court life? Would the ramifications of her criticisms have any political or legislative effect?

Practically, if you are able to piece together pieces of evidence that in some way answer questions such as these, you are more likely able to narrow down a specific location with some degree of certainty. And if such details are not available, do not take it upon yourself to differentiate the location. As necessary, defer to others who specialize in these histories, or only input of what you can be certain.

In the case of uncertainty, name the site simply as “Rome” instead of “the north wall of the Colosseum.” Leave the responsibility of further specification to a future historian that may perhaps work with a new visualization and evidence.