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  • Public Trees on Ancestry

    I have always made the point of never putting my family trees on the internet. I have been researching our trees since 2000 and must admit the information out there is considerably more than when I started.

    In my research I have often gone off down the wrong road but extra checking; visits to the Records Office at Durham and the purchase of certificates usually put me right. Because I have gone as far as I can with my research I occasionally feed in a search of public trees on Ancestry just to see what other people have found out. I and am totally amazed at the amount of misinformation which pops up as fact on some of these trees.

    Surely if you are going to publish your tree you should verify the information you put out there.

    I shall now step down off my soap box.
    Linda - Happy Hunting

    A tidy house is the sign of a broken computer

    Researching: Brown, Bell, Key and Musgrave from Cumberland. Dodds, Green, Campbell, Hall, Armstrong, Davison from Co. Durham. Raymond from Devon/Cornwall.

  • #2
    Amen, sister!

    Comment


    • #3
      But if you want it to have lots of people in it and to have it started and finished in a couple of weeks, then you simply don't have time to CHECK anything - shock, horror at the very idea. You're far too busy scouting on tinternet for new bits you can just graft on to what you've already got.

      Jay
      Janet in Yorkshire



      Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

      Comment


      • #4
        there are some parts of my tree that are NOT verified, but to BE verified, likewise there is some information on my trees that I have deliberately added wrongly... [I have figured that IF a relative wishes to contact me then they may offer the right information, but, if they do not check it for themselves then they will not know what is right or what is wrong!.. yes it might be cruel, but, I have spent the time doing the legwork!!
        Julie
        They're coming to take me away haha hee hee..........

        .......I find dead people

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        • #5
          my tree is private because i'm sick of people looking at it and copying everything. some of it is simple to find. some took me years to uncover. i don't mind sharing, if people contact me. but i don't like it when personal bits and bobs, such as photos appear everywhere. some things are private, such as pictures of my grandparents.

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          • #6
            Well said

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Darksecretz View Post
              ... I have deliberately added wrongly... [I have figured that IF a relative wishes to contact me then they may offer the right information, but, if they do not check it for themselves then they will not know what is right or what is wrong!.. yes it might be cruel, but, I have spent the time doing the legwork!!
              Julie! I'm shocked!!!

              But it's a tempting idea!

              Do you have any stories about this practice?!

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              • #8
                I totally agree. I've had my grandmother's photo plastered on quite a few family trees, only gave it to 1 person and he never asked. I sit at my computer and rant to my OH, they have people who are on their tree as deceased in 1861, but have the 1871 & 1881 census with them on it (age wrong, county wrong). I've noticed that there are very few good trees on ancestry, I think most of the serious researches are fed up and keep them private.
                Tora

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                • #9
                  Slightly different angle - I had an email from GR a couple of weeks back to say they had a match to me on someone's tree. I did a quick search and found the same person also had an entry for both my parents and my sister.

                  Having let my GR sub expire someone on here kindly offered to make contact - I had no problem being on the tree but am keen to exchange information if I can - as I have never found anyone researching anywhere near my family.

                  Despite providing my personal email address to them I've not heard anything. Why bother using an online contact site if you are not interested in making contact???
                  Last edited by SueNSW; 10-03-13, 09:01.

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                  • #10
                    I quite agree Sue. I was very excited when the a person contacted me who is the granddaughter of my Grans brother, so extremely close. I have never met any of that side of the family and was so pleased to see a photo of my Grans brother. I contacted her saying who I was etc. and hoped that we could 'chat'....nothing. I left it for a couple of weeks and contacted her again...nothing. So I left it for about 3 months and contacted her again...again nothing.

                    She is still a regular visitor to Ancestry so I will just leave it now, very disappointing though


                    Linda

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by PhotoFamily View Post
                      Julie! I'm shocked!!!

                      But it's a tempting idea!

                      Do you have any stories about this practice?!
                      I figured that if they are Genuine Sarah, then they will ask/query what is puzzling them, [if they notice it] but, if they are genuinely interested and do swap info etc, then I will tell them what I have changed and why. It might not be much that have changed, praps a date/place of birth here or an occupation there, sometimes i'll change a siblings name around, etc.. just little changes, that, to someone who is used to/has access to the proper records could check in moments.
                      Julie
                      They're coming to take me away haha hee hee..........

                      .......I find dead people

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                      • #12
                        Totally agree I always try to verify the stuff and get great help from the FTF members. My tree is private and I got a message on ancestry which in the subject box said simply "Can I have access to your tree" - that was it!!! No information, no please. When I have shared my tree with Amanda and a few others I give information, they give information and we share information and then when the trust is built up we share the tree - surely you have to give to receive?

                        Maybe I am being to cautious but the cost and time spent on a tree for someone to take everything surely isn't right?

                        Steven

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                        • #13
                          I have most of my tree online, and to be honest I have made some very useful contatcs that way. My 3x great grandfather married, had my 2x great grand father, his wife died within a year and he disappered. For years I searched for where he went and where my 2x grew up to no avail.

                          Then I was contacted through Ancestry with a potential match and after we compared notes found out that he had gone to Austrailia and had a whole new family! The Aussie contact new nothing of his family here so it was mutually beneficial. I just need someone to contact me who knows where my 2x great grandfather grew up, because he didn't go to Australia as far as we know.

                          But on a negative note I have found large chunks of my tree attached to other trees based on no more than the name. A simple check would flag up that he couldn't have had his first child when he was 9, or she was unlikely to have given birth at 62!

                          I now only share my full tree with proven family members, who have researched and verified their own trees to a reasonable standard. I realise that some information may be wrong or the link a little tenuous in the abscence of hard evidence (my own tree has some of this), but as long as the bulk of the tree is robust, I will give it a go.

                          There are a huge number of people I have contacted who just don't bother replying, and this even happens when thay have made the first contact and I am just replying!

                          I guess it is swings and roundabouts and I will continue to do it. There is a lot of information that isn't in the public domain (family bibles, photographs, interviews with Aunt Mary etc.) that can fill in some gaping holes, and only by making contacts can this information be obtained.
                          Co-ordinator for PoW project Southern Region 08
                          Researching:- Wieland, Habbes, Saettele, Bowinkelmann, Freckenhauser, Dilger in Germany
                          Kincaid, Warner, Hitchman, Collie, Curtis, Pocock, Stanley, Nixey, McDonald in London, Berks, Bucks, Oxon and West Midlands
                          Drake, Beals, Pritchard in Kent
                          Devine in Ireland

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                          • #14
                            I was upset when a cousin put a small bio, I did for my Dad on her public tree, however a couple of years and a few tree pirates later, I contacted someone who I saw had recently uploaded it and found the Grandaughter of my Granny's sister. who I was unaware of.
                            Bubblebelle x

                            FAMILY INTERESTS: Pitts of Sherborne Gloucs. Deaney (Bucks). Pye of Kent. Randolph of Lydd, Kent. Youell of Norfolk and Suffolk. Howe of Lampton. Carden of Bucks.

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                            • #15
                              I discovered a great nephew unknown to me, partly through Ancestry Public Trees and partly through his own website and intrigued, I followed his progress for a year or so as nobody else from this side of the family was researching. He was doing well for a young person without any prior history of the family, but a heart felt plea wanting to know more about his grandfather (my brother) prompted me to leave telltale signs on my Public Ancestry tree. At first he was not taking up the hints but after leaving a very obvious one on his own tree we finally embarked on a trip of getting to know the other half of the family. Yes I have given him all the information, but did want him to keep it off Ancestry and so far he has abided by my wishes. I am sure eventually he will become the next genealogist of the family. There is also a public tree on Ancestry for the same family by an aunt of this same person, but her innaccuracies are dreadful and I understand she obtained her information from a much older person, known to me! I have left messages to suggest that much of her tree is wrong and if she gets in touch with me I can help, but to no avail as yet, and that was over 18 months ago!!

                              My other success story has been through FTF where a cousin in Boston USA picked up my story about "My Family and the Troubles" which I wrote for the FTF Magazine in 2009, and which can be picked up in a google search. This person only found me just before Christmas 2012 but she was intrigued by my story, some of which she had already researched, but most of which she did not know about at all and we have set up quite a correspondence, so FTF can be just as good as Ancestry!

                              Janet
                              Last edited by Janet; 10-03-13, 14:45.

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                              • #16
                                Well my trees are viewable by the world and his wife. Not everything is verified - not through want of trying. I've tried to avoid dumb errors but being merely human I correct those that shout out at me.
                                As a result of my public trees, I have had contact from hitherto unknown relatives. I have included information not readily available (eg will transcripts), hoping to assist others, by way as a small thank you to those who have given tremendous efforts to produce publicly available information, much of it free of charge, which has assisted me.

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                                • #17
                                  Originally posted by julite View Post
                                  Well my trees are viewable by the world and his wife.
                                  Same here - and it has been really productive. I have a small portrait for everyone cropped from various other photos though all the photos of gravestones and places are full size. If there is anything sensitive then I don't put it online eg we suffered a bereavement last week but have not entered a date of death as we are still grieving.
                                  Last edited by Jill on the A272; 10-03-13, 14:41.

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                                  • #18
                                    If I see pictures matching my people then I will simply pop to Mundia and see if they are on there, if they are then I'll simply leave a small comment "It's ever so nice to see.......... thanks for giving me the opportunity to see what they looked like etc"

                                    There's a picture of Patrick Lennon 1831-1931 with his wife & daughter and I can see one or two current Lennon's in it. Looking at the picture of his daughter before she died I can see my Granddad's Mum Cecilia in it.
                                    Lennon. Phillips. Thomas. Peacock. Tubridy. Burton.

                                    I am the girl from that town & I'm darn proud of it.

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                                    • #19
                                      My trees are public, and I plan to keep them that way. Anything I don't want in the public realm simply goes on my FTM tree. I do strive to be 100% accurate, but am under no illusions there are no errors in the tree. Like many others, I've had great success meeting 'new' cousins, sharing my info and receiving theirs (then verifying it). I've met and corresponded with 'new' relatives from two other continents, and another from 25 minutes down the road. I find this as interesting as getting to 'know' those long gone in my tree.

                                      At the same time, I'm not bothered by those who fail to verify, or who pilfer hard-researched info by others. I know the quality of my work; that's enough for me.

                                      I think we've all aired these thoughts before though.
                                      Last edited by Prairie Chicken; 10-03-13, 18:25.

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                                      • #20
                                        Originally posted by Prairie Chicken View Post
                                        I think we've all aired these thoughts before though.
                                        Yes, but its good to be able to have a gripe about it now and then. Somewhere, sometime, someone might just read it and go back and check their own tree more closely. Or answer one of those queries they have been sent and have ignored.

                                        My ancestry trees are not public after a bad experience where someone took my whole tree and copied it into theirs, me and my children included. But you can still find the matches and I am happy to share anything I know.

                                        But no-one has ever contacted me to ask me if or how I know that Elizabeth-Mary C married Henry Brown in Islington and how I know who her parents were. I am dying for someone to ask because it took me 11 years to find the marriage !

                                        If someone has something really obviously wrong like the one who was born and died in the USA but appears on two England Census - I will generally write a comment on their tree, because at least anyone else searching will hopefully check or enter their own research more carefully. Sometimes I just shake my head and wonder why they bothered.
                                        Diane
                                        Sydney Australia
                                        Avatar: Reuben Edward Page and Lilly Mary Anne Dawson

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