Name Collectors!!!

[vikki brace]

I have just been in contact with my first name collector.....

I recieved my hotmatches and got really excited to see we shared some common ancestors, So I contacted them and eagerly awaited their reply.... Well Got a reply, saying probably a loose link, but they had given me access to their tree so thought I would have a look to see if I could find the link and strengthen it a little...Ha.....over 10 thousand names in the tree, Don't think I will find the link :D

But did find living family members included.....when will people learn it is NOT ok to do that without their permission?:(

[Elizabeth Herts]

I had a message from someone this week on GR and there were over 28,000 names on the tree!!!

I tried to see how the name in question was connected to them, so I clicked on the descendants button to show the descendants of that person, but the system didn't like it and couldn't produce the tree.

I'm not opening my tree - I will just be added to hers, which I don't want.

[vikki brace]

Oh my, I don't have the time to enter 28,000 names - how do they do it?

I won't be opening my tree either - if they were blood related I might consider it but very un-likely

[Michael]

A little bit of number crunching that says something about name collectors...

Suppose, for the sake of argument, that on average it takes one hour of research to confirm that a particular person is related to you; some will be easy and you can prove the connection in a few minutes, but there will always be a few who provide the brick walls and take absolutely ages, so it averages out (of course, if the average is more than an hour that only goes to reinforce the point). Thus 28,000 people would take around 28,000 hours of research to establish for definite - that's more than three years, working non-stop! So even if the tree in question constitutes the combined efforts of several researchers... I don't think so.

[KiteRunner]

I had a message from someone this week on GR and there were over 28,000 names on the tree!!!

I tried to see how the name in question was connected to them, so I clicked on the descendants button to show the descendants of that person, but the system didn't like it and couldn't produce the tree.

I'm not opening my tree - I will just be added to hers, which I don't want.

There's a descendants button?

[WendyPusey]

Are you saying then, that someone who has 10,000 names in their tree are name collectors?:(:(

I have been researching mine and my OH's tree for the past 9 years and I have approximately 10,500 names in my tree. Not all are my direct line, but I like to add siblings partners and families so I have many branches.

[vikki brace]

No, not everyone but this person also gave me his web site with 42,000 ish names. And asked if I could help to expand his tree by supplying a GEDCOM

[Elizabeth Herts]

On GR trees you can get to a specific person "Joe Bloggs" by typing "Jo Bloggs" in the two boxes at the top right - there is a date box as well for dob.

When you do that you get your person.

On the top left there are View: options. You can click Full Tree, Ancestors or Descendants. I often click on Descendants because you can (hopefully) get down to the present and see THAT PERSON's line, and not the full tree. I can then print off that part of the tree if it relates to my research, and then I double check the information if it interests me.

However, this morning the tree was 28,000 + peole. I clicked on the Descendants button, but the time thingy just kept whirring and it couldn't open up the tree. I suspect it is because the tree is just too big!

[Grampa Jim]

Maybe you might call me a name Collector as I have a Tree with over 20,000 names.

It is based on my Grandchildren, so their other Parents Trees are included, as is my Ex's.

I have contact with several distant cousins who have all let me add their Branches to my 10647 blood-related main Tree, and, during the course of my searches I have often extracted information on ALL persons of that Surname in the area.

I prefer to look upon myself as an Archivist, and willingly share my work with anyone who has a proven link.

[vikki brace]

But Grampa, you have been doing this for over 20 years (I think you mentioned it once !!)
With that amount of time and research you will obviously have a very large tree. I think of name collectors as those who have been going for a couple of years just adding names which don't have any connection to them.

(Please don't think I am having a go at people with large tree's :o)

[yummy-mummy-amy]

my mate is doing her tree and her maiden name is HALL. well a guy contacted her that was reserching the HALL family and had some of her names in his tree, including her grandparents. his tree was really big.

he couldn't tell her how they were linked they just were! well she askedme if i could have a look at his tree and website as i have been doing my tree abit longer than she has etc and she couldnt see or find a link. after searching the site and checking the info of her grandparents with her (for their parents etc) i also couldn't find a link.

BUT i did find a DANCE HALL in manchester, and a VILLAGE HALL somewhere else (all complete with road name and postcode)! it did make us laugh and told us that he didnt check what info he was adding.

[Grampa Jim]

No offence taken,

Yes it's true, I started doing this in the very late 1960s and spent several days at Somerset House going through the Indexes up the spiral stairs and on that weird iron gallery. So I suppose that 40 years worth of my work has gone into mine.

P.S. Yummy Mummy,

I have a nest of Halls in Oxfordshire. Joined at the hip by Thomas Hall's marriage to Anne Freeman in 1860. She was my 2GG Aunt

[Durham Lady]

I had contact with someone who had one of my direct line in her tree, I never did find out how but she is an Inupiat Eskimo and says she is related to the King ? and Queen of England, Diana Spencer and Daniel Radcliffe. :D

[Michael]

I've been doing mine on and off (more off than on if I'm honest!) for a bit over three years now, and have about 600 people on my tree plus a load of others (dunno exactly how many) from other people's research who are directly related to me but whom I haven't got round to adding yet. I've identified all my 2g-grandparents for definite, and all the 3gs on my mum's side - still a few gaps on dad's though, mostly due to the difficulties created by all the common Welsh surnames! As I don't possess an OH yet, the tree is solely my own.

A friend of mine at school claimed to be descended from King John, and was third cousin twice removed (or something!) to Jason Stoltenberg (Australian tennis player, once reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and was later Lleyton Hewitt's coach). No-one particularly famous on my tree, although my friends might well say I'm infamous.

[bev&kev]

One of my early contacts had over 25,000 in his tree.

He also had nearly 1,000 pages of notes, sources, copies of documents, wills etc. He had been researching for almost 50 years. Probably the best tree I have ever seen, lolol!