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Don't believe all you read in other people's trees

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  • Don't believe all you read in other people's trees

    Well I wouldn't! I just had a look for some of mine on there & found them in someone else's tree on Ancestry.

    Seems my 2 x great granddad died 8 years later than he really did & in a different place
    His mother (my 3 x great grandma) died in 1843 apparently; I wish someone had told my 2 x great granddad that because her ghost must have been living with him on the 1861 census

    :D

    Joanie

  • #2
    there is somebody on Ancestry has somebody in my tree according to them born in 1852 in Yorkshire he was actually born in 1843 in Shoreditch serves them right for not getting his Birth Cert.

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    • #3
      I have seen one today where the person has a death in 1840 something and I have him on the 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1881 census.

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      • #4
        I am not sure what to do though? Do you contact them or let them carry on making errors?

        Thing is I always look at the PR's or get certificates before I put anyone on my tree. It has taken me years to do this, & if I make any contacts I do look at their info & maybe make notes, but then follow up the leads before I confirm a connection.

        Joanie

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        • #5
          This sort of stuff really worries me!
          I have only ever used Ancestry for research, not 'links' with other people and I'm doing ok...I think!

          - am I missing out?
          - would you all recommend contacts still, despite the stupid errors?
          I had a lot of help when I first started on 'Genes' and I wouldn't be without the stuff I learned,but I'm pretty fed up with nonsense matches now!

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          • #6
            I think - where people have branches and twigs, I also have "leaves". They're deciduous, so they drop off if they are stressed by finding that the connection doesn't work properly.

            My main project is an ancestral chart, but there's no point in ignoring siblings, because you can miss so much doing that. On the other hand, I have no intention of shelling out on lots of certs for parts of the tree that are not my project. If my educated guesses turn out to be wrong, I simply change my tree... but I do recognise that I might need to do so, and don't cling on grimly in the face of all evidence to the contrary!

            Christine
            Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

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            • #7
              I get quite disappointed when I find errors like this - at the end of the day there is going to be a lot of family history wrong.

              I had a contact from someone who had 'married' my aunt aged 90 + to her neices much younger husband (they both had the same name)
              Kathleen

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              • #8
                Petrina I think I would always be cautious before opening my tree to anyone. I have heard that you can have separate trees on Ancestry, maybe for each part of the family name so that it is possible to just share that information with them, rather than the whole thing.

                It is so easy just to accept what others have written, but personally I like to be sure of my sources & like to think my tree contains my true relatives rather than just numbers on a page.

                Welcome to FTF by the way

                Joanie

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                • #9
                  [quote=Joan of Archives;1584927]I am not sure what to do though? Do you contact them or let them carry on making errors? QUOTE]

                  I would like to be pointed in the right direction if I had made an error but I wouldn't tell someone they had made an error unless I was 100% sure they had.
                  Kathleen

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                  • #10
                    What - you mean my 3 x GGM DIDN'T have 45 children???

                    Oh no, does this mean I need to start my tree again?!

                    OC

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Olde Crone Holden View Post
                      What - you mean my 3 x GGM DIDN'T have 45 children???

                      Oh no, does this mean I need to start my tree again?!

                      OC

                      OC you never know!! Maybe she was a frustrated only child who was desperate to have a huge family & found a pioneer of IVF :D

                      Joanie

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                      • #12
                        at Christines words....I was only thinking this morning that my tree was just branches with a few twigs, but no leaves.... thinking I must add some.

                        I like to think that I know who all the people are in my tree and where they fit without having to look it up. So I hesitate to clutter it up quickly but try to find out as much as I can about each person.

                        I have a large family of aunts and uncles so plenty to work on :D
                        Kathleen

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                        • #13
                          Thanks Joan!

                          I agree, I like to have my own checks/certs done and have determined that's what I'll do......
                          When I'm on here asking, it'll usually be 'how do I find out...' rather than 'find for me...' I hope!!

                          But.. I may be being too cautious about one thing-

                          My grandfather was illegit. so only mother Annie on birth cert. 1913 (informant not obvious relation)
                          I was desperate for 1911, only to discover I need one of the missing counties:(
                          My mum then suddenly remembered some papers from 2000 when she had a small bequest from a distant, unknown cousin. Included small family tree!
                          The lawyers had used a finding agency.
                          Annie married when grandad was 7 and the marriage/stepbrothers and subsequent cousins are right (tho' all estranged and unknown)

                          My worry is...Annie's parents are listed, different end of the country to the birth etc.

                          Can I trust that the finding agency got the right Annie?
                          I was hoping to see on the 1911 that she was from up North but living London.
                          For my own peace of mind I think I'll have to get her subsequent marriage cert,and go back, won't I?

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                          • #14
                            I sometimes get the impression that people think errors in pedigrees is a new thing.

                            Throughout history genealogists have been publishing pedigrees containing errors.
                            In fact some Heralds Visitations show trees with bogus links to "ancestors" and these occurred back in the 16th and 17th centuries.
                            In Victorian times there were many books published showing false genealogies.

                            When one finds a pedigree use it as a guide to what may be available. Never simply copy a tree but find the original records to prove each link.
                            Never be satisfied with only one source of information try to confirm the information by using as many separate sources as possible.

                            Always understand your source and how and why it is in existence.
                            If it is a GRO certificate remember that is a secondary source and may be wrong, check with the original.
                            Census records are again secondary sources etc. etc.

                            A tree will always be a balance of probabilities it is up to you to make it as accurate as possible by fully researching each individual.
                            Cheers
                            Guy
                            Guy passed away October 2022

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                            • #15
                              Phew, Joan, thanks for that, I'll put a post'em on Ancestry to explain her, erm, bountiful fertility.

                              Petrina

                              Finding Agencies, for the purpose of probate, are normally VERY accurate - they don't guess at anything, they get all the certs. (They have to, to satisfy the law on probate)

                              OC

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                              • #16
                                Thanks OC,hope it is, cos' I can see that family quite easily,
                                but I still want to see her on the 1911, hurry up Northumberland!!!

                                not ignoring anything else, just burnt the lasagne... mind in 1913... bye!
                                Last edited by PDH; 14-02-09, 18:36.

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                                • #17
                                  Originally posted by Guy View Post
                                  I sometimes get the impression that people think errors in pedigrees is a new thing.

                                  Throughout history genealogists have been publishing pedigrees containing errors.
                                  In fact some Heralds Visitations show trees with bogus links to "ancestors" and these occurred back in the 16th and 17th centuries.
                                  In Victorian times there were many books published showing false genealogies.

                                  When one finds a pedigree use it as a guide to what may be available. Never simply copy a tree but find the original records to prove each link.
                                  Never be satisfied with only one source of information try to confirm the information by using as many separate sources as possible.

                                  Always understand your source and how and why it is in existence.
                                  If it is a GRO certificate remember that is a secondary source and may be wrong, check with the original.
                                  Census records are again secondary sources etc. etc.

                                  A tree will always be a balance of probabilities it is up to you to make it as accurate as possible by fully researching each individual.
                                  Cheers
                                  Guy
                                  Trouble is Guy, is that people do copy. They assume that because it's on the Internet it has to be right. I myself have had contact with people with wrong information and I have the proof, more than one source. They refuse to believe me. "It must be right it was on the IGI or it was on some website"

                                  I have the cert, I'd say.

                                  Do they ask to see it?

                                  NO!

                                  So, on and on people copy from people who have copied and so on.

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                                  • #18
                                    Having learn't at a reasonably early time when starting this hobby! don't take what someone has offered at face value, I did at first and charged off down a path that was completley wrong.
                                    I have trees on both GR and Ancestry but I only use them as sandpits to put stuff whilst I verify it. One of my first contacts on GR gave me the rubbish I stated before, funnily enough that info is still on my trees, but I've added bits and bobs (like post its so I won't forget) and guess what they've copied the whole lot onto their trees without contacting me, or I suspect without verifying the facts themselves, serves the ********* right.
                                    L

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                                    • #19
                                      I have two contacts on ancestry - one is someone I contacted years ago as we are researching the same family name and we have helped each other immensely exchanging information and using two heads to untangle mysteries etc

                                      The other is a descendant of the same family name. Our connection Robert was born in 1764. We are both his 4 x great grandchild. The information she has on our mutual family name is wildly inaccurate. They have managed to merge two cousins into one person, birthdates completely incorrect, and grandchildren showing as their parents actual children despite the fact the grandmother would have been in her 60s when giving birth to them.

                                      I very quickly closed down their access to my tree when I noticed them attaching my photos to their tree without permission. More recently they have started adding the ancestors of people that married into my family, and then the ancestors of those that married into their family. Again with varying accuracy.

                                      I would view anything on ancestry and such sites as, at best, interesting fiction. I certainly wouldn't rely on the information available unless I had had plenty of contact with the researcher and knew whether their work was to be trusted.
                                      Zoe in London

                                      Cio che Dio vuole, io voglio ~ What God wills, I will

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                                      • #20
                                        I have a connection on Ancestry who has been a mine of accurate information, has sent me photos of family we have never seen and generally been a really big help - I know I am lucky - but sometimes contacts are bril - luck of the draw I suppose.

                                        Not all my tree is confirmed but I would lose track of several different trees, so anyone copying mine wholesale without checking might think that I was wildly wrong - but I am merely in the process of checking some of the people when I can. (Most of that is in my notes - both on the tree and on paper) I do tell contacts this when I share my info.
                                        ;) Helen x

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