Not only on Ancestry does this occur, I had my complete tree copied word for word from the Genes site, the thing is I had made a big error and it was only when I corrected it I noticed the copying. Not only did he put it on his tree he also put it online under the family name as his work, his still has the error - shame.
Ok ok I'll get round to fixing it.
I must admit, like most, that when I found this wonderful thing called the internet , I figured I could let other people do my work for me. Then I started to think about what I was actually putting down. I had some time away from the net and also some free time to peruse the records of my dads cousin who had done some marvellous work over 25 years.
Being kind of particular I checked everything I did , using his info as a road map. I found , mostly , his info was good and solid apart from 1 or 2 items. But that was ok because it meant I wasn't being lazy.
Coming back to the net I found Ancestry , I found Genes and I found other pages dedicated to family name gathering and I was in heaven. Once again someone had done all the work for me. Except this time I was battle hardened and understanding more that the info should not be treated as gospel but as a road map or guide to a direction I should explore.
It was when I found Rootschat that I was lucky enough to break a wall that had even defeated my dads cousin and let me go back a little further. I was contacted by someone who had wills and information that conclusively tied everything up. The only thing I was asked was to not place the information in a public forum. I have , and will , respected that wish.
I also say thank you
So I can understand that having a philosophy of sharing can help someone crash through walls...and it is something I have tried to maintain. But. My tree on Ancestry is currently on private , and will be until 2017 , as I have a project that I am doing that is close to my heart.
After 2017 when it is ready then I will change my tree to public. I guess its also about presenting something that is as complete as it can be, with all the bells and whistles etc.
I have not had anyone contact me for information but I will welcome it and as a previous post alluded I will give direction to where I found it. If they truly want it they will find it
I also think I promised myself I wouldn't respond to anymore of these threads ( maybe I can slip in the caveat that it was created before I made my vow)