Errors in trees - letting off steam!

[hurworth]

I've learned my lesson at FamilySearch.  Make sure you select "watch" for your ancestors, so you will be notified if someone makes changes to them.

I recently noticed that a relative of mine "found" the parents and siblings of one of my ancestors and added them on and linked them up a while ago.  They're not his ancestors.

That would be fine if he'd "found" the correct parents, but he didn't.  Unravelling it all took a while.

[hurworth]

If tree looks genuine,  I have in the past contacted some people offering proof for corrections, sometimes to be ignored, others have acknowledged their errors but failed to correct them, some have thanked me and corrected their tree.

I sent a correction for the maiden name of the tree owner's ancestor.  She replied to thank me, and agreed that the maiden name was wrong (thanks to the GRO index being online).  She also said that she knows where this ancestor of hers is buried, and that her mother (our mutual ancestor, who was born in 1779) is buried in the same plot and she offered me a photo of the grave.

 

[kiwihalfpint]

I have in the past contacted some people offering proof for corrections, sometimes to be ignored.

Four years ago, I asked  a tree owner, if the person they were seeking, was the right person they were looking for, as they had attached my ancestors 1851 census.... and asked where did the four middle names come from they had listed, for their person of interest, as they didn't match the traditional naming pattern of my family ... not a dickey bird was heard.   I then looked at the other trees for the person in question, and they all had a different birth year and different part of Glasgow.  So I can only assume they thought, yes, that is my person, I will grab it, regardless that it wasn't the area they wanted etc

Roll on four years, we have since found the birth certificate of my person from the 1851 census, and wouldn't you know it, she only has one name   Made contact with a new rellie, and agrees with me, that the tree owner is just a name gatherer playing chinese whispers!


Cheers
KHP

[LizzieW]

I've just shown my distant relative why, what she thought was true from Ancestry trees was in fact mostly wrong.  She has been looking for the death of one of her ancestors (let's call him John Smith) and, surprise, surprise there are 4 trees on Ancestry which have this man's wife, her 2nd partner (my g.grandfather) and so on mainly correct, but they have given the man a middle name he didn't have, so calling him John Walter Smith.  The trees give his date of death and also give him and his wife an extra son.  I did a search on Ancestry for the man with the middle name.  Guess what, there was such a man, born and died in Massachusetts, USA and the child, he was born to much younger parents in the UK (they had fairly common names).

Of course, that means that my distant relative and I are no nearer to finding out what happened to her ancestor (my g.gran's first husband) apart from the fact he was supposed to be deceased at the time of his youngest daughter's birth.  As he was a fisherman the chances are he was washed overboard somewhere in the North Sea and his death was never registered in the UK - or even at all.  Alternatively, he just left his wife and changed his name.

[coombs]

I once contacted someone who said he had (in his tree) a Matthew Bradford born 1770 in Little Thurlow, Suffolk. I asked how he came across this info. While waiting, I went to the RO and checked Little Thurlow baptisms and then checked Great Thurlow baptisms. No Matthew Bradford baptism could be found. I did find a William Bradford born 1767 to Thomas and Ann (the parents of this mystery Matthew).

When the person on Ancestry answered my email, he just sent me a copy of a sheet which just said what was said on his tree. He never stated the source of info for Matthew's baptism but in his tree and on his sheet of info it said Matthew was born Little Thurlow. I asked him if he had actually FOUND Matthew's baptism record and I never got any answer after that.

[Nick_Ips]

I've never paid much attention to Ancestry trees, but had some spare minutes in the library the other day so had a look for my G.Grandfather to see if anybody was connected. I found at least 6 trees, all apparently different, who had his birth and marriage with a variety of parents and spouses. All 6 that I looked at had killed him off in the wrong county in the wrong year.

My source was a selection of family documents, a photograph of his grave, visiting the cemetery as a child, and the first hand accounts of my parents and siblings. So I'm reasonably confident of the facts 

By coincidence last week I wasn't far from the place he lived and died in, so spur of the moment decided to go and visit. In fading light I managed to find the grave (no mean feat in a corporation cemetery with only a vague idea where to look  )  And yes, GGF Albert was still where he was buried, and no, he hadn't been relocated 120 miles to the East 

I've resolved that the only time I'll look at an Ancestry tree again will be if I get completely stuck on something and need some suggestions to investigate - however wild and wacky they might be.

I just wish I'd planned ahead and had some flowers to leave, but it was nice to see a well cared for cemetery, still accessible to the public at dusk.

[Penholder]

Sometimes you just have to laugh rather than cry.   Since my first post I've followed a distant DNA match to a tree that shows connections to every royal house in Europe.   I'll go back to polishing my crown now!

[Mart 'n' Al]

What really annoys me is when I contact somebody to tell them that there is an error in a  tree comma and either provide correct information or suggest that they contact me, but I never hear from them. I realise that their tree might have permanently wilted, but it is never the less frustrating. One tree, which has my great grandmother dying in 1948 is very wrong as she was still living with my parents nearly 20 years later. Another one has my partner's father with a picture of a trumpeter of the same name.

Martin

[LizzieW]

I saw a tree that had my g.aunt dying at the address where I was living with my parents and my gran (g.aunt's sister), on the same day as my gran died in 1949    In actual fact my g.aunt died over 50 miles away, on 7 May 1933 so she had been dead for 16 years before my gran died.

I wrote to the person on Ancestry and explained the place and date for my g.aunt was wrong and that the information had been muddled with my gran who I knew for a fact had died in 1949 because she lived with us and her sister had never lived at that address.  They didn't agree with me, so I gave up.