Early Assumptions

[Thornwood]

I started the search for my ancestors when retiring ten years ago. I still consider myself new to the hobby but recently thought back to how naive I was in the beginning.
I made many assumptions and just wondered what others believed in their early days of research.
Here are a few of mine:

All Ancestry trees were accurate.
All my ancestors would have a grave stone.
Census records were legal documents so must be 100% accurate.

[philipsearching]

I started the search for my ancestors when retiring ten years ago. I still consider myself new to the hobby but recently thought back to how naive I was in the beginning.
I made many assumptions and just wondered what others believed in their early days of research.
Here are a few of mine:

All Ancestry trees were accurate.
All my ancestors would have a grave stone.
Census records were legal documents so must be 100% accurate.

Family memories were based on fact.
A baptism year was an accurate indicator of birth year.

[panda40]

I spent 20 years and many hours of research following the wrong line if only I had brought the right marriage certificate back then.
Regards
Panda

[StanleysChesterton]

My grandfather was a well known millionaire -and- I'd find him.

[groom]

Family memories were based on fact.

Took me five years to find my mother's cousins who supposedly emigrated to Australia when she was about 10. She knew they were on her mother's side and she clearly remembered them saying goodbye when they left after their father died.

No! It turned out they were on her father's side, so I'd been searching for the wrong surname. Also they didn't all go together - two went when my mother was 15, the other two went separately 5 and 10 years later. However, luckily she had got their first names correct and I eventually found them with help from people on here and I've made contact with one of their sons.

[Treetotal]

Believing some family stories that turned out to only loosely be based on fact.

Accepting that the census info for my Great Granmother's place of birth was accurate, which took my search to Alford, Lincs. When she was born in Salford, Lancs.

Believing my Uncle that my Paternal Great Grandma's maiden name was Marshall, after a couple of wrong paths a certificate proved it was Bucknall.

Learning that the Hull aviatrix Amy Johnson was not a relative as I had been told, again by an Uncle but a neighbour of my Grandparents.

Carol

[bevj]

Assuming that your ancestor was the only person born in a particular year with that name and surname.
My great grandmother by no means had a common name but there was another girl born in the same county, no relation at all, same name, middle name and surname, and only a few months different in age.  This caused a lot of confusion.
Bev

[groom]

Assuming that your ancestor was the only person born in a particular year with that name and surname.
My great grandmother by no means had a common name but there was another girl born in the same county, no relation at all, same name, middle name and surname, and only a few months different in age.  This caused a lot of confusion.
Bev

Or on the other hand assuming that someone can't possibly be your ancestor as their date of birth is one year different on a census, or their surname has a letter incorrect.

Also assuming that because someone is with grandparents or other relatives on a census, they must live there, forgetting that a census is just a snapshot of where they were on one particular night.

[coombs]

Assuming that ages given in census records were 100% correct.

Assuming that birthplaces in census records were verified for accuracy by other documents when the returns got to the offices for statistical counting etc.

Assuming that surnames never had any variations.