Family history is thoroughly corrupted

[Nick29]

"I elected not to place my tree on the net even though I subscribe to that programme preferring rather to see what trees are there that contain families that interest me."

That seems rather selfish to me.  If everyone adopted that attitude, what would be the point of sites like Ancestry or GR ?

This topic is discussed in one form or another on quite a regular basis.  The bottom line is that no data can be guaranteed to be 100% accurate, even when documentation is produced.  The father's name on many thousands of certificates simply isn't the correct one, because infidelity and deception was as rife then as it is now, if not more so.

All you can do is to sift through all the evidence at hand, and select the data that best fits, and even then there's no guarantees that it's 100% correct.

[charlotteCH]

Another thing that is on the nose is when people get hold of photos of living family members and publish then in their "research" without even asking if it's OK to use them... Happened to me recently... 

charlotte

[Greensleeves]

I would not claim to be an expert in family trees, but what I have found helpful with on-line links is the sharing of information which then can be used as a guide, rather than taken on face value.  I find that people who are serious researchers are quite happy to email their paperwork to back up their research, and I am delighted to receive it.  However, to just copy and past from on-line trees surely takes all the fun out of the hunt? Well, it would for me, anyway.

I am fortunate that one of my trees, which goes back to about 1540, was researched by my uncle before all the wonderful on-line facilities were available.  This means that he actually had to visit records offices, parishes etc to glean all the information.  In comparison to his contribution, which took him about 30 years to accumulate, mine is quite meagre - I am filling in the gaps, so to speak, and adding some twigs and leaves, always conscious of how hard it must have been for him to get as far as he did.

I can't understand this quest for collecting ancestors like stamps: what interests me are  the people, their stories and the way they lived.  What elation when you find the 'lost' child with an aunt; what pity when you find the young widow with four small children.... To me, that's what family history is all about.

Regards
Greensleeves

[charlotteCH]

Greensleeves, Yes about the pleasure on feels when learning details of the daily lives of those who are our ancestors and the pity on can feel for them in their griefs and the tough circs many of thme faced. They come alive to one- it has nothing to do with trying to collect huge numbers of names.

charlotte

[hamiltonhunt]

Online trees can be useful for suggesting "possible" connections as long as they are used that way, as possibilities to be proven. I use them as a pointer and then look for verification documents to confirm whether or not if it is valid. So I "analyse" and "cooberate" the information and I don't make my tree public.

If I encounter someone who has strong connections, I contact them to determine if we do connect ask if they are interested in communicating. I still take anything they have with a grain of salt and do my own verification and expect they will do the same with mine.

I have contacted people and told then when I thought they had something wrong and told them what I had found. They then took a look at it with new eyes and if they agreed, corrected it. Sometimes they don't agree but so be it, I have done my best.

I have been able to focus my research more effectively and have learned a lot. Ancestry has allowed me easier access to information than I would never have dreamed of but it is only one tool. And like any tool, it is the person operating it that controls how well it functions. The same goes for the internet in general...

My tree is large because all sides of my family have large families, but i have sources to back it up. Luckley I obtained a lot of source information through the Druoin Collection. I found I had to go both /wide and deep wide since the names were so common and to try to sort out the interconnection of families. 

J

[Nick29]

Another thing that is on the nose is when people get hold of photos of living family members and publish then in their "research" without even asking if it's OK to use them... Happened to me recently... 

charlotte

Make a complaint to Ancestry - doing this is outside their terms and conditions of use.

[Sylviaann]

Yes this subject has been discussed many many times.

Many years ago before the internet was popular I sent a copy of my tree to a distant relative.  I had researched it on Parish registers at the LDS.  This person put it on Rootsweb.  It is now on Ancestry.  One of my ancestors who died in 1851, I have the death cert, was resurrected in America with a new family.  How clever.

Use the trees as a guide only and check everything

Sylviaann

[jillruss]

It all goes back to the vagaries of human nature, doesn't it?
 
Some people are determined to do the job properly; others are happy to blatantly filch information from other people; and others just don't seem to care whether they have the correct information as long as it goes as far back as possible with as many names as possible.   

Bottom line - I don't really care! I research my tree with integrity and know when some parts of it are 'on the back burner' i.e. only 90% sure.

I learned my lesson with putting my tree online (via GR)  - similar experiences to others - so I've removed it and no longer subscribe. I've said it before - GR is like chinese whispers, with information being manipulated along the line so that, in the end, the truth can be lost.

I don't have any experience of Ancestry trees - never subscribed as I'm not City Banker nor do I own an oilfield!

I would just add my advice to that of others - if you don't want your tree manipulated and abused by others - don't put it on the web. As the meercat would say - "Simples!!".
 

Jill

[sunflower]

I made contact with a chap on the GR site regarding on of my families. I couldn't see any connection and wrote to tell him so. When next I was checking my tree matches I noticed he had started to put some of my familes into his tree. ( even ones that we hadn't  written about originally)  I quickly closed my tree and wrote to ask him what connection he had found. His answer was ' I'm still working on it'
I reported him to the GR team who didn't want to know.  They said if he hadn't put any living relations on his tree, then there was no problem.

I've learnt my lesson.

Carol