Is there room for instinct when compiling a family tree?

[Neli]

Hi, I have just been reading a thread about correcting others mistakes on the Common room board.
It made me feel a bit guilty. My great grandfather had a very vague history. All the family know is that prior to moving to Longford, Ireland and marrying my G Grandma he was a soldier in the Irish Fuisiliers. Nobody knows where he was from originally, well apart from being Irish but the two dominant thoughts are Carlow or Antrim. I found a recruitment document, in his name with the right dates, which place him in Carlow but, I have absolutely no other evidence to verify this. I e-mailed it to my Uncle who is also researching the tree (it's not just my brick wall) but, was very much in the Carlow camp. He has now totally switched to my theory.
But my conviction is based entirely on instinct not facts :-(
The signature on the form is like a carbon copy of my Fathers (same name). When I showed it to my Dad he just stared at it in disbelief and said 'it's like I wrote it myself'.
Argh!
I feel bad because the rest of the family are convinced I am right but... I'm not!
I have told them of my doubts but, since I have nothing better for the moment at least, I have left it on my tree.
What I am asking is, is there ever room for instinct where facts are are hard to find?

[davidft]

In my view a tree should be based on facts not instinct. However, there are times when you have an instinct about something but cannot prove it. In that circumstance I do think its worth making a note of the thought and that you are seeking proof or otherwise. If nothing else its a reminder of where you research has got to.

If there is a direct male line (from your father or brothers) to your great great grandfather then it may be worth considering a yDNA (male line DNA testing) to see if you can connect back to someone from the area you think is right and who has a proven genealogy. The problem though may be that no one has tested from that area, as only a very small number of people test

[Neli]

Thanks David,
You have great ideas although the DNA thing may have to wait a few years :-)
I've never had mine tested and I don't know anyone else that has :-(
There is a blood thing though. I have a quite rare type which I inherited from my Dad, hmmmmmm!

[Rena]

I've had the same instinctive thoughts on several of my ancestors.  For instance where some church records were missing due to damage I had a choice of several Johns born about the same time in the 18th century and for some reason picked out one in particular - instinct proved right as all his children reflected the 8 names of my father and his 7 siblings.  Another instance is the time I latched onto another researcher who wasn't researching any of my surnames but I just had a feeling I needed to keep contact and share if I found anything specific to him.  I then found his ancestor and my ancestor coincidentally had had children in the same two towns

As times went on and I gathered evidence my original instinct was correct about the other researcher as his ancestor had married a cousin of my ancestor, which meant we did have shared ancestry in a previous generation.   I keep using the word "instinct" but a better phrase is that I was "drawn like a magnet towards a particular person/ancestor".

[Neli]

Thanks Rena, you have helped to restore my faith in 'instinct' :-)

[Rena]

Another "instinct" ..... My late husband and I were born & raised in Yorkshire. About 5 years ago I was working on my husband's "Shirras" branch of Aberdeen and had heard that they'd made tea cannisters for Lipton's tea (Thos Lipton of Glasgow) and another researcher had heard stories that they'd sailed on the millionaire's yacht. I knew my brother in law looked like a Shirras so went onto the Lipton website where there's about 1,000 photos dated about 1901 and I scanned through them looking for a likeness that I recognised.  Not surprisingly I was disappointed, but I kept being drawn back again and again to one photo of a couple, I didn't recognise them but the wife was wearing a very striking and obviously expensive outfit. However, it wasn't her that I was being drawn to it was the chap who didn't have any features that I recognised.  I downloaded the photo and after a bit of umming and arring to myself I sent it to my brother in law (b1930) together with all the documentation I'd found that year.
A few days later he phoned to thank me for the information and also for the photo of his uncle Bill and aunt Jenny!  What were the odds for being drawn to that particular photo out of hundreds of others !?!    These were his maternal grandmother's "Ward" family of Sunderland who manufactured paint and I hadn't even bothered to research, locate and buy any bmd records of her siblings because their surname was so common up there and in fact at the time I hadn't even found her (I knew her as Phoebe but her parents used her other name).

[Neli]

Wow Rena, I think your 'instinct' is sharper than mine. It has only happened to me once but, hey, I have time for more instinctive moments :-)
I have been going back over my facts since posting this evening. When I originally found the document I didn't know my GGs dates but, since then I have had them confirmed from a headstone photo my uncle sent me. I went and re-checked with the official dates I now have to see what else came up and, yes, this is really the only one that fits. I have the right Dates, name and place, maybe I was right :-)
Although I am still worried about the place :-/
My Dad's theory is that maybe he de-mobbed in the North and that is where the Antrim thing comes in. I will have to investigate whether this could have been the case as my next step.
 Any bright sparks out there who could help me discover this?

[Redroger]

Ideallyyou need documentation; however, the further you go back the more difficult and contradictory this becomes. At that stage I call it a conjecture, and try to disprove or prove it; like the conjecture regarding the identity of my 3X paternal great grandmother which i have been trying to prove since 1997! Eventually the best I can hope for is proof on the balance of probabilities, tather than beyond a reasonable doubt.

[Neli]

Conjecture- I like that :-)