Ancestry tree rubbish

[coombs]

Wills are a godsend. I always trace the witnesses to the wills as well. Often they were the parish clerk or a local pillar of the community but they could be relatives as well, in laws etc to the testator or cousins. Only about 25% of people left wills in those days but many people who never left wills were mentioned in wills as a benefactor or tenant.

I think Essex had lots of migration to it over the centuries from London. I have a surname in my tree that is very prevalent in Rutland. The ancestor was living in Romford at the time then moved towards Leigh On Sea and Southend. He died in 1751. I suspect he came from the London area and his forebears came from Rutland. Not found a likely baptism yet but Joseph Stillington was his name.

I do use Ancestry trees as inspiration, like many of us do.

[Edward Scott]

Another remarkable person

 

[ThrelfallYorky]

Precocious or what?

[Edward Scott]

I had a vision of a coffin on wheels being pushed up the aisle 

[Edward Scott]

Looks like this issue runs in the family, son of man above

[Maiden Stone]

Reply 298 reminds me of a joke in an Irish joke book, written by Irish people. As part of the joke is in Irish I won't share it. 
Happy St. Patrick's Day. 

[pinefamily]

And before Ancestry, we had similar problems with trees on the IGI. If the record fits it must be the right one.   
I agree about wills. While not everyone left one, they can be a fantastic source for confirming relationships and finding extended family members you might not otherwise have found. There are local wills as well, so people who might have been less well off may still have left a will. Unless of course like me you need the Devonshire wills that were destroyed in 1942.....

[coombs]

And before Ancestry, we had similar problems with trees on the IGI. If the record fits it must be the right one.   
I agree about wills. While not everyone left one, they can be a fantastic source for confirming relationships and finding extended family members you might not otherwise have found. There are local wills as well, so people who might have been less well off may still have left a will. Unless of course like me you need the Devonshire wills that were destroyed in 1942.....

Shame about the Devon wills. I have a worrying feeling that the Diocese of Plymouth marriage licences do not survive as I would love to check out an 1810 Axminster marriage by licence. I did check Exeter diocese but then found it was Plymouth and they are not on FamilYSearch, unless they have yet to be uploaded or transcribed.

Although it is those with Irish ancestry you have to feel sorry for as it can be virtually impossible especially with the huge instances of common names like Murphy, O'Brien, Walsh etc.

I remember reading a book about the IGI and how not to accept an entry because it is the only one that fits. The book said that the IGI is far from complete.

[cristeen]

It is probably natural to discard a marriage 100 miles from where the couple lived, and it does look iffy in a Ancestry tree but you may find that the marriage is the correct one, and the tree owner has a will or other record saying so.

In 1729 my ancestor living in Gt Bentley, Essex seemed to be from Chiswick, Middlesex originally. Her will linked her to the Masters family of Chiswick. She wed her husband in Merton, Surrey, about 60 miles from NE Essex. Proves how people did move around more than we give them credit for.

I had one of these, a couple from Berwick-on-Tweed and Newcastle-upon-Tyne married at St James Picadilly in 1788. Originally I had a FHS transcription only but it did match the unusually spelled surnames so I had it as a possibility. I also knew the couple were from relatively wealthy families & ST James was a fashionable place to get married, it still seemed like an awful long way to travel. Then I researched the grooms older brother & found he was an established & wealthy business owner in Soho & the final clincher was finding a copy of the marriage licence.
As Coombs says, can't be certain until you've got the evidence but don't rule 'good fits' out completely