beyond a joke

[SarahU]

Blasted hints! According to FindMyPast, my gtgrandfather was alive in the 1901 census when he died in 1889 (verified with an actual death certificate), death transcribed correctly in FindMyPast too.Even though l checked ‘reject’, this hint keeps popping up. Another site insists in notifying me of potential connections to new entries when they are my own entries. They sure don’t recruit Silicon Valley graduates to write their algorithms, even l (an elderly non-geek) could write an “if this, then that or if not, then this” or  a simple “<this or >this” formula into a spreadsheet. One fee-paying site has my grandfather as dead and another brother with my grandfather’s middle name but, as a non-member (fees are extortionate), l can’t contact the ‘owner’ that l have all the relevant documents to prove otherwise. Is this why not many real cousins have contacted me? Garbage in, garbage out!

[Erato]

"It is NOT now for the REAL researcher.. it is just another GAME for the lazy researcher to have an enormous tree full of dukes and duchesses out of the gutter..."

People have different motives, different interests, different goals, different methodologies, and different expectations.  Accept that fact.  Just accept it.

Here's a similar situation.  I have a fairly large shell collection.  My interest is scientific, not aesthetic.  Several years ago, I was introduced to the ambassador of a South American country who also collects shells.  He wanted someone to help him identify the specimens in his collection all of which were purchased from dealers; he never went out on the beaches and collected his own shells.  In most cases he had no idea where a shell had come from.  It was clear from the outset that we did not have the same interests.  His shells were essentially art objects; mine may be grubby but they're mine; I found them.  One day he called me in desperation.  He was preparing to leave Ecuador and while packing up, he broke one of his prize shells.  He needed a replacement and it had to be pink and about 4-5 inches long.  He didn't care what species it was or even what family.  He just wanted something pretty.

Is my collection better than his?  Yes, in some respects it is; in other respects it isn't.  They're different because the collectors are different.

[radstockjeff]

Perhaps all those sites should have a general disclaimer note.  In the words of Erasmus Bottle....

"Please note carefully that all the statements in these records are true--- except those which aren't!"

[Finley 1]

'Is my collection better than his?  Yes, in some respects it is; in other respects it isn't.  They're different because the collectors are different.'

I know..

you got it -- respect each other and the way they play..

The thing is we imagine we are all playing the same game...

but yep -- definitely not..

Yesterday --  I sat and thought .. to myself...  What would I have spent time and money on - over the years had it not been this research.

I could have done allsorts... when I see how much I have spent...

So I could have had that pretty pink shell to just admire..

Instead the pleasure for me (and only me in my family) - is the satisfaction that
John Sutherland Snr who was a naughty boy is my Gt. Grandfather and for that I belong to a breed that I am proud of... instead of floating along with uncertain roots... waffling... again and going off thread  again and reading one of my threads that argues with another of my threads for goodness sake... this lady is loosing the plot..

xin which may have been noted ha ha

[pharmaT]

My Current bugbear is a particular hint on ancestry that keeps popping up.

One of my 3x grt grandfathers is Thomas Dickson born c1794 in Lanarkshire Scotland (yes i know that's only approximate).  I do know however he married my 3x grt grandmother in 1815 and had children in Lanarkshire over the next 18 years.  This hint has him as the same person as a Thomas Dickerson.  Not entirely impossible as he could potentially appear in records as a slight variation of his name.  Thomas Dickerson was born in the US in 1840.  Now even if you take into account ANcestry's tendency to flip locations I can be 100% sure that someone born in 1840, no matter where did NOT marry in 1815.

[Andrew Tarr]

1. They are convinced they are right and /or the info they got from else where is right .
2. They just do not bother to check that info.    And even double check any of their own. 

And - what gets me most - some of 'them' don't do simple maths to see if the data even makes procreational sense.

[pharmaT]

1. They are convinced they are right and /or the info they got from else where is right .
2. They just do not bother to check that info.    And even double check any of their own. 

And - what gets me most - some of 'them' don't do simple maths to see if the data even makes procreational sense.

TBF I did once add my ancestor's sibling as their child.   Was about 3 weeks before I noticed and fixed it.

[SarahU]

A surname search in FindMyPast in a 1834 census for Dalkeith, near Edinburgh, produced several with households of only children, no adults! Their response? Blame lies with the 3rd party transcription service, l should contact them!!! What is my high annual fee for if not an accurate transcription. The lunatics are running the asylum.

[Andrew Tarr]

A surname search in FindMyPast in a 1834 census for Dalkeith, near Edinburgh, produced several with households of only children, no adults! Their response? Blame lies with the 3rd party transcription service, l should contact them!!! What is my high annual fee for if not an accurate transcription. The lunatics are running the asylum.

Well, it's not impossible.  I have several examples where no apparent 'head' is listed - He is somewhere else while wife or governess or even eldest daughter is in charge. If the adults were elsewhere, the rules said they should not be listed.