Ancestry "Suggested Parent" Feature

[Clear]

I was quite shocked that Ancestry is full of inaccuracy and sometimes to a ridiculous level.  As a total novice I trusted Ancestry's "suggested parent" feature and ended up related to Mary Tudor ! I had to delete hundreds of records from my tree. Is this a deliberate way to embarrass novices ?

[CaroleW]

Why on earth would an organisation the size of Ancestry want to embarrass novices??   

The clue is in the word "suggested".  It's just that - a suggestion.     How many times does somebody "suggest" something to you in everyday life but it's up to you to determine whether that suggestion is relevant or acceptable

Ancestry doesn't force you to accept anything.  It's up to you to research your FH yourself and ensure it's correct.

[snowqueen]

Many of the inaccuracies aren't from Ancestry, they are from subscribers who dont research their ances
tors particularly well, then their mistakes are copied over and over by people who just blindly follow without checking

[Sandrafamilytree]

I'm fairly new to Ancestry and was researching a relative a few weeks ago.

I felt I had sorted out who he was and had the correct relationships and locations.

Then I looked at other publicly available trees on Ancestry and found everyone else seemed to have a contrary view.

As I am a novice I initially assumed I must be wrong, but after further investigation that turned out not to be the case and the details I'd researched were correct.

I guess several people had copied from one tree, assumed it was correct and duplicated the errors.

Just treat anything on Ancestry as a guide.

[CaroleW]

There are numerous posts on Rootschat about inaccurate trees - and we always give the same advice - do your own research

[Rosinish]

The clue is in the word "suggested".  It's just that - a suggestion.     How many times does somebody "suggest" something to you in everyday life but it's up to you to determine whether that suggestion is relevant or acceptable

Ancestry doesn't force you to accept anything.  It's up to you to research your FH yourself and ensure it's correct.

I completely agree with Carole.

Hints/suggestions are all very well, a bit like seeing a special offer on your favourite chocolate which turns out to be no cheaper as it weighs less

However, to accept the offer without checking is not a good idea.

It puts you in what I call the 'Click & Collect' category.

I see no enjoyment in clicking & accepting hints without further research.

The thing here is, you've learned a good lesson, many don't, they ignore errors & carry on regardless!

That lesson will help you in the future & I'm sure your tree from now on will be well researched & more enjoyable.

Annie

[Ruskie]

I was quite shocked that Ancestry is full of inaccuracy and sometimes to a ridiculous level.  As a total novice I trusted Ancestry's "suggested parent" feature and ended up related to Mary Tudor ! I had to delete hundreds of records from my tree. Is this a deliberate way to embarrass novices ?

You posted the same thing on this thread:
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=863610.msg7333233#msg7333233
 
(Intentional or an error?) 

I’m not sure why you had to delete hundred of records from your tree because you ended up related to Mary Tudor - maybe you are related to Mary Tudor. 

Btw, if you have “hundreds of records on your tree” you probably wouldn’t be classed as a “total novice”. 

[Guy Etchells]

I'm fairly new to Ancestry and was researching a relative a few weeks ago.

I felt I had sorted out who he was and had the correct relationships and locations.

Then I looked at other publicly available trees on Ancestry and found everyone else seemed to have a contrary view.

As I am a novice I initially assumed I must be wrong, but after further investigation that turned out not to be the case and the details I'd researched were correct.

I guess several people had copied from one tree, assumed it was correct and duplicated the errors.

Just treat anything on Ancestry as a guide.

Thank you for your post, your confidence in your research reassures me that there are still people around who have the ability to make decisions for themselves rather that simply follow the pack. You and people like you are the future of genealogy.
Cheers
Guy

[snowqueen]

I wish everyone thought like you Guy.  I have endeavoured to research my tree to the best of my ability, although it disagrees with 90% of the trees on Ancestry.  The difference is I have records to back mine up.  My research is in North Yorkshire where lots of records are available online, so why others can't do the same instead of blindly copying others is beyond me.  I like to know who's blood is in my veins LOL