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BlueSavannah
28-12-12, 19:43
I spent Christmas day at my sister in law's house. When we arrived, I was introduced to her future husband's father. Future brother in law says to his dad "oh dad, this is Claire, you two have something in common as you are both doing your family trees". The father (who was a right bah humbug!) looks at me and asks how far back i've got. I say depends on which line. Some not far and on a couple in to the late 1700s. The father says well i've got back to the 1500s. At this point, my husband says wow thats impressive, how did you research that? The father says well its easy as I just copied a tree online! I look at him and as politely as I could asked how he knew the info was accurate. He just told me I was being stupid, ate his dinner and left!

I really cannot believe that people think its ok to copy stuff without actually checking if its accurate. I suppose there are plenty more out there though that do it.

Shona
28-12-12, 21:25
That so irks me. I did some research which someone plagiarised for a book. I knew it was my work because it included my errors!

Olde Crone
28-12-12, 23:16
I used to get so worked up about this but now I just smile admiringly and think "What an idiot you are".

OC

vallee
29-12-12, 01:02
so do I OC I feel quite smug when I know the truth

marquette
29-12-12, 06:32
I, too just smile, when I look at the trees I know are copied from my earlier research, and think "why did you bother ?" or "why haven't you found that out ?"

Few have ever even altered the date of death from "after 1881" which is where I was up to back then - ancestry sometimes drops the "abt", so all these people who I had dying in 1881 are now dead in several other trees.

I am amazed that not one of them, and sometimes there are several, have ever bothered to follow up anything they copied from me.

I don't think any one person who copied my tree has ever queried anything I did, or sent me back a "you had this info, but now I have found this". I seriously doubt they have even ever looked at their ancestry or gr trees again, let alone mine.

But that's their loss, as there is so much more available on-line now, they could find out lots more about our/their family if only they tried !!!!


Di

Merry
29-12-12, 09:29
It does annoy me when people tell you what information they have found, never saying they didn't do any of it themselves until you find something wrong - then they are very quick to say it's not their research!

Another thing is the way people 'check' what they get from other trees (should they go to the trouble of looking at the information!). Just checking something is possible doesn't make it correct, so seeing that there is indeed a death reg for someone in a particular year doesn't mean it's the right registration for the person in question. If thee individual still appears on the following census then it would seem unlikely the reg found is the right one :rolleyes:, so this sort of 'checking' is of little use!!

JBee
29-12-12, 10:47
When I give out info (I keep my trees private) I always tell them to double check as I have made mistakes previously.

With my current tree I am having a great time using the RC parish records - especially baptisms which gives the parents names including maiden name, often the addresses and the godparents and sometimes their addresses.

On rare occasions it also gives who the child married and when and where - which is great.

BlueSavannah
29-12-12, 13:22
I've come across a few online contacts that have openly admitted that they have copied stuff without checking and dont seem bothered, but this was the first time I had actually met someone who openly admitted what he had done and didnt care less about if there were errors or not. Makes you wonder why bother looking at your family tree if you dont really care that much if the info you have is wrong. It kind of defeats the object of wanting to know where you come from.

I will remember to just smile nicely if I meet someone like that again :)

HarrysMum
29-12-12, 22:06
There are still quite a few people who have copied my incorrect info as well, even though I've contacted them and told them the mistake.

If they want to keep William Ketley who died at 9 months old as my great grandfather, there's little I can do.

marquette
30-12-12, 10:14
I've come across a few online contacts that have openly admitted that they have copied stuff without checking and dont seem bothered, but this was the first time I had actually met someone who openly admitted what he had done and didnt care less about if there were errors or not. Makes you wonder why bother looking at your family tree if you dont really care that much if the info you have is wrong. It kind of defeats the object of wanting to know where you come from.

I will remember to just smile nicely if I meet someone like that again :)

I don't understand them either.

I find it fascinating to track down a Will or newspaper article or other piece of trivia which gives an insight into my ancestors (and some of my husbands, as some of them were especially interesting).

I would love to understand why Thomas Brazill or Guy Cole, both aged in their 70s, decided to upstakes and move to the colonies ? Both seemed in reasonable circumstances and left married daughters behind to come to NSW or Victoria with their wives, sons and grandchildren.

Alo, its important to me to document some of our relatives who died in the World Wars who were only children and have no close relatives to remember or honour them on Anzac and Rememberance Days.

We shoud all smile nicely at such people who just copy a tree so they can have one, and pity them for what they are missing !

Phoenix
30-12-12, 15:11
I actively dislike even knowing about someone else's back tree, in case it is wrong. I like ploughing the virgin furrow, where any mistakes are my own.

Having succumbed to Ancestry, where research is so easy, virtually all the trees I have explored are incorrect. And all the research that I do there I forget withi a couple of days.

Planning what to look for, chosing the most appropriate records to research, and finding some little part of the background to an ancestor's life makes them so much more real.

Macbev
30-12-12, 15:19
It's the same mentality that drives some people to buy ready-made coats of arms (entitled to or not) or grab the first crest they find with their name on it. Makes a natty decoration to put on the wall of the 'den', along with those crooning mounted fish and Clan tartans.

Joy Dean
30-12-12, 15:55
To copy completely without any checking shows me that a person is not really interested in the hobby.

It used to upset me when I saw things about my family, it still does, but when I see some things such as that my Grandad died in "Sussex, Delaware, USA", I think, like OC, "idiot" :)

maggie_4_7
30-12-12, 15:57
It's the same mentality that drives some people to buy ready-made coats of arms (entitled to or not) or grab the first crest they find with their name on it. Makes a natty decoration to put on the wall of the 'den', along with those crooning mounted fish and Clan tartans.

To copy completely without any checking shows me that a person is not really interested in the hobby.

It used to upset me when I saw things about my family, it still does, but when I see some things such as that my Grandad died in "Sussex, Delaware, USA", I think, like OC, "idiot" :)


Exactly.

I used get irritated - don't care now its up to them silly So-and-Sos!

Asa
30-12-12, 18:23
I still get very wound up about info that I willingly gave years ago being put onto public trees especially when it's copied wrong and it's about people I knew and loved but I try to avoid trees like that - its fairly to easy spot in the indices on Ancestry which public trees are well researched.

Like others have said, I find people descended from those I know died as infants and I feel smug that I know better. I do sometimes look at what appear to be well researched trees for clues but on the other hand if all the info is there I struggle to maintain interest. Like most people on here, I'm obsessed with researching and love doing it - not being given a fully researched tree.

I've kept my trees private for a long time and am much happier with that .

Kit
31-12-12, 03:10
I bought a book at a family reunion where the man had researched for 11 hours a day for an impressive number of months. He also took his computer to the reunion so people could add themselves and children to the tree, which is the main reason I bought it.

Most people bought the book as the man had proven a link to the Royal family.

Turns out the man had looked at the internet for 11 hours a day for months but hadn't spent a cent on research. lol I found an error on Page 2. The link to royalty was that John, Tom or whatever told his daughter or granddaughter that his father was Lord Someone. John, Tom or whatever was illegitimate and I have been unable to find anything online to show his birth. I did find the webpage that states the rumour is that the father is ... ;)

Defending ancestry trees though I accidently clicked on one the other day instead of link to a record. The person had a picture of OH's distant grandparents and I was rather skeptical. However they had a link to the newspaper where the pictures had come from, so I am very excited. I just wish the paper had said where they got the portraits from.

Olde Crone
08-01-13, 22:48
Anyone else see Heir Hunters last night? It's an old series rehashed but I really laughed when they got all excited about a family tree they found on line.

"Unfortunately" they said " the tree is full of errors. A very easy mistake to make when you have a common surname and don't have any certificates".

OC

Kit
09-01-13, 05:26
that is great OC. Maybe someone besides you took notice and will get some certs.