RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: bloo-peepers on Friday 20 February 04 17:11 GMT (UK)
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Hi guys, I was just wondering out of curiousity, how territorial my fellow researchers felt about their family tree's??
Let me explain, :) something happened today that caught me by suprise, and what suprised me more was my reaction to it!!!!! I was given a link to a site with my family name, and was thrilled to find many names from my research on it. The problem came when I found my 6xgrandfather was on the tree, but without his parents and siblings........just floating there!!!! I then found his parents and siblings, but in his place as number 5 child.......THERE WAS A COMPLETE STANGER!!!!!! He had my 6xgrandfathers date of birth etc , this meant that I had "lost" 2 generations of my family, even though I had painstakingly traced them through census, parish records etc...........I was absolutely "gobsmacked" at the time and got quite cross with my computer screen!!! :-[
I didn't realise when I started this research that I would feel so "connected" to all the names on my tree, or quite so territorial!!!!! :D I have now calmed down, and sent a very polite ;) email to the site host, suggesting the changes to the tree and offering proof in the form of parish records and such, but I must try to remember that it isn't MY tree and I must share it with thousands of others!!!
Di xxx
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Hi bloo-peepers
Yes, I can relate to your experience - I would have felt exactly the same way myself; especially when you have carefully researched all the primary and secondary sources in order to 'prove' your claim to ancestory.
Having an unusual surname makes it very easy for me to do the research, and most of the arguments with just 1 fellow researcher are whether there is an 'e' on the end of our name or not.
Carefully checking the birth certificates and who registered the births indicated that grandad always spelt it with the 'e' but grandma nearly always left it off.
I think that if I had been in your shoes, I would have blown up out of all proportion to see a stranger in the tree and a generation missing, and I expect that if the tree was carefully scrutinised you would find lots of other silly mistakes.
Anyway, why shouldn't we get very 'connected' with the people in our tree, they are our ancestors - they did make us what we are today; and aren't we just as protective to our siblings and immeadiate living family.
Chris in 1066Land
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Hi Bloo-Peepers,
It is a shock for sure, I have had three experiences so far, the last was with one of my Eve ancestors. There is an Eve site on the net where I found my Weston Eve married to a woman far too old to have a family with and she was on the site also married to another Eve of an appropriate age. Like you I contacted the site host who said he would contact the person who supplied the info but many months later it was still unaltered. Doesn't worry me but unless carefully checked it could lead a novice astray. Perhaps it's a good thing to have questions raised because it keeps us on or toes !! I made a similar mistake with a John & Elizabeth Hart, would you believe that two John Harts married an Elizabeth within a couple years, I'm lucky though cos I haven't told anyone else I made a mistake. lol ;D
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Hi,
I must admit to the same possesive feelings where long gone ancestors are concerned. I had some baptismal records of some people of the same family name, which have been in my possesion for almost 30 years but could not fit them into my own tree. When I was finally able to connect them with a family group through an internet correspondent, I felt very 'sad' at letting them go. Obviously, without realising it, I had become quite attached to them. But they went to a good family :)
Jane
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::) Hi There,
I had a similar experience when I believed my Great Grandfather to have been one of the Fisher Family of Pontefract. I researched the entire family and got to know them all. I was devastated to discover that I had the wrong family! It was as if I had been told I was adopted at birth and all my relatives were not blood relations.
I have posted the details of the lovely Fisher Family on this site. It is with real sadness that I let them go and I sincerely hope they find their real home.
aaron
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I have had many similar experiences to the one's you all described and have decided that it is far better to not claim personal attachment to my forebears but realise that they are the forebears of many hundreds/thousands of others also.
I can't even claim ownership of my parents as I share them with my siblings and as for my children, they are shared with their father!!...
It is so much easier to let go and be willing to share and give I have found.... after all one of the great side advantages of genealogical research is the friends and family you meet along the way.... I have experienced so much gratitude for my willingness to assist others and share my work that this beats claiming ownership hands down....
Kindly,
Elizabeth
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Hi Elizabeth :), I agree with your point about sharing, and have done so many, many times, but the point I was trying to make was the fact that my ancestor was completely missing and someone different was in his place!!! Suddenly my line stopped dead, and scores of family I had lovingly ;) researched didn't belong in my tree anymore. I knew all the little details of their lives, the way that family names were used repeatedly through the generations, I empathised with the loss of their babies, suddenly they were no longer my business!!!
My post was written tongue-in-cheek, and I have every intention of sharing my research whenever I find any new "cousins" :), but I am not ashamed to claim personal attachment to my ancestors, as these are the people who made me and shaped me into the person I am today :D
Best wishes
Di xx
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I understand and appreciate your perspective Di. Thank you for elaborating on it. :D
Elizabeth
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I have a distant cousin who is doing her tree, My great grandparents and hers are the same. I have shared loads of info with her which i have found but she refuses to tell me anything she has found >:(
I'm fed up with her now , what would you do in my position?
Pauline
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Oh dear, that's not very good. I wouldn't volunteer any more info if that was me. I'm in contact with 3 people who I share a particular ancestor with and I've given them everything, and they have reciprocated.
Hopefully we'll continue to work together.
In your situation if I was asked - I'd give but maybe wouldn't spontaneously send. Maybe ask how they're getting on and see if they give you any info - maybe they aren't as obsessed as us nutters!?
P ;D
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There is'nt much you can do Pauline. I've heard of this before and don't understand why they wont share thier info. Maybe you should hold back a little next time it happens.
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I don't understand it either, every time I make a breakthrough I want to tell EVERYONE, wether they are interested or not. ::) To be able to share it with someone doing the same thing is a dream of mine.
Until then I bore my husband to death, and moan to you lot. :-*
Kazza.
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Gawd! aint that the case!
I went for lunch yesterday with two ex workmates and bored them to death with dead rellies! lol
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We should form our own Dead Rellies Club ;D
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I'm a lot like you Kazza, i want to shout from the rooftops when i find new info. Unfortunately my family aren't as nuts about dead rellies as me >:(
I think that when i see my cousin next i will ask how she's getting on but will not offer her any more info.
Thanks for the advice everyone,
P.s. I might have found someone else who is also related, were just trying to find a connection, but the surname and area is definately right.
Pauline
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Dont see the problem with it to be fair. Yes this hobby is all about sharing but why should one side of the family pay the money and the other side get the benefit? Personally I dont care I share with all my new found cousins and in fact a number of us have formed a group and we mail frequently. Well 3 out of 12 do but then we are the one's with the time and the geographical locations to assist. What gets me more are those who never tell you when they change address or never acknowledge your sending the information it bugs the hell out of me nearly as much as those who on mailing lists and message boards request help and then dont say thanks. ( not on here as yet I can say)
I do wonder how many people use just the internet to do their research and how many get the certs newspaper articles parish records etc.
rob
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Personally i don't think that just the information on the internet is enough.
I like having all the info i can get, parish records and any gravestone photos i can take ( if there is one). It is much more enjoyable to see the places that people lived, i know this is not always possible for some people especially people who have emigrated.
I am planning more trips as we speak ;D
Pauline
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I have been doing my family tree for almost three years and I share all the information I collect with all my relatives except one and that is for personal reasons. I know that sound mean but it is a long story. This family member has had her side traced by a cousin. I asked her for a copy of her tree about 12 years ago and I am still waiting. It's a case of she want to know everything but is not willing to share or maybe she just doesn't like me.
Anyway most of the Aunts, Uncles and cousins always say thank you for the info. But there are a couple of them that don't, so I am left wondering did they get the info or was it lost in the post. Sometime I don't think they realize the time and sometimes the expence that goes in to research.
I like to get every certificate that I can.
Anyway I have only gone down the wrong line once, lucky for me I did not ordered any certificates.
Regards Jacquie.
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We should form our own Dead Rellies Club ;D
I think Dead Rellies Society sounds posher! lol
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I've had an odd situation where someone related to my cousin's partner (stay with me on this one!) has copied all my family off another site and put them on another as his. He has absolutely no connection with our family except via my cousin's partner. She has been very diligently looking into the family and we have shared loads of information - very happily I might add. She was really mad about this wholesale nicking of our family history and for my part I am just bemused as to why someone would want to do this. I can only think that he has some sort of competitive thing about having loads of people in his tree. What was really annoying was that when I went on the site I thought I had found a new relative to share info with only to discover it was our info duplicated by him!
That said I think family history should be about sharing, learning from the experiences of others and allowing others to learn from your experience. I am quite happy to put up with strange relative nickers for the joy of sharing info and finding out new things about my family.
Jenny Elizabeth
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I'm the same.
None of my family are interested so I have no outlet with them.
I'm lucky I started a family history course at the local college almost 4 years ago. After three courses the group decided to meet up once a month to keep on touch and for me that's brilliant. I'm the youngest one by at least 20 years!! But we all get on really well.
Diane :)
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Perhaps the cousin discovered something in her line that she doesn't want to reveal. Many of us are enlightened or have become so - we are used to illegitimate ancestors or some who were a bit short of a full deck. Not every researcher is so relaxed. They set off to find a relationship to Boadicea and find only farm labourers. That is disappointing enough but then to find an ancestor who lived off charity half the year! Too much!
Tell her you had an ancestor with a wooden leg - she'll try to top that.
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my relative now seems to be ignoring me ( she walked down the street past me and snibbed me).
They seem to be strange on that side of the family. ??? Oh well it's her loss.
Through roots chat i have been contacted by someone who is related, our great grandparents are brother and sister! I'm over the moon ;D
Have sent him all my family tree details and he has added to mine. I am jumping for joy at the moment.
Pauline
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This family member has had her side traced by a cousin. I asked her for a copy of her tree about 12 years ago and I am still waiting. It's a case of she want to know everything but is not willing to share or maybe she just doesn't like me.
Regards Jacquie.
Are you related to my sister in law Jacquie? LOL
When I first started I had no details of Pete's parents as they died when he was little and at 10 years old you tend to have more important things on your mind when losing your parents than their dates of birth. Anyway, I eventually got bits together from an older brother in law who gave me an idea of when his Mum and dad were born and I went from there.
Then three years ago she shows up with photocopies of her Mum and Dad's marriage cert (which I already had got) and her dad's birth cert (again which I had got). I asked for other bits of info and got nothing from her.
I usually send all details to each of Pete's siblings as the tree grows and you can bet your life, she shows up with the certificates AFTER I have bought my own copy. She then tells me that all I had to do was ask - How many times though?
The greatest surprise was last year when she told me that if I ever got bored with it that she would be happy to take it off my hands - Excuse Me? I don't think so!
Why does she want to do that? Because there are things that she does not have such as medals of her dad's that I have replaced after the originals were sold, birth certs for Dad's siblings, photos some very old which she does have copies of as do the rest of the family while I have the originals etc.
If I have my own way I am either going to be buried with it or put it in my will that she isn't allowed it. I know that sounds cruel but she has no other interest in the family so why should she want to do the tree all of a sudden?
I love sharing my info with new rellies regardless of how distant but they usually have some kind of info for me be it photos or certs or just names and dates. All before I have bought them myself as well
So I understand how you feel Jacquie as I have one like that as well
Carol
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The bit that gets me jumpin' up and down hoppin' mad is when you find someone has a chunk of your tree in theirs and you think 'Great, long lost relation time. Let's get in touch.' THEN you see they have a wonky bit which you are longing to put them right on. You've seen it in the registers, you know you are right. What do they do, cold shoulder you. 'Oy, you've got MY ancestor married to the wrong woman. That Mary was not his wife...ever...she married another one of the John Ds.'
I had someone email me and tell me I had missed out a generation. Wasn't important, what I had was right, both ends, just went from Grandfather to Grandson. That hurt, I had put a lot of work into that. But I went back, had another look in the records, blushed a bit, put it right, and emailed a 'Thank you,' back.
Yes, I know what you mean. IT'S MY TREE!
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Hi everybody
I was really interested to read what other rootscahatters have experienced during the course of their research, and at the same time very disappointed by the reactions that they have received from other researchers.
Thankfully, during the course of my research, I haven't come across anybody who has not been more than helpful. For myself, I'm not in the least bit possessive about any part of my research. It's always better to share otherwise what's the point.
I'd like to know how many other rootschatters there are of my age - I'm 34 - or younger that have an interest in their ancestry?
Jayson
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Have only had a couple of experiences of getting in touch with others with common ancestors and so far they have been really positive. Suppose I do feel a bit territorial about the tree as its my work but not in a very possessive way -well I've not had the bad experiences that others have had when sharing.
Jayson there is a topic in the Even Lighter about the ages of Rootschatters if you're interested (youngest age bracket is 0-30 which I'll be in for another 6 and a bit years!). Last post in that topic was this afternoon.
Gordon
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Hi Gordon
Thanks for this
Jayson
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The vast majority of my distant/close relations I have made contact with are very grateful for my help and don't try to thumb-off my work as their own in any way.
However, one VERY VERY VERY distant relation of my Gran who I made contact with on Genes Reunited has taken every name from my family (including my immediate family) and spelled more-or-less every name incorrectly. If you're going to use someone's research you might as well get the names right!!
Whatsmore, I have been contacted recently by various people on GR telling me that we're related. It turns out that this VERY distant relation has been claiming my work as his own, without any mention of me >:(
So Yes, I do see my family (including ancestors) as MY own family, especially when VERY distant relations are involved ::)
Very frustrating indeed.
Ryan.
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I found a family tree on the Net which purported to give information about one of my gggrandfathers and his parents, but it was completely wrong.
I emailed the person, gently pointing out the errors and what I had found to verify my tree. Never heard a peep out of him!
Didn't upset me, but I was sorry that he didn't even want to enter into discussion about it to try to clarify things. It's possible that the people he had found might be distant connections, and we could have maybe worked that out. Ah well - never mind.
I am unwilling to put my own tree on the Net because of other people's experiences of having them used and misused. There is enough info on my website that if anyone thinks they are related, they can Google the names and contact me - and a couple of people have, one very fruitfully.
MarieC
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It's really good to see so many younger people passionate about their ancestry. On occasions when I've told people about my research/hobby they invariably look at me with an expression of great pity. By their reactions, You would have thought that I had told them that I had been recently diagnosed with an incurable decease.
Never mind! Jayson
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Know the feeling, Jayson.
My neighbour was agog when she found out what I was doing. She had no love for her parents and couldn't care less about the family history. Me, I adored mine, and want to know everything I can. I'm no spring chicken, perhaps that's why I have this desperate need to get it all done and sorted. Well, won't be many years before I will be up there (or down there) with them.
Just wait till I meet up with that Eliza Ann! ;D
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I've enjoyed reading all these replies. You tend to think you're the only one that these things happen to, Non sharing distant relatives , families who get a 'fixed' look on their face when you race downstairs from the p.c to tell them what you've uncovered etc. etc.
I was thrilled when contacted through G.R by a distant relative in New Zealand. i scanned loads of photos of family members for her and told her about some more that i had 'dug' up [metaphorically speaking of course :o]
I did get a couple of photos back and a cert copy so at least we were able to share something.
Unfortunately some more contacts i made recently haven't been as interested as i had hoped when i got in touch. I sensed that they were being polite but didn't want to make any personal contact so i guess you have to get used in this line of business, to take the good bits along with the not so good bits. ;) Poli
The Poli who is still waiting for a deffinate 'hot match' to get in touch!!!!!
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Yes, I've had that experience too, Jayson, PaulaToo and Poli!
On the other hand, sometimes there is a nice experience. I was fortunate to receive records of my great-grandmother's school prizes, from the school she attended in London. I took them to show them to my elderly aunt today (she will be 84 soon) - she was really interested! Leafed through them and commented on them. It makes it very worthwhile when you can bring pleasure to a family member from some research you have done.
MarieC
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Many of us are enlightened or have become so - we are used to illegitimate ancestors or some who were a bit short of a full deck. Not every researcher is so relaxed. They set off to find a relationship to Boadicea......
;D ;D ;D ;D
Hear hear Hackstaple !
I rather think a lot depends on how long you've been researching. 8) 8) 8) 8) Over the last twenty years, I've had contact with many 'relatives', most of whom have been very nice. (just the odd time-waster & crack-pot). These days, I'm totally 'laid back' about the whole thing, and when I set up my website five years ago, I did so with the sole intention of helping others find their roots, (as well as gaining information myself, of course). I have to say, that on the whole, I've found it a very worthwhile experience as most people tend to be truly appreciative (as my Guestbook shows).
:D :D :D :D
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I'm not so bothered if someone had part of the tree wrong so long as I can put them right. It can be more difficult to trace back some lines than others. For example if there are 2 siblings eg John Smith and Rebecca Smith who both started a family just before 1881, it would be much easier to find Rebecca with her parents on the 1871 than John as there would be several possibilities. I have had problems like this tracing back down the tree to find descendants of siblings of ancestors.
Andrew
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I found my family tree on the internet including a number errors made from what the family had recounted and I had later found to be incorrect and so I can date it fairly accurately to the mid 1990s. Additional wrong information had been added about an aunt whose details I had truncated because her husband was still alive. I had two new aunts, or did I, because my parents had a different family which didn't include me or my brother.
I am beginning to believe in parallel universes.
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I am beginning to believe in parallel universes.
Only just beginning to believe . . .. :D
Barbara 8)
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Hi everyone
Reading these posts makes me wonder what plans you all have in place for survival of your research after you depart this mortal state ??? Morbid I know but worth a thought. It's all well and good if your family are interested, but if their not I guess all the results of your endeavors might well be deposited within the nearest available paper recycling bin :o
I've been seriously thinking about depositing my research with various bodies such as the Society of Genealogists & my local history library in Alsager, Cheshire. A distant cousin back in the 1880s recorded part of my family tree & copies of it still survive.
Jayson
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That's where my unfinished research will be going Jayson - Record Offices and Family History Societies in the areas where my main research has been. I say unfinished as I am sure I will not become a miracle worker and complete it before I go (and I'm hoping I have at least 40 years left yet lol). If it is finished there is bound to be something wrong as this is one challenge you cannot complete I don't think
Carol
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I have yet to find a single relative who has any interest in our family tree!!! Even my Dad and it is his family - it can be really frustrating knowing that all these people have so much info and can't be bothered to tell.
I have had a couple of requests from GR members asking for info and emailed a small amount and a few questions - but been ignored, so if they can't be bothered to reply then why should I, selfish but it is MY FAMILY!!!
Still I love researching it and get soooooooo excited when new information comes to light.
I have been considering putting into a book form for future family members but that would involve even more time at the computer screen - still it may happen one day!
Sue B
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I can never understand the people who contact you through GR when they find they are related and then decide to ignore you. Why do your family tree if you are going to ignore other members? ???
Strange people :-\
Carol
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Hi everyone
Reading these posts makes my wonder what plans you all have in place for survival of your research after you depart this mortal state ???
Jayson
Jayson,
This is an excellent question that you raise, and I also have started to think about it!
My question is - at what stage do you pass the stuff over?? Family history is an ongoing project, which will never be completed in our lifetimes. No matter what age we are, any of us could be taken out by an accident, leaving our research in limbo (none of my family are sufficiently interested to take notice at present, but you never know when that could change!! ::)
A dilemma? ??? ??? ???
MarieC
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Hi everyone
Reading these posts makes my wonder what plans you all have in place for survival of your research after you depart this mortal state ???
Jayson
Jayson,
This is an excellent question that you raise, and I also have started to think about it!
My question is - at what stage do you pass the stuff over?? Family history is an ongoing project, which will never be completed in our lifetimes. No matter what age we are, any of us could be taken out by an accident, leaving our research in limbo (none of my family are sufficiently interested to take notice at present, but you never know when that could change!! ::)
A dilemma? ??? ??? ???
MarieC
Hi Marie and Jayson
I think the only guarantee might be to put as much as possible on a website, as you are doing. At least then it can be accessed by 'yet unknown and future kin'.
My problem is that my immediate family are constantly losing things, so passing on wouldn't guarantee survival.
Still, I enjoy doing it all and when I'm dead, it doesn't really matter that much - well I won't know about what happens to it any way :)
Gadget
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Hi MarieC
I try to limit my research if I possibly can - easier said than done I know. A few years ago I became so bogged down with the multitude of family lines that I eventually lost my enthusiasm for it all.
Genealogy as we all know is a never ending saga of births, marriages & deaths, but in most cases we can only follow this journey as far as the survival of records allow. I think it's so important that our work is preserved. I'm sure it will be of great benefit to future generations of genealogists & local historians.
Gadget mentioned putting the stuff on the web. This is a brilliant Idea. I only wish I was as competant a computer user as my fellow rootschatters are.
Sue/Carol. I thought it was just me who had a problem with people advertising through GenesReunited? Sadly I only experienced negativity. The people I made contact with via GR, gave me the impression that they were interested initially however I haven't heard from them since. Never mind! Why do they post requests & then not bother to reply to them >:(
All the best - Jayson ;)
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Hi, Jayson and Gadget,
I do agree very much that putting our stuff on the Net is a great idea, and it would always reflect our latest research. But if one's website is part of a payment to one's ISP, it will probably get taken down if we die and are no longer paying!!
For that reason, I'm thinking about applying for some space on Rootschat for my FH stuff. It would hopefully be there, then, for generations yet to come to find and work on. As I type, I have just started to think that if I were to do that, a bequest to Rootschat in my will might be a good thing to do, since the information will have to be maintained on a server. I am sure that Trystan and Sarah and their "heirs and successors" would be able to find a good use for that!
MarieC
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An interesting and for me, topical topic. Certainly some interesting points of view expressed.
Here's my tale of woe >:(
Have a very distant cousin's friend who considers herself/himself to be an expert genealogist. The cousin has no interest in genealogy. The friend has placed our family history albeit very badly written on a very poorly designed web site containing a lot of cut and paste from freebdm, directories etc. Watch out if your name is my family name - it will end up on this site. We have acquired lists of convicts, felons plus the odd doctor - all with our family name but absolutely no connection ::)
I thought if I offered via the website, some accurate and documented information, he/she may accede to my request to remove some information relating to my immediate family [a very elderly but alert parent] and the area in which we live. The information was gratefully received but the information remained on the site in a slightly different format. I was also told to submit the information in an appropriate? format - what ever that is. However the most irritating part of the whole scenario is her/his claim to be "a very good friend of the family" - now that is a friend I would gladly do without.
On the slightly humorous side - responses from lookups on forums have now become part of the family tree ???
This grizzle has been good for my soul - any suggestions how to deal with the situation, gratefully received. :D
Cheers
Skipworth
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This thread is an interest in itself - started in February 2004 - only 6 months younger than my research.
I don't have my family tree on the net - When I was first researching I found my husbands gggg grandfather married to his niece - the fact that the niece was 7 years old when the gggg gfather had his first child seemed irrelevant to this researcher! I wrote to him twice, but 3 years later the web site is exactly the same. - So I think I decided then, I wouldn't go down the internet path for recording family trees - it has reduced the number of "living relatives" I have found but with sites like RC I seem to reach enough folks to solve many a mystery.
Trish
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I'm so glad I'm not the only one that takes such pride in my research. I never add a name unless I can prove the connection through some peice of paper. Much as I hate sitting on a hunch I always beleive that this information is not only important to me but to some one else out there as well. A couple of months ago I was pnged by some one who was related to my gt gt gt grandfather. We had a peek at each others tree and i discovered that he had all the correct names but had a couple of generations back to front. I pointed this out and sent a quick e-mail showing how the tree went back. I got a short sharp (and quite rude) e-mail back saying 'sounds a bit complicated, are you sure, I will verify it all at a later date, please send me a copy of the gedcom' Which I did. (nice arent I). So 3 weeks goes by, I recieve my hot matches for GR and lo and behold I have a hit, I checked out the tree (which I already had access to) and the guy has copied my entire tree and put it down as his. We are talking 700 names. I know it was my gedcom, as the guy, in his haste to lay claim to it had down loaded it straight to GR with out checking it through. I am a rare one on GR. All my census info, BMD's etc are shared in the extra details tab. There was no way this guy had completed in three weeks what it has taken me four years to do. Have never heard from him since. I will share all my info with any one that wants it but this is the second time some one has appropriated my tree as there own. The first time on was on Ancestry and I worked with some one for six months on another tree and gave them editiors rights (mistake). One day I went online and this person had deleted my tree. All my research was then found in there tree - Won't be making that mistake again.
Sarah
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Thank you Trish and Sarah for sharing your experiences. My problem seems small in comparison. I have made a decision not to put the family history on the net. To date I haven't come across anyone else interested in my family - it would be wonderful if I did ;D
I have had some wonderful help from rootschatters.
Cheers
Skipworth
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Oh dear! you have had your fingers burnt Sarah. :'( I don't think I shall bother putting my stuff on the Net. It really astonishes me just how rude & ungrateful some people are. It would make me so furious to find my research had been plagiarized by another so called "researcher". In fact I get quite cross just reading what other researchers experienced >:(
I tend to steer clear of GenesReunited now - not worth the trouble. But perhaps I'm being a bit harsh. There must be some happy stories out there.
Jayson
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Yep - I stay well clear of GR.
I had the husband of a 2nd cousin contact me a few years ago. Sent him all the stuff I had on that line. Later found that he'd put all my family up on GR - living and dead. I told him what for >:( >:( >:( >:(
I must have been fierce because he profusely apologised and took them off :)
However, before we get too possessive, we only share the exact same ancestors with our siblings so, other than that, it's never just OUR/MY family tree is it?
Gadget
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Hi Gadget
I'm glad you gave this chap a good telling off. ;D I think in some instances people just don't think before they act. I have absolutely NO problem with sharing anything I have discovered with other researchers who express an interest. However, when they have the effrontery to pass off my hard work off as their own I become so indignant >:(
Best - Jayson
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My problem is a bit different, someone hi-jacked my entire tree, all sides and reproduced it in his name! I contacted him to ask what was going on and he said 'We MAY share the same great great aunt'.
Why do this? He cannot help anyone who gets in touch as I have done all the work and as I only put fairly basic info on the web, all the interesting stuff is there for anyone who can prove a link.
Has anyone else had this happen to them, as I feel a bit miffed
Jenny
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Well all these stories have now more or less convinced me that my ideas for my website are correct. I am going to make it just a series of stories about my ancestors' lives, occupations and local history and not put my tree up at all.
Trees, on there own, are not all that interesting to anyone but ones family anyway.
Gadget
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I agree one hundred percent, Gadget!
I am slowly making my website in the way you describe. If you have names there, people will find you anyway, by Googling names. That has happened to me, and been very profitable to both of us.
And yes - trees by themselves are not of great value to most people, and are obviously vulnerable to hijacking by these dishonest people!!
MarieC
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I think a lot of us have had bad experiences of people passing off our research as their own, ...... I had all my files on Gencircles a few years ago & could see where people copied mine from the information on individuals being identical regarding dates or no dates.
I now just have my ancestors on the Net & that restricts connections to the main names in my tree & not all those distant connections from cousins & spouses so far removed.
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Maybe it's the modern equivalent of, or progression from, collecting car numbers i.e. the collecting mania !
As kids we used to collect car numbers, then train numbers. Some went on to stamp collecting, or butterfly collecting, bird-spotting, cigarette cards and their equivalents, and modern kids collect pokemon and dragon-ball cards.
And "grown-ups" collect ................ names !!!
"My tree is bigger than yours",
"My tree goes further back than yours", etc, etc.
"Never mind where they come from,
as long as there is a connection (even a tenuous one) let's collect them !!!" :P
Bob
ps.
very similar theme here:
Topic: Gleaning - GR
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,169132.0.html
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Thank you ALL!
Very offputting in some ways,very heartening in others,the idea of passing the baton to a descendant in the safest possible way stands like a lamp in the dark to me.
Where I have been able to supply details of my wants and needs,Rootschatters have come through with all available info,Ihave thanked them,as far as I can recall,and not claimed the results as my own work.
Where my info on other subjects may have been of help to others its given, with good wishes.
I have received also,almost my full 'bloodline on one side of the family,my thanks always to my benefactor.None has been used to further my own ambitions or for fleeting fame,it's kept in the family.
I well realise that the work and expense that goes into the research and document gathering,and also the joy of breaking thru' any brick walls.Also the anger and frustration of having it all nullified by thieves and plagiarists.Yes,thieves,for such they are.
Searching etc;on the web,that is where my search started,all offers of easy "Jenny Ology" were bypassed,(I'm an old soldier+merchant seaman!)nothing was taken from these sites except notebooks,spare paper note's,well youv'e all been there !
My search started because a woman spent a large part of her comparitively young life,and died in an Asylum,from info gleaned from all above mentioned sources I now have a better understanding of her life and situation.
Since gaining that knowledge I've been a happier camper and now enjoy my short spells on the infernal machine!!
Sorry to gab on,but someone did start this!!!
Goggy. ;) ;D
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This topic takes my mind back to when our daughter (only child) found out her Grandfather had other grandchildren,
she was quite upset & said "but he's my Grandad !! " as if they'd stolen him ;D
Yvonne
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We should form our own Dead Rellies Club ;D
I think Dead Rellies Society sounds posher! lol
Hey, there! When someone gets the Dead Rellies Club/Society started, sign me up! By the way, has anyone else ever experienced this: not only do I feel possessive about my dead rellies, but when I connect with other descendants of theirs (i.e. distant cousins) that I have found trawling the internet for genealogical info, I get possessive of them too! :o :P ;D
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Well, this is a subject close to my heart!!!!
I, too, have had my fingers burnt many times with people either passing off my work as their own without even a small word of thanks or just disappearing altogether so I never know what happened to all my blood sweat and tears! In most of these cases I have got very little in return (in the way of information) and I am left wondering just why I bothered. It has made me very cautious when meeting other researchers.
I try to remember why I do this. I want to share. I don`t want my ancestors and rellies forgotton forever. I want to meet family members, however distant, and feel a part of something special. Connecting with others is surely a basic human instinct. And this is such a unique way.
Also, most of this information is in the public domain anyway - so, really, how can I be so possessive!
As much as I try and limit what I put on GR, it is really the only place where I have met other researchers of the same families. I feel that unless I put a few more names on every now and again I am limiting my chances.
So now, before I part with any info, I ask or answer queries with the following included:
Please be assured that I will not pass on any of the information you give me without asking your permission first and I trust you will do the same for me.
A very dear distant cousin said it to me and it really made me think !!!!
Sheddyg
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I have been lucky - I have not yet been "burnt"
The very first time I made contact with a distant cousin online (through Rootsweb), I sent them my family tree for that particular line back to my gt gt grandparents. They sent me back the WHOLE tree - with all the known descendents from my gt gt grandparents and their siblings as well. That was one tree that was literally "handed to me on a plate". My line had been lost to them and they were very happy to have a new piece of the jigsaw to add. ;D
The next few times have been through RC and while the info has been welcomed, it's just been in small drops (a few photos and documents) which I still have to confirm, buts thats the fun of genealogy isnt it? :)
I still have one major brickwall that I hear nothing but a DEAFENING silence on. :o
BD
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HI
I have not read all of this thread but I hope I have got the gist of it (if not I am sure you will tell me ;D )
I have spent hours NAY!! years researching and have hooked up with PrueM in the process and others through GR and Ancestry who have been genuine and have reciprocated.
I know others have used my work in their tree and yes no word of thanks but I figure they are the losers here, the joy of finding links/ancestors/information is half of the 'obsession' with me. To be handed it and call it your own is so sad.
As I tell my daughter 'if you are on the rock of truth you will be fine'.
Be proud of what you have achieved and if others are willing to give you their tree on a plate be very grateful and others that take the plate and are not thankfuland abuse it then take pity on their sheer lack of respect of what most of us feel
Oh My rant over
Cal 8)
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I get very possesive of my tree, which is probably related to me being the literal end of the line (of all the decendants of my 2xgreat-grandparents, my father and I are the only ones living to have the surname. Lucky we've not got a rare surname, I always say.)
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We should form our own Dead Rellies Club ;D
I think Dead Rellies Society sounds posher! lol
Hey, there! When someone gets the Dead Rellies Club/Society started, sign me up! By the way, has anyone else ever experienced this: not only do I feel possessive about my dead rellies, but when I connect with other descendants of theirs (i.e. distant cousins) that I have found trawling the internet for genealogical info, I get possessive of them too! :o :P ;D
Speaking of this subject, there's a 'Dead Persons Society' here in Melbourne, Victoria (& other Aust. State Capitals) at: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~dpsoc/
the dancing skeletons used to have a tune to them too :)
Yvonne
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I started researching my father's family in January 2002. By the end of 2002, I had printed out and made copies of my info for a few cousins. At the end of 2002, I had a very nasty falling-out with one of those cousins (she's scary).
There is a guy in Canada (let's call him BillyBob) whose goal it is to put online everyone who ever lived in one particular area (where my father's ancestors were from). He gets info from the censuses and other microfilmed vital statistics and includes that on his website (on Rootsweb). People send him info, too.
About a month or so ago, a cousin pointed me to an entry on BillyBob's website that contained some of her aunts and uncles. I went to the website and started clicking around. I soon became alarmed because the info he had on my family lines was from my research. I know this because I am the only person in these family lines to have done all this research and I am the only one to have the original certificates, cemetery info, etc.
I emailed BillyBob and asked him if I had sent him the info, since I couldn't remember having done so. BillyBob said no, (let's call him Sammy), had given him a gedcom.
So I got in touch with Sammy, who said, here's everything I have on your ancestor and if you have any additions or corrections, please give them to me.
Well, I fell off my chair. His .rtf file was MY family history document, including all of my notes, word for word!
Unfortunately, Sammy doesn't remember who gave him the file.
Either my evil cousin inputted all my info, notes included, and then gave him a gedcom, or she handed my document over to another cousin, who did it. My name is not on the data. Credit was not given to me. Now, if other descendants see my ancestors (down to, and including, my father) on BillyBob's website, they will not know to contact me.
Sammy visited my city soon after this situation came to light. He kindly met with me at the local library and I lugged most of my certificates, original letters, and family history documents with me to show him. He came away from our meeting with the knowledge that I was indeed the original researcher and author of the data that he possesses. He also deleted the information that I identified as sensitive and confidential.
However, my entire family file (on my father's side) is intact (without notes or living people) on BillyBob's website and he sure as heck isn't taking it off.
This was incredibly upsetting to me because it represented a betrayal by an already nasty cousin. BillyBob and Sammy had no way of knowing that the wonderful gift that was given to them was actually as good as stolen.
My original data was just in Word documents because we couldn't afford to buy genealogy software (I have a Mac). We bought some last fall and all new research has gone directly into it. I have since put two different family lines on Rootsweb because I am now afraid that, if I share it with any cousins, they will put it online as their own work.
Since I have chosen to put that research online, I accept that others might just copy and paste without bothering to contact me or share any of their information. My hope is that some will get in touch.
For me, it boils down to a matter of choice. It was my hard work (this was not an easy family to research), and my money, and it wasn't my choice to have all of my father's ancestors online yet.
I have had other experiences of sharing data and having someone post it online without even saying thank you to me. That turned me off because it is bad manners.
I think I've learned that just one photocopy or gedcom of a family file is all it takes for someone to pass it on. Once I've handed it out, it becomes someone else's property. I don't like it but... I like to share what I've found; it makes it more fun for me. And I'm always hopeful that a cousin will find me and will also like to share (this has happened more than once).
But my recent experience stressed me out beyond belief and I lost quite a bit of sleep over it for a few weeks.
Regards,
Josephine
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Hiya - just thought I would add my ten pence worth!!!!! ;D
Your thread has made interesting reading and a couple of thing struck home with me!
I too am very possessive over my tree and whilst some of my family are not interested in the slightest - very much me, me, me people, others pick up a pen and paper the minute they hear my voice!!! I too have met distant relatives whom I've shared everything I have and all the info from certs, etc that I have paid for and memberships to website which I pay for each month! And in return they can't even be bothered to get info which is easily available to them but would make a big difference to me - so now I share NOTHING with them and I've made some brilliant discoveries and traced lines back that I thought I had no hope in doing!
I would also like to mention that whilst for some GenesReunited has not been great - for me it was what started this incredible journey I am now on!!! My son was born last year and I saw a link to it via friendsreunited and joined, but with a young baby I didn't get chance to do much until early this year as I wanted to build the family tree for him for years to come and future generations. Through genes someone contacted me who had 12/14 generations of my paternal grandfathers family and since then I have had the family tree bug badly!!!!
I've also found my nans cousin's daughter, whom I've become great friends with and my nan and her cousins hopefully will be meeting soon.
I've also been able to solve mysteries like how my great grandmother got her middle name, etc. etc.
And I've discovered Rootschat - where the help and kindness of you all has been fantastic and already given me so much more to my tree - so thank you all!!!!!!
I also like to add in response to Jayson I'd like to know how many other rootschatters there are of my age - I'm 34 - or younger that have an interest in their ancestry?
I am only 30!!!!
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I have had had all my contacts via GR. All solid and sound. No one gets access to my Tree unless I am satisfied that we do have a common ancestor.
After that , often a contact will forget to stop my access to their tree.But I have been doing this long enough not to abuse their mistake. I do look and make notes just in case I find a connection at a later date.
I am grateful for all the people who have done all the research and we still share new information .So I cannot feel possesive about my vast family, good ,bad , mean and generous. To find that some living rellies are not as honourable as we would wish should at least stop us looking at ancestors with Rose Tinted hindsight.
Spring
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To find that some living rellies are not as honourable as we would wish should at least stop us looking at ancestors with Rose Tinted hindsight.
Spring
Well put, Spring!
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I've just logged onto this part of RootsChat precisely because of all the problems you are talking about and its great to hear from like minded people who are enthused about researching their roots.
I have had a couple of bad experiences where I shared information which is only partially verified but to what I thought was just an amateur 2nd cousin. She took it and to my horror put it on GR and it looks as though she has shared it too. She did not even reply to me after I gave all my research.
No-one in my family is interested either. but being very positive, I am doing this for me and my own satisfaction so why expect others to share it.
I am putting my faith in humanity in the many people on this site and others who are so generous with their thoughts and findings for which I am truly grateful. When I have asked for help I have had replies and I find that amazing.
Long live RootsChat and its members.
Chris
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Well at least I'm not alone! >:(
I've had one very bad experience when I was asked for a copy of my gedcom file which I foolishly provided, references and all. A few days later I found that the whole of my research (several hundred names) had been published as part of this persons tree on Genes Reunited. I then started getting contacts from my husbands relatives and to my horror I found that not only had she published my family tree but also that of my husband including some of his living relatives. I was furious, as were the living folks concerned, so I demanded that these were removed, which they eventually were. This person is related to me some 10 or so generations back but claims also to be related to my husbands family. Don't you just hate name-collectors!
I later had a contact from another person who exclaimed "look what I have found" and sent me a file of my original research including the reference numbers to my personal research papers. Needless to say she had been given the information by the first woman who had passed it off as her own. I explained to her that this work should be credited to me and to other names who were incorporated in my references and not to the woman who had given her the file. I received a polite e-mail back to say that she'd be more careful in future.
I've also had a couple of contacts via GR. One insisted that because we both had a William Ward born in 1883 we were connected. I replied that I didn't think so because they were born in different places. He came back to say that there must be a connection because they both had Thomas for a son and demanded a look at my tree. It took me quite a few e-mails to get him to "go away".
Then recently I've had a GR contact from someone with a possible connection which proved to be nowhere near a match (it came form GR's awful hot-matches). I explained that there was no match but two days later she emailed asking for my tree as she wanted to add my names to hers anyway!
At that point I decided that Genes Reunited was becoming a site supported by the people who really can't be bothered to do any research for themselves but who want to have the pleasure of seeing their family tree without a care as to whether or not it's correct. It's a real shame because I've found a few good contacts on that site, but the bad ones far outweigh the good ones. I've now taken my tree off and will not be renewing my subscription.
I love to share information with those people who are really interested in real genealogy and family history and I have published a website (thanks to the space provided by Rootschat) complete with tree but at least in this form people who want to copy will have to input the data individual by individual so hopefully this will put those lazy name-collectors off.
I've met some really lovely rellies out there and we all enjoy working on our family tree and information is shared between all of us. It's a shame that not everone can commit to the idea of our family tree rather that my tree.
I feel better for that rant - thanks. :)
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I just wish I had someone to share with, or share with me! I am the only one in the family who's interested.
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At the moment, me too, Ozlady! But I live in hope (foolish optimist?? ??? )
MarieC
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I sent a heap of stuff to a cousin in UK, she was more interested in her father's line than her mother's "becuse I'd already done so much". I was hoping that as she was in the UK ahe could lend a hand.
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I've been very naive in the past. Giving access to a person on GR only to find part of it was listed on another site - without my permission. So I emailed this person asking them to remove the information and living people they had taken from my tree. I got a reply which was not very nice. If I felt the need to complain - take it up with Ancestry also do not contact me again. I have noticed they have removed the Living people but left the deceased ones. Oh well that's a lesson I have learned. I won't be so trusting again. Would love to find genuine people to receive & share information with. I've had quite a few people who do not even have the courtesy to reply to my email.
It's very off putting - makes you want to give up at times.
Sarra :(
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Sarra,
I have not used GR but I have met a couple of "cousins" and others sharing common interests on Rootschat and they've all been great! Friendly, helpful and genuinely interested in sharing information.
So it's another thumbs up to Rootschat 8) ;D
Pinetree
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I run a spread sheet of all my contacts. Initially this was so that I knew what I had sent them so that I could update them. However because of the problems discussed on this thread I found it necessary to background colour their names.
There are 132 people on the sheet. 35 of these are coded yellow because they didn't bother to reply to a request or acknowledge something that I have sent them. I accept that some of these may be due to an error on my or their part. Six are coded red because they have misused information that I have made available to them in the ways discussed on this thread. The rest are coded green because they are very helpful and communicative even though in some cases they are relative beginners and have little to contribute.
What I have discovered is that on initial contact information should be drip fed rather than handed over in bulk. For this reason I only put my direct line on GR plus those people for whom I am specifically searching for basic information.
David
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With you there, behindthefrogs.
In any case I only put the direct line up. It's a safety precaution I might want to print the darned thing. In the beginning I put everyone I could find on, by the time I printed out a tree the size of a bedspread I realised I was being a little over enthusiastic.
I do track down whole families, but I keep their records in a folder and not on my trees. Then if anyone contacts me, I drip feed until I they have earned my trust.
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In only 3yrs. on GR (and starting to research in earnest) I have stuck to the "drip feed " principle.
Consequently I have gone from nil to 59 genuine Contacts and access to 34 Trees.
The rest have given me snippets of helpful info. of one sort or another and some, we have e-mail contact and have exchanged files and hard copy.
One gentleman recently sent some notes he found in a local history book, with a note for another GR member which I passed on. So satisfying.
Very Little of this has been added to GR and I only ever put others descendants in as far as rellies circa 1900. This is for other newbie and younger researchers who may have hit a brick wall.
No I am not ultra possessive about "MY Tree" just careful.
It's difficult to be "possessive" when altogether I have now in my personal files, somewhere in the region of a couple of 1000 souls and have met so many interesting "live" distant relatives on the way
Spring
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I can't believe you have a 'naughty book' - Behindthefrogs. Although, I don't blame you.
It's difficult to understand some people. If a distant rellie gave me access to their tree, I would like to discuss their findings, cross reference with mine etc. I wouldn't dream of putting their living rellies onto my tree or put on someone who wasn't related to my family.
A contact of mine didn't just copy ancestors onto their tree but also a part of my family, which have no relation at all.
It's just name and date gathering.
Not good sport :(
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Hi,
I've had some unpleasant dealings with a few people on GR but the pleasant ones far outweigh the unpleasant. Discovered quite a number of cousins of varying degrees of kinship including two second cousins I knew nothing of, one a year older than myself, was born and raised and still lives on the opposite side of my hometown, unbelievable.
Due to the unpleasant people I now have set myself some rules to observe before giving access to my tree or passing on additional info concerning the tree.
1) Need to be assured that the person is definitely related to someone in my tree.
2) They are researchers as opposed to collectors.
3) I only put the year of an event on my GR tree not the full date, there are one or two exceptions where I have added full dates such as where I need to repudiate false claims in another tree concerning my lines.
4) I do not show the earliest known ancestor of each line on my GR tree, only 100% genuine ancestor related researchers get that info.
I am very happy to share my findings with genuine people.
There is one young lady on GR who has constructed a tree on GR with info gleaned from GR, Ancestry.com and Family Search. Consequently she has one of my Essex ancestors Joseph Willis, married with a family in Devon under the surname Wills, in Essex she has him married correctly with a family under the surname Willis, then married again to another lady in Essex with a family, again named Willis. Stupidly she shows the children of the Devon marriage overlapping with the children of the first Essex marriage and then the children of the two Essex marriages overlapping. This young lady is or was at the time a Uni student, I just hope her Uni subjects were better researched. Coincidentally I checked a couple of weeks ago and now some two years later the error remains, at the time she first made contact I did diplomatically point out the flaws in her tree. All I can say is that if my ancestor Joseph Willis could have pulled off a feat like that he's a far better man than I. ;D
Regards.
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Reading through the posts here I've been quite reassured to find that I'm not that unusual in having felt just a teeny bit possessive about my tree sometimes! The father of a distant cousin's wife has had a go at our family tree and published something totally inaccurate but sadly he's not interested in the correct version and that's really quite upset me. In the past I've been happy to share with people only to have them lift the information, give me nothing in return and then vanish never to be heard from again. That's saddened me rather than angered me but as a result I'm not as quick to be so open. I'm very grateful to people who've passed snippets on to me, especially the bits that are personal stories that you wouldn't find on the net and am in contact with some lovely people as a result so you have to take the ups with the downs don't you?
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Hi Meezer,
I've experienced some of those lift the info and run types.
Another precaution I take when contacting GR hot matches is by including in my first message "if you give me access to your tree I'll be happy to do the same for you", it gives one the opportunity to see if there is a genuine connection etc.
So if ever you have a contact from someone with that phrase in the message you know it's likely to be me and if I get a reply containing words to the same effect I'll think it's you, then it will be a clash of wills as to who opens their tree first ;D 8)
Regards.
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I used to use GR when I first started out researching my tree. I put my whole tree online but just the bare information that anyone could find online from census or BMD records. When asked by others to view my tree i would share it. Only to find others would copy the whole tree including the branches that have no connection to them. I soon stopped using GR after a few demands from people saying I must let them view my tree. Now if someone makes contact either through GR or Ancestry I reply that I will gladly share information via email once the connection is proved. I also explain I will only share the information relevant to that particular branch and not my whole tree. This way I keep some control of the information that I have and the documents and photos I have.
One such mistake a name collector has made on Ancestry is having a husband and wife in their tree on two separate branches with no idea that these people are married. If they did their research fully they would know this one day the penny might drop and they will find out amongst the 25,000 names they have on their tree.
Regards panda
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I do sympathise with all the stories on here.
I naively offered some very personal family photos of my Gt Grand Father to someone who shared people in my tree. I stupidly assumed that they would treasure them as I always have, but NO, suddenly I find MY photos plastered on their Ancestry tree for all the world to see. Daft as it sounds, I felt violated, and betrayed.
I think I would have felt hurt no matter what, BUT I think it might have been polite if the had asked me if I would have minded first.
Still, they have lost out long term, as I shall not be sharing anything else with that particular person.
Older and a lot wiser,
Copperbeech5
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The original post asked how possessive we were of "our" family tree. It might initially seem a bit off topic, but some years ago a local family history group asked "how many relatives do we have" and I attempted to produce some answers.
The first problem is variability - I asked each member how many cousins they had. In a group of 30 the answers ranged from 0 to 52 with an average of about 10. So any answer can only talk in terms of broad averages.
My best estimate was that on average a person has about 40 second cousins (one pair of common great grandparents), 200 3rd cousins, 900 4th cousins, and it increases by a multiplier of about 4.5 for each additional step out.
Loking at it another way, each pair of ggp has on average about 10 descendants of my generation, each pair of 2ggp has about 25 such descendants and each pair of 3ggp about 60. For the next 3 it's 140, 340, and 810 at 6ggp.
I have no real feel for what proportion of the population is investigating a family history, but supopose it is 1 in 100. Then for each pair of 6ggp I might expect there to be perhaps 8 direct descendants researching them.
Based on this my view is that whilst as many posters have said there is some sense of ownership (and I share that sense of ownership) I must also recognise these ancestors are also "owned" by a large number of others, at least some of whom are actively researching.
And what's the likelihood that each researcher has got every step right? I have no idea, but I can understand why mistakes appear.
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Hi,
Interesting this numbers theme. I was at a funeral of one of my wife's aunts, and after being introduced to about the twentieth cousin, I had a quick count of my cousins and got to eight, My children have three, I then checked my tree when I got home and found that I also have eight 2nd cousins. My wife has 28 that she can name on just one side.
I have had nothing but good experiences with communicating with people who share any ancestors with me, but I seem to have developed a rule (without thinking about it) that I only communicate with people who have fairly small trees and this seems to work.
Dave
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Hi,
I am the same. On Ancestry there are many families who claim the same forebears as me, but what I can't understand is that once in a while one of these people have completely different people than the majority who all agree as to births, deaths, marriages etc and you would think they would see this and try to see where they had gone wrong - though I suppose they think they are correct and we are wrong. They have people living in another country but dying in WA where they have lived all their lives and other things as well.
I wrote to one who had my own grandfather down with another name tacked on to his and I wrote and explained that there was a different spelling for his name and that the correct one was even his birth certificate and that also there was another person with the his name and a second name they had down for my grandfather - you know what they did, put both names down and left the extra name there as well so I gave up.
Bev
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I can totally relate to this. I was looking through someone elses tree after I found people I didn't recognise. what I found really annoyed me, not only was there a picture of my grand dad on it which I know had been lifted of my tree, but he was with completely the wrong family. I tried to contact the person concerned but no response. what also annoys me is that other people might come across it and think its right
Griff
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Hi,
I am the same. On Ancestry there are many families who claim the same forebears as me, but what I can't understand is that once in a while one of these people have completely different people than the majority who all agree as to births, deaths, marriages etc and you would think they would see this and try to see where they had gone wrong - though I suppose they think they are correct and we are wrong. Bev
I have found on ancestry a number of people with the same tree and one that is different. The one is the same as mine. On contacting some with the wrong tree I find that they have all copied their tree from ancestry and not done any research to verify it. The rule is quite simple: Do your own research and only use others to verify and add minor details to what you have found