RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: C-A on Monday 12 August 19 07:46 BST (UK)
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I don’t generally use this, but had a quick look at some of the life stories for some the people in my tree. Although the facts section is correct, the site seems to be having a bit of a melt down at the moment (although to be fair maybe it’s always done this) as locations are all over the place.
I have people who never left London appearing in Jamaica, Hanover, France and various other places :-D
Just thought I’d share as it gave me a giggle (after the initial panic that I had done something stupid with my tree!).
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That generally happens when you have not added 'England' to your place names on your tree :)
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I never look at Lifestory, as it has always contained so much irrelevant and often erroneous information. I prefer to focus on facts. However, I suppose I may have to start paying more attention to it as some of the records being added now include a question about how you want to treat them in the Lifestory which needs to be answered before saving the details.
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Just make sure you have put the village/town/city, county and country in and you'll have no problem.
I have found the 1939 register just gives the county so often the pointer is on the county town not where the person lives.
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There is something very dodgy about it because I noticed that where I had quite definitely got someone in "Worthing, Sussex, England" it came up on Lifestory as being in "Worthing, Norfolk".
Liz
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Similar problem here Liz. I have found it pushing one of my Northumbrians over to Ontario despite the fact that every event on his timeline was clearly recorded as Northumberland, England and had been so for several years. Since then I have never even bothered to look at Lifestories.
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I am not an Ancestry user, but on the occasions when I have had a sub and have looked at the Lifestory bit, I could not see much point. It seems just be an expanded version of the Facts page. I have just looked at my gr gr grandfather on a tree that I have access to, and found the suggestion that he might, in 1845, have visited the Ashmolean Museum! I presume these get slotted in at random to all the Lifestories? The idea of my rural great grandad setting off from deepest Kent to visit Oxford had me spluttering into my tea. (It would still take half the day by train!)
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I have just looked at my gr gr grandfather on a tree that I have access to, and found the suggestion that he might, in 1845, have visited the Ashmolean Museum! I presume these get slotted in at random to all the Lifestories? The idea of my rural great grandad setting off from deepest Kent to visit Oxford had me spluttering into my tea. (It would still take half the day by train!)
Well at least yours didn't have as far to travel as mine T-o-t-H :) They have my 3rd great grandfather nipping down there from Northumberland. I wonder if your ag.lab and my ag.lab met up for a pint after they toured the Ashmolean :)
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I am not an Ancestry user, but on the occasions when I have had a sub and have looked at the Lifestory bit, I could not see much point. It seems just be an expanded version of the Facts page. I have just looked at my gr gr grandfather on a tree that I have access to, and found the suggestion that he might, in 1845, have visited the Ashmolean Museum! I presume these get slotted in at random to all the Lifestories? The idea of my rural great grandad setting off from deepest Kent to visit Oxford had me spluttering into my tea. (It would still take half the day by train!)
If it was a member of the PAY clan, T-o-t-H, he visited Oxford in order to set up the system to haunt me in the future......
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Having read these stories I went to check my G Uncle William, I had noticed when searching he was born in Ecuador, which he wasn't. On looking at his life story he was born in Canar, Ecuador, rather than Canal St Derby. At least now I have found out how to edit life stories which I couldn't do before,
Liz
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I have just looked at some more of the ancestors - these suggestions of what they might have seen and done are really quite bizarre! What on earth is the point?
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The main problem with "Life Story" is that it doesn't deal with real addresses.
Missing out the country from an event WILL result in mis-location, usually to somewhere in the USA.
However street addresses confuse it no end. Putting a comma after the house number causes their system to move the place to somewhere random in the US, ignoring all the text in the address. Thus,
"1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America" points at the official residence of US presidents, while
"1600, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America" points at some obscure place at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.
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The main problem with "Life Story" is that it doesn't deal with real addresses.
Missing out the country from an event WILL result in mis-location, usually to somewhere in the USA.
However street addresses confuse it no end. Putting a comma after the house number causes their system to move the place to somewhere random in the US, ignoring all the text in the address. Thus,
"1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America" points at the official residence of US presidents, while
"1600, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America" points at some obscure place at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.
So it is basically useless ;D.
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I have just looked at some more of the ancestors - these suggestions of what they might have seen and done are really quite bizarre! What on earth is the point?
I'm reminded that it suggested one of my grandmas might have been a suffragette. She was too busy with her baby production-line, running a household and being a farmer's wife to spare for outside interests. The Life Story also resurrected the first wife who had the same forename. They were born the same year. First wife was definitely not doing any of the things suggested as she was deceased at the time and remained deceased ever after. ???
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First wife was definitely not doing any of the things suggested as she was deceased at the time and remained deceased ever after. ???
That won't stop Ancestry suggesting that she is the mother of a dozen children born more than a century later, while using a completely different name!
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I found a few ancestors had lived their life in Australia, but then popped over to Jamaica to be buried. Son suggested if I wanted to visit their graves I wait until Australia plays cricket there and he would accompany me. ;D ;D ;D