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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: jim234j on Saturday 27 April 24 15:50 BST (UK)

Title: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: jim234j on Saturday 27 April 24 15:50 BST (UK)
Lately I have been getting hints from Ancestry that seem to have no relationship at all to the person they are giving the hint for and the hint is not even the right surname.

I am tracing a John Emmanuel Griffin born 1827 Brede Sussex.  He married Sarah Gustell of Brede 30 May 1847 in Brede and they had many children and spent the rest of their life together in Sussex

Ancestry gives me the following hint for him 3 times and this is not the only person they have given hints that seem to have relationship at all.  I have ticked on the area where you say why you did not accept the hint and have done it on many occasions with different people in my tree.

England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973
Birth, Marriage & Death
Name   John Wadsworth   
Birth   1823   
Marriage   15 Apr 1857 Saint Michael, Stone, Stafford, England   New
Residence   Stone, Staffordshire, England   New
Spouse   Sarah Morris   
Father   John Wadsworth   


Does anyone else get clues that are not even the name of the person you get them under as John Wadsworth of Stone Staffordshire has no relationship at all to John Emmanuel Griffin of Brede Sussex and no relationship to anyone on my tree.

Jim
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: rosie99 on Saturday 27 April 24 15:59 BST (UK)

Does anyone else get clues that are not even the name of the person you get them under as John Wadsworth of Stone Staffordshire has no relationship at all to John Emmanuel Griffin of Brede Sussex and no relationship to anyone on my tree.

Jim

Frequently  ::)
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: martin hooper on Saturday 27 April 24 16:42 BST (UK)
I also get unrelated hints. I don't waste my time with hints unless I have particularly difficult problem I'm trying to solve.

Martin
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: Biggles50 on Saturday 27 April 24 17:28 BST (UK)
It has been happening for years.

Most of mine relate are people in the damn US of A who just happen to have the same name as one of my mainly British Isles Family Tree members.

It really annoys me when Searching and “UK & Ireland” is selected yet the search results are mainly people who are resident in that damn US of A again.
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: Wexflyer on Saturday 27 April 24 17:36 BST (UK)
It has been happening for years.

Most of mine relate are people in the damn US of A who just happen to have the same name as one of my mainly British Isles Family Tree members.

It really annoys me when Searching and “UK & Ireland” is selected yet the search results are mainly people who are resident in that damn US of A again.

Because everyone knows that the Brits all escaped if they could!
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: Kiltpin on Saturday 27 April 24 18:34 BST (UK)
It has been happening for years.

Most of mine relate are people in the damn US of A who just happen to have the same name as one of my mainly British Isles Family Tree members.

It really annoys me when Searching and “UK & Ireland” is selected yet the search results are mainly people who are resident in that damn US of A again.
 

Yes - one or two hits of information that I know and have recorded. Then pages and pages of people who are total strangers. Yesterday they served up 10 people who were from Eastern Europe. In fact, so far east that one more step would have taken them into Asia. All with names that had letters that are not on my keyboard. 

Regards 

Chas
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: Wexflyer on Saturday 27 April 24 18:39 BST (UK)

Yes - one or two hits of information that I know and have recorded. Then pages and pages of people who are total strangers. Yesterday they served up 10 people who were from Eastern Europe. In fact, so far east that one more step would have taken them into Asia. All with names that had letters that are not on my keyboard. 

Regards 

Chas

Didn't you get the memo about diversity and inclusion?  ;)
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: coombs on Saturday 27 April 24 18:40 BST (UK)
All the time and this has been going on for years now. I even look at my Ancestry tree and look at an individual ancestor and get "Potential parents" for documented ancestors, and they are usually wrong. Or get an 1851 census suggestion for someone who died in 1797.
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: Erato on Saturday 27 April 24 18:49 BST (UK)
"people in the damn US of A "

I'm not sure why the United States should be repeatedly damned by you for having people with the same name as some of your British relatives.
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: KGarrad on Saturday 27 April 24 18:54 BST (UK)
1. Don't look at hints! (I never do!)
2. Ensure all addresses are in full; specifying "United Kingdom", or (where appropriate) "England, United Kingdom".
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: Wexflyer on Saturday 27 April 24 18:55 BST (UK)
"people in the damn US of A "

I'm not sure why the United States should be repeatedly damned by you for having people with the same name as some of your British relatives.

He's just angry that his lot missed the boat and never made it out....
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: coombs on Saturday 27 April 24 21:14 BST (UK)
You never know if ancestors brothers and sisters and cousins ended up in the USA, or even a direct ancestor, as I found a direct ancestor living with a married sister and daughter in the USA in 1900 explaining why he vanished form UK records after his wife died in 1886.
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: ColinBignell on Saturday 27 April 24 21:19 BST (UK)

Does anyone else get clues that are not even the name of the person you get them under as John Wadsworth of Stone Staffordshire has no relationship at all to John Emmanuel Griffin of Brede Sussex and no relationship to anyone on my tree.

Jim

The problem is that many of the hints are derived from entries in other members' trees, so they are only as good as those trees. It is not helped by people blindingly accepting hints without doing any basic checking of the facts. I am sure I am not the only person who has found a posthumous marriage hint.
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: Comberton on Saturday 27 April 24 21:41 BST (UK)
You can block hints from other trees and potential relatives not yet in your tree.

Settings/hint preferences/site preferences

(http://)
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: Wexflyer on Saturday 27 April 24 21:47 BST (UK)


The problem is that many of the hints are derived from entries in other members' trees, so they are only as good as those trees. It is not helped by people blindingly accepting hints without doing any basic checking of the facts. I am sure I am not the only person who has found a posthumous marriage hint.

Indeed. And there is a snowball/multiplicative effect at work with this.  Once one Anc*stry  member accepts a stupid/crazy hints and puts it in their tree, then Anc*stry pushes the hints to other members all the more - as it is now "confirmed" and validated by being in a tree - so now more members accept the hint. And so on and on...
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: ColinBignell on Saturday 27 April 24 22:29 BST (UK)
You can block hints from other trees and potential relatives not yet in your tree.


Indeed, but the problem with that is that they are sometimes helpful. They just need to be treated with caution.
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: LizzieL on Sunday 28 April 24 08:30 BST (UK)
I have one branch of my family that upped sticks and emigrated to USA and changed their surname -for no obvious reason - but they didn't all make the change at the same time. I wish Ancestry would give me hints on this family with a different surname living in a different continent. I've managed to unravel some of the mystery but still big holes.
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: coombs on Sunday 28 April 24 12:41 BST (UK)
As we know, FH gets harder the further back you go, unless they had some money and left wills, or you get a lead to previous family wealth/status that could give you a gateway ancestor, but usually it does get harder, especially before 1800. Many were never rich enough to leave wills or not poor enough to come under the goldmine settlement examinations, and survival rates of poor law records is patchy. So if I have ancestors James and Sarah Mayhew in rural Suffolk in the 1750s and get an Ancestry hint for a James Mayhew marriage in rural Sussex to Sarah Smith in 1745, I need some compelling evidence before I even consider it.
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: Nanna52 on Sunday 28 April 24 13:40 BST (UK)
KG is right, it helps to have as much detail as possible.  My great grandparents are buried in Bairnsdale, Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.  I had left Australia off and ancestry decided it was Trinidad and Tobago.  I thought it was hysterical as I checked all other references to Bairnsdale and madly added Australia.  Just that record was changed.  Son suggested that we visit their graves next time we play the West Indies at cricket.   ;D
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: coombs on Sunday 28 April 24 21:28 BST (UK)
My Ancestry tree for my ancestors is detailed, and I even add custom events and extra notes, and notes on candidates for ancestors. I research witnesses to marriages, which can be relative but also could be lifelong friends.
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: bikermickau on Sunday 28 April 24 22:29 BST (UK)
Ancestry ThruLines is showing that a Thomas Letts B-1749 d-1814 Northants, is my 5th great father.
This is because he was at one time added as a ancestor and that he was copied into other trees.
 
Trees Linked to DNA Matches 0

Ancestry Member Trees 4
****** Family history by ******
6 Records

****** Family Tree by ******
5 Records

****** by ******
0 Records

****** Tree by ******
0 Records

Mick
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: LizzieL on Monday 29 April 24 12:15 BST (UK)
I've often thought of putting a completely fictitious tree on Ancestry and seeing if that gets any hints!
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: Nanna52 on Monday 29 April 24 12:26 BST (UK)
I've often thought of putting a completely fictitious tree on Ancestry and seeing if that gets any hints!

They are offering pet dna now so you could always give them a tree.  A few NPE’s though I suppose.
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: ColinBignell on Monday 29 April 24 12:49 BST (UK)

They are offering pet dna now...

Can anybody tell me why? I can see it being useful for proving bloodlines in professionally bred animals, but not for most pets.
Title: Re: Ancestry Hints which have no relation to the person they are giving the hint for
Post by: LizzieL on Monday 29 April 24 12:55 BST (UK)
The Kennel club on DNA testing

https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/health-and-dog-care/health/getting-started-with-health-testing-and-screening/dna-testing/#:~:text=Understanding%20your%20dog's%20genetics%20will,tests%20and%20treatments%20later%20on.