How many times have you had to re-write your tree!!

[3sillydogs]

Legend on my mother's side has us related to a minor Earl who's black sheep son was banished to the "colonies".  Have to date not found a connection to said Earl, but have found quite a few interesting ancestors, the best being paternal grandma's secrets!!!!

[AlexPhillipson]

Not had to do the whole tree but parts of it due to the odd family secret..haha

[TheOnlyRogueAngel]

I was hoping for good old boring land and sea workers... only to have my mother blurt out one day 'we're related to African royalty.!'  Huh.?! 

Erm... okay... sure we are. Still, being a good daughter I investigated her claims... and she's kinda, sorta right,  but not quite. Her cousin, aged 17, was married to an African Prince, Henry Kimera of Bugunda, South Africa for about six months in 1959, up until his older brother found out and demanded he return to Africa forthwith, alone and read him the riot act. The divorce was finalised in 1962. His young ex-wife disappeared to the USA and hasn't been seen since.   

The other mystery is that my mother's grandfather may not even have existed. 

[Andy_T]

Modifying my tree seems to be constant. New and additional information is one reason and the other is making corrections for dates or typos.
The biggest goof I made was adding in a wife and childrens names of my 3 times great grandfather's uncle.
I found his obituary from 1849 in a couple of newspaper archives and he was described as " A Lifelong Batchelor. "

Andy_T

[CarolA3]

I had my 3x great-aunt Eliza down as married to Mr Somebody and having a very nice life.

Wrong!  Mr S married a Harriet Eliza who was nothing to do with my family.  Somewhere between the parish register and the GRO index, the name Harriet was lost.

Poor Eliza had TB and died aged 30 in the local asylum

Carol

[CarolA3]

The other mystery is that my mother's grandfather may not even have existed. 

Ok, I think we both know that he did.  Otherwise we're both imagining this conversation.

Carol

[coombs]

I added a "very likely but not confirmed" to my tree for a Susannah Watty baptism in Colchester in 1779 to that of my Susannah Watty who wed in 1798 in Southchurch, Essex who died in 1836 aged 56 (born c1780). But now that a lot of Essex records have come online on Anc, (which link to SEAX) I found a Susannah Watty marriage in 1799 in Colchester to John Lullman/Luttman. I have a sub to SEAX already and looking at SEAX she was a spinster when she wed John in 1799. Shows how new finds can blow what is the likeliest to bits.

[Melbell]

As far as I've seen, the terms bachelor and spinster were used to describe people free to marry in the 18th century and earlier; perhaps the meaning changed over time, and even had different meanings in different places.
The term "Mrs" was often used to describe single women of a higher status as well.

Bachelor and Spinster mean/meant a man or woman who had never married, not someone "free to marry".  Others are also free to marry - widows, widowers, divorcees.  The recent replacement of the legal marital conditions 'Bachelor' and 'Spinster' with 'Single' to my mind muddy the waters, because Single is commonly used by people to indicate they are 'not in a relationship', which is a different concept altogether.

Melbell

[pinefamily]

As far as I've seen, the terms bachelor and spinster were used to describe people free to marry in the 18th century and earlier; perhaps the meaning changed over time, and even had different meanings in different places.
The term "Mrs" was often used to describe single women of a higher status as well.

Bachelor and Spinster mean/meant a man or woman who had never married, not someone "free to marry".  Others are also free to marry - widows, widowers, divorcees.  The recent replacement of the legal marital conditions 'Bachelor' and 'Spinster' with 'Single' to my mind muddy the waters, because Single is commonly used by people to indicate they are 'not in a relationship', which is a different concept altogether.

Melbell

While I understand the more recent meanings of the terms spinster and bachelor, they did hold a different meaning in earlier records. I have seen instances of a woman referred to as a spinster, yet I have proof of an earlier marriage.
Just as the term Mrs did not always infer a married or widowed woman.