Ancestry family trees full of lazy errors

[coombs]

I was wearing gloves as you normally do when handling original documents, but once got to touch the 1802 removal order for my ancestor and his 2nd wife. The removal order was repealed as his wife was too ill to travel to Redlingfield from Framlingham, Suffolk. She died in October just 3 months later. She was 62.

Yes I got conned into the turn of the century craze of wearing gloves, I am glad it is now recognised that wearing gloves when accessing old paper artifacts destroys more of them than not wearing gloves.
Best practice has reverted to washing hands before touching paper artifacts as the wearing of gloves makes the fingers less nimble and leads to a likelyhood of torn edges.
Cheers
Guy

Yes now I tend to wash and dry my hands thoroughly. Gloves can just hasten the demise of documents.

On another note, I have traced most lines back to 1700s at the earliest but have traced a few lines back much further. I think due to them being merchants, mayors etc. Several lines tend to get more wealthy the further back I go, and I did find my first gateway ancestor last year.

[pharmaT]

Oops, I've got just over 12,000 on my tree - so I'm in the "one star, and if I could give you zero, I would" category.
 I've been researching since the 1980's and was lucky enough to be given a tree for my maternal grandmother's line which had been very well researched by two distant cousins in the sixties and seventies. I checked it and couldn't find any errors. I could only add very small bits to it when more records came on line. That branch came from a small area in Yorkshire and the name was not common which made it easier, but nevertheless they must have spent weeks if not months in record offices.

These threads make me feel like I have to apologise to proper researchers because i have over 7000 in my tree.  I didn't start researching until the 1990s.

[coombs]

I also started researching in the 1990s. Some of my brickwalls are as old as when I started doing research.

I have been lucky to trace some lines back to the 1500s and some earlier, I have several ancestors from Suffolk, Sussex and Essex whose earlier ancestors in the 1600s were merchants and aldermen, and one was a landowner and it has taken me to Somerset, Lincolnshire and Norfolk. One ancestor owned land in Uphill, Somerset in the 1600s. Wills have been valuable.

[chris_49]

Oops, I've got just over 12,000 on my tree - so I'm in the "one star, and if I could give you zero, I would" category.

I just looked and I've crept into five figures too.  I honestly didn't know, I hardly ever look at the numbers. Am I a dreaded N C?

I plead guilty to researching the roots of my step-grandfather, a step-great-grandfather, and my mother's first husband's family. Well, we knew some of them, and they were interesting. If I deleted those, I'd be back in four figures I think. But I won't.

 

[BushInn1746]

My Dad told me Charles Hickling born Melton Mowbray, England, who married Clara Parbery, was a Surveyor and Cement Tester.

My Dad also recalled last night his Son, Charles David Hickling having a Wireless Shop near the corner in Donnington Street, Leicester. In 1935 the business was known as ... C. D. Hickling, The Magnetic Wireless Stores, 1 Donnington Street, Leicester. Authorised Dealers for K.B. Radio Receivers. Charles David Hickling moved to Thurmaston and he died in 1977 and a modest but interesting Obituary was published in the Leicester Mercury.

The daughter of Charles Hickling and Clara Parbery, on 27th March 1920 at St Peter's Leicester, Elsie Hickling aged 23 years (her Father - Charles Hickling on the Certificate), married Albert Edward Roberts 27 years, known to my Father as Bert. Elsie Roberts nee Elsie Hickling was born 1896 (Reg'n District - Leicester).
 ----------
Another Elsie Hickling born 1898 Reg. Dist. Leicester, married Joseph W. F. Lisemore in 1918, but several Trees have the wrong parentage for this Elsie.

Mark

[BushInn1746]

Found two Trees on Ancestry for Elsie Hickling 1898 to 1975 and 1897 to 1975 marrying Joseph William Fred Lisemore in 1918 with the wrong parents for Elsie Hickling.

The GRO Death Index image on 'Free BMD' for Elsie Lisemore dying Registration District of Louth in 1975 gives her Birth "13 Ja 1898"

Free BMD
Joseph William F Lisemore born 1901 Registration District - Leicester, England.

The 1939 Register
2 Thorpewell, Leicester
Joseph W. F. Lisemore, Birth 31 April 1901, China Dealers Asst.
Elsie Lisemore,  Birth 13 Jan 98.

The Mother's M. Surname of Elsie Hickling born District of Leicester, in 1898 is Wyatt - GRO Index at gov.uk

Added:
Hopefully, the 1918 marriage to J W F Lisemore would name Elsie's father and the Elsie Hicking 1898 Birth Certificate would confirm her parentage.

[Biggles50]

Errors do creep into online Family Trees.

No matter how careful one is a link is broken, a new person disappears before you finish entering their details, you have a birth date only to find an earlier baptism, a record of their location has no date etc

I use Roots Magic as an Ancestry backup, its Tree Share feature lets you download the whole tree and media, then you can run the tools to check for errors, to check for duplicates, to check for any floating trees.  Then there are Database checks, checks on the use of standardised place place names.

[Essnell]

  Good Evening Everyone.  It's that time here in OZ,
Now having just read every post on this thread I am still wondering about this term and what it actually describes and what era it is referring to.  Now or decades ago?

  I have used the term "name collector" for those people who simply copy whole tree sections to their trees without any thought to accuracy or whatever.
 Where dates do not add up , are not able to be substantiated etc etc.. Often names are those for someone else entirely.  and so forth.  Every one of us as seen these whether they have been researching for decades or just several years.
 To me it appears like a race to see just how many names can be acquired.  It's careless and thoughtless as it can become accepted for right or wrong.    As many have pointed out then, they are just adding Names to their Tree.

Recently I received a hint from Ancestry telling me that XYZ was a relative and that they had found 47 people that I could add to my tree.  It was correct in the connection but the 47 extra names were not of value unless I was counting numbers. That's "name collecting" in my view as it stands now in 2023.

Like some or many of you I do the lateral research, often coming from the need to try to establish a link or just to add that extra depth to my tree and research. That's where it is enjoyable.

At present I am researching a DNA match that does not have any obvious connections to me. Those names will not go on my tree probably ever.  However the four generation tree I have complete with siblings in each generation is a different kettle of fish. But it's not going on my tree . And that research, done at least 8 years ago for a specific reason, has recently been very useful with a DNA match.


I hope you all get my drift on this .
Essnell

[BushInn1746]

Thank you Biggles50, never knew or used Roots Magic.

My Grandmother remarried and died Scotland last Century and the family information given on her Certificate named Husband 1 exactly, by Husband 2 (Informant) including his parentage and then says my Grandmother's parents were Charles Hickling and Clara Hickling M.S. Parbery, born in the previous 19th Century!

Even though my Father knew this and more, it was brilliant to have it corroborated and Certified by her 2nd husband too and other paperwork.

I like to check all the actual paperwork does match up too.

Added:
Yes Essnell, I get your drift.