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  1. #1
    BevMatth
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    Default User submitted trees on IGI/Familysearch

    Hi everyone

    I'm back after a long break from my tree. I've been going over some old ground to double check info now new records have become available online and came across a user submitted tree on family search that I found a couple of years ago and am having real trouble tallying up some of the info on it now I can check it with original images online. I suppose my question is how reliable people have found these trees?

    Hope you all had a good Christmas

    Bev

  2. #2

    Default

    Hi Bev,

    Online trees found on any site are only as good as the researcher who has compiled them, some will be reliable with good sources and documented evidence, others won't. If the tree you are consulting has no documentation to back it up then my advice is be wary, that said not everyone with a well sourced tree provides all the sources etc which they've researched, some only give the bare bones to see if it attracts genuine researchers. I've never looked at the submitted trees on family search so know nothing about them, is it possible to contact the tree owner via the site? Once upon a time [may be still] family search had lots of submitted baptisms, marriages and deaths many of which were unsourced.

  3. #3
    Knowledgeable and helpful warncoort's Avatar
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    Jul 2009
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    Perth,Western Australia,Australia
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    640

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    If i am struggling to advance a line i will check trees on familysearch,then note information,and try to verify elsewhere.One in fifty bears fruit,but those are good odds if you are at a dead end.

  4. #4
    Brick wall demolition expert!
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    Lancashire
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    I agree with Almach - some are good and some are bad.

    To get an idea it can be worth looking to see if they information which corresponds with yours or which you know is rubbish. I have one branch where for a census a lady's son in law gave an incorrect place of birth for her, and in fact a town where no family were born. Some "bright" spark has now attributed that town to every person who appears in their tree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  5. #5
    BevMatth
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    Thanks for the replies everyone. I have experienced good and bad trees on family search, ancestry and fmp and always try and verify as much info as possible but this ones seems to have quite a few gaping holes in it! The worst part is my ancestors generation seems to be correct apart from my ancestor and the baptism record is no where to be found! I have access to the Welsh parish records at the mo on FMP and it just isn't there! What's the worst examples you've all come across?

  6. #6
    Brick wall demolition expert!
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Lancashire
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    3,642

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    Quote Originally Posted by BevMatth View Post
    What's the worst examples you've all come across?

    A tree that claimed to have everyone of a particular surname in the UK on it, that gave credit for the tree to an aunt of mine, although they mis-spelt her name, and then they excluded her branch from the tree completely ...............................

  7. #7
    Wilkes_ml
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    Quote Originally Posted by BevMatth View Post
    What's the worst examples you've all come across?
    Someone listed ancestors as born in the USA instead of the UK, as the town/city name was the same! Also, many trees that just pick the first "hit" or "hint" believing it to be the correct one, so I have seen many of my ancestors & their relatives with incorrect death dates, as they haven't actually purchased the death certificates to prove it was the correct death.

    However, I also made a mistake very early on, giving my ancestor the wrong birthdate, not knowing that the child whose birth certificate I had purchased (correct parents) had actually died, and the next daughter born a year later was my ancestor. I'd never have know if some kind person hadn't contacted me to give me the correct information (with a copy of the correct cerificate!).

    I also made the mistake of wrongly atrributing my ancestor whose marriage was after 1901, wrong birth place and parents (this was prior to the release of the 1911 census). The father's name was the same, so I thought I had right person, born in the right area where he was residing in London. Again, another kind person informed me I had the wrong parents, and when the 1911 census came out, I found he had been born in Cornwall!

    Errors do creep in, and a good researcher will always appreciate some one contacting them to challenge any data that appears incorrect. Of course there will always be some debate, such as pre-census and pre-registration baptisms when there are several "cousins" in same area with same names.

  8. #8
    BevMatth
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wilkes_ml View Post

    Errors do creep in, and a good researcher will always appreciate some one contacting them to challenge any data that appears incorrect. Of course there will always be some debate, such as pre-census and pre-registration baptisms when there are several "cousins" in same area with same names.
    I know all about that! I'm doing some work on my Welsh side and the 'Jones's' are driving me nuts!

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