One has to smile,

[Peter_NB]

One has to smile, because the "gut reaction" is illegal and may make one a guest of "Her Majesty"

An e-mail arrived today, started OK, "Hello" goes on... "some years back you sent me information about your g/g/grandfather, I have just learnt from a cousin that your information is wrong and I have wasted a lot of time researching the wrong family"

Now this was a bit of a shock, after all I have photos of him, with his son, and photos of his son with my grandfather, who I knew.

So I wrote back.. polite but desperate to know what information, previously unknown, lead to the aforesaid statement.

I will put the reply down to un-inhereditary insanity, too much inbreeding, the result of a brain transplant where the donor didn't show up, or perhaps being totally misinformed about the anonymity of the internet, which could result in a "visit" being arranged.

Quote: " why would I help you, if you are so clever go figure it out, your family chose to totally ignore my side of the family" End Quote. it goes on a bit.......

The only saving grace is the quoted statement doesn't make any genealogical sense. Even if there was a lost line, which I highly doubt, wouldn't there be a common ancestor somewhere ?

Anyway, it has already wasted most of my afternoon as I go back over the "family tree", which is so familiar, I hardly need to read it. Perhaps a good bottle of wine will reveal the error or just make me not care...

[Lesley Robertson]

There are a lot of people doing what I will call "internet genealogy" where they consider that if the name is roughly right and the ages roughly agree and the people were in the same county (possibly) you MUST be related!

I wonder why he/she bothered to contact you if they feel like that!

[Peter_NB]

I wonder why he/she bothered to contact you if they feel like that!

So now there are two of us who wonder the self same thing. :-)

[almach]

So now there are two of us who wonder the self same thing. :-)

Add me, and that makes three

[christanel]

or just make me not care.

I'm with you on this one. Whatever you say will be misconstrued because they are 'not wrong.'

The person sounds very angry about some family situation which has absolutely nothing to do with your family/ancestors. You sent them information about your g/g/grandfather, which is correct, but you can't help it if they chose him as one of their ancestors and they got it wrong.
Just keep ignoring their side of the family.
Christina

[Sandyhall]

Add me, and that makes three

And me that makes four of us LOL.

Your first post made me laugh

[janbooth]

Sounds to me like a person you wouldn't want to be in touch with anyway! "Nowt so queer as folk" as the saying goes.

Janet

[Mitch in Notts]

There are a lot of people doing what I will call "internet genealogy" where they consider that if the name is roughly right and the ages roughly agree and the people were in the same county (possibly) you MUST be related!

I wonder why he/she bothered to contact you if they feel like that!

Lesley, just to let you know you've made a typing error and thus missed the 'r' out of Country.

[Lesley Robertson]

Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa...

[Peter_NB]

acknowledgement of having done wrong.

Only the imperfect should post here, that is why I get someone to do it for me.