As some of you may or may not know, one of my many interests is genealogy, the study of family history. The idea of finding out the type of people in your ancestry is fascinating. In some ways it can just be a chronological exercise, you find your ancestor on a census return which leads to their parents and boom! you've found another generation. Sometimes if you're really lucky (or unlucky depending on your slant on things) you may find them on a criminal register or find that they left the shores of the UK to start a new life in America.
I started researching my family tree in 2003. At the time there wasn't as much information online, however as time has moved on more and more documents are online. Depending on your interest or area you can research your family history without ever leaving your house. Within Northamptonshire this is not possible if you wish to research pre-1841 as there are limited resources online and you have to visit either the local libraries or the local records office. Lancashire, by contrast, has a wealth of parish registers online through lan-opc.org.uk. As I said, it varies from area to area. Many people will just rely on sites such as Ancestry.co.uk (or .com or whichever it is depending on your country) or findmypast.co.uk. Whilst these sites are very useful they do come at a price (Ancestry is currently £107.40 for UK records whereas findmypast is £99.50). Libraries often have a deal where on certain days you can gain free access to these sites. As I said it all depends on your individual commitment to the project you have in mind.
Now you may wonder why I'm wittering on about such trivial information. Well here's the thing, I love researching. The idea of finding information that backs up an argument I'm trying to make is brilliant. Now with these websites you can upload your family tree with your research attached. If you scan in documents people can see them, if you upload photos people can see them too (obviously depending on your privacy settings). Now whilst this is a great opportunity to link up with distant relations, there seems to be a huge problem with accuracy and losing control of your information.
This blog Online trees root of all evil talks about how many of the trees that are just seldom linked to other peoples findings are not checked for accuracy. I've fallen foul of this. On Ancestry you get tree hints which sometimes can be great. They can give you ideas of who you need to look for and you would hope that if a few people have the same information that the people on their tree are the same people. However, as the article suggests this isn't always the case.
My grandmother was born in Blackburn and died in Northampton. I know the exact date of her death as I was informed straight away by my father and I went with my mother to register the death. However, I have seen trees on ancestry who have my grandmother dying in America. My only guess is that they have found someone of the same name on a search. They certainly haven't seen my tree on their tree hints. This makes me question what people actually do when they are on Ancestry. Do they just click anything in the hope to create a long line of ancestors who are in no way remotely related to them or do they actually try to do some research? Now it could be argued that, if someone had looked at my tree they didn't trust my first hand knowledge and instead tried to find information to back up what I had with a resource on Ancestry or Find My Past. However, they wouldn't have looked very far as my grandmother's death record is on an Ancestry search. If they had contacted me I could tell them the exact information and where to find the death record to verify what I have in my tree.
That then brings me onto my next point. Can you rely on what other descendants tell you? I was told by a descendant of my great grandmother that she moved to Leeds and got remarried. When I researched this fact I found that the person they obviously believe to be my great grandmother couldn't be the same person as if they were they would be showing on the 1891 census twice which isn't possible (and certainly not with 2 husbands). So again do people just rely on the documents they find and try to make them fit without considering other options.
To me genealogy is about create facts as well as creating stories. However, if the "facts" are inaccurate it loses the value of the stories.
So if you're considering taking up this wonderfully addictive hobby consider why you are doing it as it may be that you are creating a list of fiction.
Kat
My grandmother was born in Blackburn and died in Northampton. I know the exact date of her death as I was informed straight away by my father and I went with my mother to register the death. However, I have seen trees on ancestry who have my grandmother dying in America. My only guess is that they have found someone of the same name on a search. They certainly haven't seen my tree on their tree hints. This makes me question what people actually do when they are on Ancestry. Do they just click anything in the hope to create a long line of ancestors who are in no way remotely related to them or do they actually try to do some research? Now it could be argued that, if someone had looked at my tree they didn't trust my first hand knowledge and instead tried to find information to back up what I had with a resource on Ancestry or Find My Past. However, they wouldn't have looked very far as my grandmother's death record is on an Ancestry search. If they had contacted me I could tell them the exact information and where to find the death record to verify what I have in my tree.
That then brings me onto my next point. Can you rely on what other descendants tell you? I was told by a descendant of my great grandmother that she moved to Leeds and got remarried. When I researched this fact I found that the person they obviously believe to be my great grandmother couldn't be the same person as if they were they would be showing on the 1891 census twice which isn't possible (and certainly not with 2 husbands). So again do people just rely on the documents they find and try to make them fit without considering other options.
To me genealogy is about create facts as well as creating stories. However, if the "facts" are inaccurate it loses the value of the stories.
So if you're considering taking up this wonderfully addictive hobby consider why you are doing it as it may be that you are creating a list of fiction.
Kat
