Genealogy Chat

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that certificates don't have an important place in us researching our recent past, but they are not the only (or the only infallible) tool of research. If they didn't offer us information that might not exist elsewhere, we wouldn't bother. I aim to have certificates for all my direct ancestors, but prefer parish records for post-1837 church marriages, because they are the original record (of which the certificate is but a copy), and they are free. But I can't be doing with the school of thought that says unless you have every possible certificate, then your tree is a work of fantasy, and intrinsically worthless: that is just silly.

Kate If your Grandmother's name at the time of your Aunt's birth was Briggs, then she did nothing wrong - she registered your Aunt in her legal name. You have proved my point though - if you hadn't got the cert, you wouldn't necessarily have known there was some jiggery-pokery going on. OC

Very true, Clive. Not long ago, I learned that although my late grandma had been married twice, she had her third child (my aunty) with a man she never married. Grandma was separated from first husband at the time of my aunty's birth but he did not marry again till the following year. Out of curiosity, I looked up my aunty's birth. I know Grandma's first married name was Briggs, and it turns out aunty was registered under the name Briggs, not her biological father's name (Trainer). So when I looked up the birth, I knew Grandma hasn't told the whole truth to the registrar. Since Mr. Briggs did not remarry till the following year, I think Grandma put his name on my aunty's birth certificate. Also, even after I have shared my information with people, if they choose to put it down on their trees, they don't put exactly what I share with them. Grandma's sister Charlotte Elizabeth was known as Elizabeth in her infancy (1891 census) and Charlotte on 1901, so people think they are two separate children, even though they are the same age and born in identical places, which is quite fair enough because it is confusing.

Clive Certs are a good start for a beginner - gets them into the routine of having documentary proof of things. Certificates probably only account for about 5% of my documentary proof, but those certs have given me information I couldn't have easily found out any other way. OC

Sarah, I've sent you a PM.

Lol! Clive, that's so true! Sarah...OC and Clive are talking great sense. Just enjoy it whatever you do!

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE AND I WILL KEEP ASKING SUCH ALOT OF LOVELY PEOPLE HERE SARAH

Don't be fooled into thinking that certificates are the beginning and the end of genealogy. Two reasons: firstly, for almost the whole of your family's history, there are no certificates to be had. While civil registration was introduced in England in 1837, there were no penalties for non-registration for decades afterwards, so the period in which registration is a reliable guide to the existence of an event is less than 120 years - a flash in the pan. Secondly, certificates only record what the informant said to the registrar. Truth, half truths and outright lies. A variety of sources for your family history is much more important than a folder full of certificates. Be honest with yourself, and learn to apply critical judgment about whether information from alternate sources supports a family connection. There is no absolute proof to be had (apart from DNA tests). Everything is a matter for judgment, and the only reasonable standard of proof is on a balance of probabilities. The fact that your own birth certificate records the name of your dear-departed Dad, doesn't necessarily mean that your marked resemblance to the milkman is just a coincidence.

Sarah The whole point of this forum and particularly this board, is so that members can ASK questions! Ask away - there are many people on this site who are bursting to help, and if they didn't want to, they wouldn't do it. As for checking information on other people's trees I now have this down to a fine art (having wasted soooo much time on rubbish trees in the past). I check the first fact, at the point where my tree joins theirs. Let us say their John Smith married my Mary Bloggs in 1783. Is there a firm marriage date? Where did that info come from? If, as I have seen many a time, the answer is 'they married about 1783, but I havent found the marriage' I usually abandon their tree at that point, but make a note that member so-and-so has a SKETCH tree, in case I uncover anything else. (They may not have found a marriage, but may have other evidence to show that this was a family unit - I weigh that up as well) A good rule of thumb - a tree with approximate or vague dates hasnt been thoroughly researched and I wouldn't waste my time adding it to mine. Apart from anything else, it is SUCH a fag to remove people from a GR tree. Good luck - keep asking, keep buying at least your direct line ancestors certs, and NOTE YOUR SOURCES carefully! OC

Woodville is just in Derbyshire, in the south of the county bordering with Staffordshire.

is woodville in derbyshire as i have family in my tree from woodville blackfordby ashby de la zouch but most of them more near me in leicester sarah

That's good practice to get into Sarah. I'm not far from you, I'm in Derbyshire, with at least one side of my family all being local too.

im in the leicester area and most of my family tree is local to me like i said iv found out loads since joining here and have had a few people say they are connected to my tree and i always ask then how and what people they have on there tree they may be connected to mine and check it out before i let them see my tree as iv heard some people copy other peoples tree on here sarah

Sarah...don't be frightened of asking! I'm sure that all the people who help on here were once in your shoes! The things you are asking about are the same things that come up a lot....you just want to get it right, nothing wrong with that! What sort of area are you in? Sometimes there are local groups who do this sort of thing too.

i dont like to keep asking on here i only ask when im really stuck since joining genes iv found out so much but i still dont fully understand genealogy yet but im getting there sarah

I'd check the info first every time Sarah. Hot matches can be either brilliant...connecting you with real genealogists in your family, or awful, connecting you with someone who just wants to have as many names on their tree as possible, caring not whether it is correct information! Certificates are the only way that you can be sure your own information is right...if you're going to check out someone else's information, treat it like you don't know anything, then check through the relevant records and certificates. There's no hard and fast rules...keep asking, becuase that's the best way to learn!

how can you be totally sure if you have the right connection with some one elses tree is it the more hot matches you have with another persons tree or is it that you check the info first??

I'd second that word of caution - not just for family trees on GR but for any others you find on the internet too. There is an awful lot of dubious material out there. By all means use it to start a new line of research but do check all the sources to make sure the material's accurate.

If you are viwing someone else's GR tree and highlight a person that you would like to add to your own tree, there is a copy icon which copies the information to a clipboard. You can select several people in the same way - heaven for name collectors! Switch to your own tree, and find the place to make the addition - say to add a child. Instead of typing it all in manually, choose the editing tools, one of which is your clipboard, select the name you just lifted from the shared tree and repeat as often as you like. But beware, the first principle of data processing is: garbage in - garbage out. Check your sources. Do your own research. Many (most?) GR members have little or no idea of how to undertake proper research, and the information that you are reproducing in your own lovingly crafted and properly researched tree could be complete twaddle.

Hi Susan, If you mean your tree on GR, the answer is no, unless you download as a Gedcom file and put that in an offline FT programme. You can possibly merge another Gedcom file with that and re-upload onto GR.