I agree. Very clearly said. Katie Green
> On Jan 13, 2022, at 1:52 PM, AJ Staley via CoTyroneList > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Well said Roger Cousens. The feelings and sentiments are mutual. > > Anjeannette Staley > > From: Roger Cousens via CoTyroneList <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2022 10:04 PM > To: CoTyroneIreland.com <http://cotyroneireland.com/> Mailing List > <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>>; 'Gordon Wilkinson' > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > Cc: 'Gordon Wilkinson' <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>>; M L Jarvis <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>>; Roger Cousens <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > Subject: [CoTyroneMailingList] Re: [EXT] Re: Family Trees > > Just some thoughts from the dark side……! An Ancestry user! > > I agree that very, very many Ancestry trees are a mess. It is so > frustrating! People guess at dates (without saying that they are guesses), > claim people as relatives who couldn’t possibly be, etc……… That is all true. > But it is also just as true of FamilySearch trees. So often I find > appalling errors there, dressed up as facts. Exacerbated by the fact that > people can alter information and add bad content to what were otherwise very > good trees. But they can be valuable starting points (as someone did the > other day did for Anna Crawford Moffatt). > > The family history community contains people with a broad range of abilities > and particularly at the lower end of the spectrum (the same is true in the > branch of science in which I have spent my career). But some Ancestry trees > are really very good (hopefully mine is one of those, but always a work in > progress and incomplete). It has been interesting to look at “Anajeanette’s” > Moffatt tree on FamilySearch, for example, to see the extent of the > documentation that they have (and the photos). It remains that some of my > biggest breakthroughs have come from finding things in other people’s > Ancestry trees. Some of them have saved me a huge amount of time and effort > – places I had never thought of looking, or transcriptions of wills for which > I only had the Latin original. Even family photos. And I have made contact > through it with relatives who I had lost touch with or never knew (e.g. a > third cousin, just before Christmas). And a couple of people have noticed > things in my tree that turned out to be wrong (there were actually two > couples in the same (Essex) village with the same names (James and Mary > Smith) and having children at the same time. I had missed that, as had other > researchers, despite going through the original parish records and convincing > myself that I had found the right person). Mutual exchange of information is > a valuable outcome - to people like me - from being on Ancestry. And from > being on the CoTyrone list. I also do not mind other people using my > information or documents, as long as they ask nicely (which they often do): > to me, that is part of my donation to the family tree community. Hopefully > people will find value from the research that I have done. Yes, I did the > hard work and it would be nice to have credit, but at least they will have > got the right information (unless it was for the wrong James and Mary Smith!). > > My attitude is that I draw on many sources of information, primary, secondary > and less reliable, never dismiss anything out of hand, sift the grain from > the chaff, follow chains of evidence, always check and double check: never > take anything for granted, even if it is from a reliable source (everyone can > make errors and miss things). Those sources include Ancestry and > FamilySearch trees – which can sometimes be very useful. I think I would be > silly not to look at them. I never assume they are right, though they very > often are! > > The other thing is that as an educator by profession, and an amateur > genealogist who has benefited from the advice of many others, I see value in > communicating with those who have made mistakes: people like us need to be > prepared to help others (up to a point!). If someone with an Ancestry tree > has clearly made a good attempt, I am happy to help them with tips to help > them improve and to send them information that they had missed/got wrong. I > do it very sparingly. Sometimes they are grateful; sometimes I have also > benefited from the exchange. > > Roger > > From: Shirley Harper via CoTyroneList <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > Sent: Thursday, 13 January 2022 3:43 PM > To: CoTyroneIreland.com <http://cotyroneireland.com/> Mailing List > <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>>; 'Gordon Wilkinson' > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > Cc: 'Gordon Wilkinson' <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>>; M L Jarvis <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>>; Shirley Harper <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > Subject: [EXT] [CoTyroneMailingList] Re: Family Trees > > External email: Please exercise caution > > Please nobody rely on the “trees” you find on Ancestry. Many of them are now > fictitious because of people taking them for their own and adding their > details in. Some of the trees now there are a real mess. > You could try Family Search www.familysearch.org/ > <http://www.familysearch.org/> for better information. > > Advice. Do your own research!! > > Shirley > > Sent from Mail <https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows > > From: M L Jarvis via CoTyroneList > <mailto:[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, 13 January 2022 12:43 AM > To: 'CoTyroneIreland.com Mailing List' > <mailto:[email protected]>; 'Gordon Wilkinson' > <mailto:[email protected]> > Cc: 'Gordon Wilkinson' <mailto:[email protected]>; M L Jarvis > <mailto:[email protected]> > Subject: [CoTyroneMailingList] Re: Family Trees > > Perhaps a page with a table that lists members who have trees, where the > trees are located (Ancestry, etc.), and key surnames and locations is all > that’s needed? Then individual members could be contacted directly. > > We could also list GEDmatch numbers. > > And, yes, I can help create the table! > > Mary > > PS Ancestry trees can’t be changed by others unless they have permission to > do so by having been granted ownership. > > > > > From: James McKane via CoTyroneList <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2022 5:22 AM > To: Gordon Wilkinson <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>>; CoTyroneIreland.com > <http://cotyroneireland.com/> Mailing List > <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > Cc: Gordon Wilkinson <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>>; James McKane <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > Subject: [CoTyroneMailingList] Re: Family Trees > > Gordon - first, it is easy to eliminate living people when creating a Gedcom > with most software so that is not an issue. > > Bill - while it seems like a good idea, there are a few issues on my end > which would have to be overcome - > > 1) currently advertising revenues on the website have been dropping > dramatically! It appears many users are using "ad blockers" to avoid seeing > the advertisements. If this continues I'm not sure how we are going to cover > ongoing expenses > 2) to load Gedcoms we need to purchase software > 3) we need the time to manage said software as I have experience in this area > from a previous life......... it takes TIME > 4) I would not wish to manage a "live" site where people can amend anything > as it soon becomes so polluted ......... like FamilySearch and Ancestry trees > are > > Jim > > > > Jim McKane > Kitchener, Ontario > > > On Wed, Jan 12, 2022 at 2:50 AM Gordon Wilkinson via CoTyroneList > <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> An interesting idea, Bill, but my data base has info on so many living >> relatives and notes on many who value their privacy (DNA data, cupboard >> skeletons, &c), so I've actually shut down my family web site and only give >> the barest of information on the site now. Having said that, the most >> productive info has come from distant relatives who have found and contacted >> me through the the original website. Those inputs have been immeasurably >> valuable. I pondered the thought of stripping details from 'living' names, >> and editing the relevant pages, but the task got too big. I've got around >> 8,500 names covering the ancestry of my grandchildren and still more names >> to enter (proffered by one of those distant relatives.) when I get time. >> The original website still exists, of course, as a local entity (8Gb) and >> available only to select relatives. >> Gordon >> On 12/01/2022 7:37 am, Bill Young via CoTyroneList wrote: >>> I have seen a number of mails on family tree research recently. >>> >>> Is there a move in this direction; and, if so, can we post family tree data >>> to the site? Provenance and accuracy are always going to be issues but it >>> may be worth hosting current versions of members’ GEDCOM files on the >>> understanding that they are the responsibility of the individuals who post >>> them, not of CoTyroneIreland. >>> >>> Best regards >>> >>> Bill >>> >>> J W (Bill) Young >>> +41 76 391 6556 (WhatsApp & Signal) >>> +44 74 2904 9955 (Telegram) >>> >>> >>> ================================= >>> Send a Message to the List - [email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]> >>> List Archive - >>> https://list.cotyroneireland.com/empathy/list/cotyronelist.list.cotyroneireland.com >>> >>> <https://list.cotyroneireland.com/empathy/list/cotyronelist.list.cotyroneireland.com> >>> Join the list by sending an email to - >>> [email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]> >>> To receive the Digest version, send an email to - >>> [email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]> >>> Unsubscribe by sending an email to - >>> [email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]> >>> ================================= > > ================================= > Send a Message to the List - [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > List Archive - > https://list.cotyroneireland.com/empathy/list/cotyronelist.list.cotyroneireland.com > > <https://list.cotyroneireland.com/empathy/list/cotyronelist.list.cotyroneireland.com> > Join the list by sending an email to - > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > To receive the Digest version, send an email to - > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > Unsubscribe by sending an email to - > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > ================================= > > ================================= > Send a Message to the List - [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > List Archive - > https://list.cotyroneireland.com/empathy/list/cotyronelist.list.cotyroneireland.com > > <https://list.cotyroneireland.com/empathy/list/cotyronelist.list.cotyroneireland.com> > Join the list by sending an email to - > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > To receive the Digest version, send an email to - > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > Unsubscribe by sending an email to - > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > =================================
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