Genealogy Chat

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I have about 450 relatives on my tree and have got well and truly stuck right at the top with Hugh Munro c 1740. I think he is connected to the Munro's of Fowlis which is a very well documented tree but I can't prove it. Would a one name search help? WHat is a one name search and what is an area search?
I've already paid a sum of money to a genealogist to carry on from my research but he didn't turn up much -having said that - I'd pay quite a lot to find out where Hugh came from!!

Oops sorry....pressed delete by mistake :)

Hi Margaret
Ordinarily doing a One Name Study wouldn’t necessarily expand your tree, but the Notman family is a bit unusual in that the name originated in Tranent, East Lothian, Scotland, and theoretically all Notman’s should be able to trace their roots back there

When I found some in my tree I realised that they were a very small family and decided to specialize in them. So far there are about 500 on my tree, and I have built about 30 other Notman tree’s, some with less than 100 people on them, others with as many as 3,000, as I find the links so I join the trees together.
….and of course since I ended up with countless Tranent records while researching the Notman’s, an Area Study seem the next logical step

Hi Jan

All agreed. I would add that I didn't think of someone doing a one-name study, expanding their tree as a result. I am doing one myself, but so far it is in a separate tree, and probably contains about 10,000 names, mostly as yet uconnected. My tree on Genes only includes my proven connections (well, mostly) of about 1,800 people.

I must add to your Point 8. I find it so often. Never, ever, put the names of living relatives, and particularly kiddies, onto a public website. I got one woman tellng me exactly where her 5-year older daughter was born, her nickname and the name of her favourite cuddly toy. The mind boggles. First of all the scare of some crank using that information, and secondly what does she hope to glean from it? Surely no-one else is going to know the identities of her child's parents/grandparents etc any better than she does.

Margaret

Well said! I have to say though, that very few people these days (now I've given away my age!) don't seem to learn manners at all!

A different Christine

Thank you all for taking the time to read this, and for adding to it :)
Jennifer....no huge respect due I'm afraid :)
The only reason I have 11,000 rellies on there is because, apart from researching my own personal ancestry, I am also doing a One Name study, and an Area Study, this particular tree has elements of all three, which is why it is so large. Obviously I am connected to everyone on my tree, but some of the connections are really quite distant

11,000 rellies!!! Huge respect!!

Jan
I more or less agree with all you have said - but if we have a match I will be telling you I won't open my tree as it is useless. It contains a few names but everything else is Offline and I would offer to email it to you.

Also - Capital Letters. Everyone should be very careful how they use these as they can be read as 'shouting'. Your capitals don't 'shout' they 'plead'.

Well put.
I have lost count of the number of people I have told
Please remove dates of birth of living relatives.
When you open a bank account they ask for mothers maiden name as a security question. They think who will know that. They have reckoned on us genealogists plastering them all over the internet.


When I first started I copied info from someone elses tree in my ignorance. I now know to use the tree as a guideline other wise I will copy thir mistakes. That can take a lot longer to put right especially if someone then copies your tree.

I am suspicious when someone opens a tree with thirty thousand plus relatives. They may be genuine or have they just copied trees by gedcom?

Some sites with auto fill translates British placenames into American placenames if you are not careful. For instance Greenwich becomes Greenwich Village New York.

Yes, some very good points.

I would say, however, that it is unlikely that the Data Protection Act applies to information contained in family trees. as it would fall under the category of research, which is outside the scope of the Act.

I agree with everything you have said

Most of the people who get in touch with me through Genes, are lovely people, who learnt the basics of “good manners” at their mother’s knee. Their enquiries are always accompanied by the word “please” and they invariably respond to a reply with “thank you”, regardless of whether I’ve been able to help them or not.

Others aren’t quite so well versed in the best way to approach potential contacts. So I thought that it might be a good idea to put a thread up where people can add hints and tips for new members….and for older members who can’t quite work out their “p’s and q’s”.

1. ALWAYS say please when you are asking people for help/information/access to their tree.

2. ALWAYS acknowledge a reply

3. NEVER ask someone to open their tree to you if you have no intention of opening your tree to them. I am constantly amazed by the number of people who think this kind of behaviour is acceptable. I've lost count of the people who have contacted me and said that they haven’t bothered opening their tree to me because they haven’t got very much on there anyway…... that’s not the point. Personally I don’t care how big or small a tree is, there is a principle at stake here.

4. ALWAYS make it clear who you want information about, giving as much detail as possible. Last week I had a “pm” with the heading “Hot Matches” ….All the message said was “What’s your connection to Robert” …nothing else. How am I supposed to know the answer to that? I have about 500 “Roberts” in my tree.

5. If someone contacts you about a potential connection, please acknowledge it. Even if it’s only to say “Sorry, not my relative”.

6. PLEASE give people time to get back to you. Many researchers don’t spend all of their time on Gene’s or researching their tree (odd, I know. I don’t understand it myself, but that’s just the way it is) they may not turn the computer on more than once a week. Others may be busy. In my own case I put a Gedcom of my Ancestry tree on Genes three weeks ago, it contains over 11,000 documented people….as you can imagine I was getting people contacting me left and right…I think the record was 40 enquiries on one day. Each enquiry takes time to answer. A little patience from (some) people would have been gratefully received.

7. PLEASE do not take information from people’s trees without asking them first. Personally I don’t usually mind, but even I get annoyed when I suddenly find that someone with whom I only had 1 “hot match” last week, now has 4,567 relatives in common with me. Afterall I have spent thousands of hours researching my tree, and enough money on it to justify my Bank Manager having to buy his Valium tablets in bulk....it's a bit unfair just to take that information "wholesale".....and why would anyone want to?...where's the fun in that?

8. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not put the details of living relatives onto your tree. You may be (justifiably) very proud of your partners/parents/children/grand children/nieces and nephews, but you put them at risk of all sorts of things by putting their details on a public forum.

....and, finally....Thank you for taking the time to read this thread. If you think of anything I've missed, please feel free to add to it.

Jan