Genealogy Chat

Ho hum...wonder what Joy is thinking ;-) I joined this site in its very early days and found it reasonably useful. I have contacted a couple of people who are related a few generations ago and I've been contacted by other people who wanted information about the people in my tree. I let my subscription lapse for 18 months because I had other interests to pursue and because I got fed up with the off-topic threads, requests for information people could easily find out for themselves and the politics of the various boards, which seems to be part and parcel of almost every online forum I have ever been involved in. I got quite a lot of abuse for suggesting (tactfully) that a newbie could look up the 1881 census online for free. After spending some time looking up some details on the 1891 census (which is only available on Ancestry which I pay for) and then been told....errrr sorry but John Smith of Yorkshire wasn't actually married to Ann in 1891...can't you find his marriage and children?....I gave up! I subscribe to Ancestry, have quite a few data CDs and other records bought from family history societies. I also have notes I've made from visits to various records offices. Occasionally I see a request for information where the person has hit a brick wall and really doesn't know where to go next. If I can help, I will. However, I'm blowed if I'm going to spend hours researching some family with vague details when the details could quite easily be found online and/or for spending a few pounds on buying relevant records. I'm all for making newbies feel welcome, but there's a fine line between taking away the joy of research and pointing them in the right direction. I'm very grateful that so much data is now available online, but it sometimes seems that people expect all their answers at the click of a button. As far as I'm concerned, the family history societies are the backbone of genealogy. Many people have given hours of their time over many years to transcribe records and they deserve a few pounds back in return when people buy their transcriptions. Sorry if that seems harsh!

Susan, you should not have had abuse. It is good to point people in the right direction, as well as helping if they have problems or no access to records that one might have. My thoughts are to do with not understanding the reasoning behind some being ''suspended'' and others evicted, especially when I take into account what has been done. Joy

Hope the copying and pasting is allowed on this occasion. In the terms and conditions, it says ''Any person whose access has been suspended or terminated must not re-register for, or re-access, the Genes Reunited Service without our prior consent. '' It could be worth the evictees (correct word?) applying? Joy

Joy This is a constant mystery to me - who or what can stop an expelled member rejoining in a new name? How on earth would GR know???? Bev x

An excellent question, Bev! There are so many questions unanswered (for me). I would not want anyone ''evicted'', but do not comprehend the reasons for Laird and Sherlock(?) being ''evicted''. Joy PS why do I have to type '' twice to make sure it comes out as '' and not as '?!

I am not sure how to explain. Yes, both words mean the same. Joy

I think, if I try, I may be dancing with fate. :-) Joy

probably too late for a reply, but i have to admit, i keep reading the success stories and i cannot add to it. everyone else seems to be finding family and i am glad they have. i have not, but never mind........ will keep looking.,

Peter - I believe Sherlock was given the boot for clogging up this very board with the same thread over and over again for about three whole pages' worth, specifically to draw some kind of response from GR. As for Laird, I don't know. Kate.

And yet clogging up a board had been done before. A strange reason, for me, for eviction. Joy

Now we've gone from clogged boards to boards with hardly any new messages, tips or requests for help - I seem to be looking at almost all the same threads as yesterday on page one and two! Sarah

As I said before, I would not want anyone ''evicted'', but still do not comprehend the reasons for Laird and Sherlock being ''evicted''. Others are ''suspended' for ... sorry, can't go on. Damocles beckons if I do. Joy

I'm sure it wasn't you Meercat; it could have been anyone, or no-one - we only have GR's say so that anyone complained. But the real problem is, do we really know or trust each other any more. Any one of us could be completely different to who we claim to be. Any one of us could actually be 2, 3 or more members, joining in different names. Any excluded member (and some have been excluded for being complete s****!) could be 1, 2, 3 or more members, having rejoined with new name(s). Who does all this complaining? We never know. Why do they do all this complaining? We never know! Why does GR remove perfectly innocent threads? Gawd knows! Why does this site attract so many troublemakers in the first place? Don't know the answer to that either. There are too many unanswered questions and that makes me uncomfortable. Bev x

Me, too, Bev. I have reported threads / postings to GR Abuse. They were because of extreme verbal abuse of me. GR Abuse advised me not to respond, which I didn't; some others did respond and defended me. Joy

Joy, Thats fair enough, but threads get removed that haven't a single profanity in them! It crossed my mind that those threads on many occasions tend to contain a few digs at GR. It probably doesn't look good to have members of the site complaining about the management on the boards in full public view.......... I doubt that GR would say 'we removed the thread because you aren't allowed to say what you think about GR' - that would really smack of 'police state website'. Anyway, its just a theory! Bev x

Hi, I stopped doing look ups a while ago because I was getting grumpy. The main reason was the ingratitude of some people who didn't even bother to say thank you to those who had spent ages (and money) on searches. Or deleted information given without acknowledgement. Or put the same request up on both boards wasting the time and money of others. Also I got fed up with people expecting others to spend money on their searches on 1837 or familyrelatives.org - not one-off requests but several a week, week after week. I have ventured back in the last few days with some advice but am not yet ready to spend time or money on stuff people could find for themselves. I'm not talking about newbies, I hasten to add. Gwynne

Deletions seem to be selective. There's one on both the general and the tips boards. That has not been deleted, nor reported presumably. :-) Joy

Wanting to ensure Peter Morgalla sees this, because he asked. :-) Joy

I for one, am slightly concerned that now the 'regulars' have stopped answering queries I am beginning to spot mis-information being posted. I am not talking about look-ups - which we all know to our cost should not be on this board - these continue to be accurate, as far as I can tell. I am talking about more general information, concerning historical social facts. I don't want to be specific as I am sure the advice/opinions were given in good faith - but they were inaccurate and in one case, downright wrong, presumably posted by members who do not have the research experience and historical knowledge that some of the 'older' members have. Having had a totally innocuous,very serious, very genealogical post deleted for no good reason (but I think, on the wrong board) I do wonder why MY posting was removed - without warning or explanation - and yet other blatantly mis-placed messages remain. Marjorie

Marjorie. i have noticed that very same thing. Because less people are taking the time and trouble to do look ups other less experienced people are jumping in with things which i agree are wrong, or at best mis-placed.- and thats coming from me, not an experienced researcher. With the current 'climate' one dare not interject and 'Criticise' or attempted to question for fear of aggravation, which is a bit of a sad old situation. Jess