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Week 5: Oops! #52Ancestorsin52weeks


If Genealogy had a ‘Prime Directive’ it should be ‘Do not take other people’s information at face value.’ This is something that I'm sure everyone is guilty of at at some point.

What do I mean by other people’s information? 

Well, family stories for starters. The ones that get ‘passed down’ with no real evidence to back them up. One that springs to mind is the notion that the Stepeks originated in Sweden. I think Martin’s sister once saw a portrait in Sweden of a man who bore a great resemblance to their father. That added to the story or may even have started it!  Research has found that Swedes did settle in the area where the Stepeks lived in Poland, but not at the right time in history. DNA testing of family members has thrown up a small percentage of Scandinavian DNA – but that seems to be linked to the other side of the family. The lesson? Go where the research takes you – don’t go trying to find connections where they may not exist.

Copying information willy-nilly from other people’s trees is also a no-no. But it’s so easy to get excited and rush down a rabbit hole when you think you have found something new. Take a moment to look carefully – does this tree have the source of the information? Most don’t. Or most cite other people’s trees. Some are just careless, people having 'found' someone with the right name in the right place but where the dates are just obviously wrong. But remember no sources doesn't always mean the information is wrong. But check it out for yourself. If they found it somewhere, you should be able to as well. Only then should you add it to your tree, especially if it's one that is shared online.

Those ‘Hints’ and ‘Thrulines’ on Ancestry?? Again, check and verify.

One small ‘Oops’ can lead to a whole lot of wrong information in your tree. Or in my case a great frustration! My biggest OOPS has been in my source citations from Scotlands People. For years I have been adding the sources I have found on Scotlands People and adding a weblink to them, so that others can go look at them too. However, recently Scotlands People updated their site - and the weblinks no longer work. You get told ' your URL may be out of date' or 'this page seems to be missing'.

Well it's not missing, it can be found easily again but it is no longer there at a click of a mouse. And of course, it also affects all of the trees I have, which is really frustrating. Now I also download the record, which of course I could also have done in the first place. OOPS!


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