The far reaches of my tree

[marquette]

I have been doing a bit of checking, looking to fill in some outer branches - I noticed that Ancestry said the man I was adding is "Step grandson of paternal 1st cousin of wife of 3rd great grand-uncle".

I think that's far enough. How far is too far sideways ?

I did not go there on purpose, I was just following the census records and wills and such-like and they have such interesting names!

Back to the 3rd great grand uncle and pick up another line.

[Merry]

It's totally up to you who you add to your tree!

I inherited a photo album with labelled photos mainly from around 1850-1900. Out of maybe 100-150 people, less than 5 are my blood relatives and the majority are related to the spouse of one of those relatives, some very distantly. I have a big chunk of my tree dedicated to to identifying as many of the photo subjects as possible and have probably managed about 90% of them. This hasn't just added 100-150 people to my tree - probably more like 1000! lol

I have two other branches that extend sideways a long way from my own relatives because the research was far more interesting than my bit - lots of complicated intermarrying. I call it research training! lol

[Olde Crone]

Anyone and everyone goes on my tree, even the ones who turn out to be nothing to do with me - in case I ever come across them again and forget I've ever researched them, lol.

I only ever had two matches on GR. One had a wonderfully well researched tree but our only common person of interest was the new husband of a widow who had previously been married to the son of a second wife on my tree, lol.

OC

[Merry]

Anyone and everyone goes on my tree, even the ones who turn out to be nothing to do with me - in case I ever come across them again and forget I've ever researched them, lol.

lol This happens to me a lot these days!!

[Olde Crone]

Years ago, when still on the hunt for James Holden's first wife, I happened on a very likely candidate and excitedly sent off for the marriage cert. Fortunately, I ordered it from the local RO, because they rang me and said - you do know you have already bought this, don't you?

What made it worse was that I already had the information in my tree! (Wrong couple).

OC

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Merry

lol This happens to me a lot these days!!

I was adding a great aunt's mother-in-law to the tree, and was surprised to discover that Stuckes was not a new surname. Silly me: possibly from the time I merged two version of the same tree, I had her married twice - to both Ted and Edward


I take my tree where ever my fancy leads me - which distressingly often these days is up the same garden path I followed in the past.

[ElizabethHerts]

I too am guilty of digressing from my main ancestral lines - and worse than that!

As OPC of a Cornish parish, I have transcribed scores of wills and I invariably make trees for the testator and beneficiaries. Initially, they were on my own computer but now I have started putting them on Ancestry as public trees to help people with their research, as often wills are the only way forward with one's research. I have also got quite a few trees to establish how I'm linked to some of my unknown DNA matches.

[marquette]

Originally Posted by ElizabethHerts

I too am guilty of digressing from my main ancestral lines - and worse than that!

As OPC of a Cornish parish, I have transcribed scores of wills and I invariably make trees for the testator and beneficiaries. Initially, they were on my own computer but now I have started putting them on Ancestry as public trees to help people with their research, as often wills are the only way forward with one's research. I have also got quite a few trees to establish how I'm linked to some of my unknown DNA matches.

I have been transcribing some wills from the Terrell/Tyrrell family which might be mine - trying to sort out the many Williams, Thomas's and Francis's. They are a helpful lot, often leaving money for mourning clothes for many relatives - which means I know who is not my branch (who don't seem to have left wills). I have also put them into my public Ancestry tree, in the hope that it will help someone one day - with lots of notes about the whys and wherefores.

I realise I have also wandered way off the tree before - one of OH's far cousins married a woman from an strange birthplace - well, I just had to check with previous census to find out if it was correct. Previous census showed she was living next door to some of my rellies in Berkshire.

Maybe I will keep going with the Lamottes, at least till the public records run out!

[Kit]

Follow whoever you want. Recently I was researching a distant-ish branch and found they intermarried into another family, not mine, regularly. As that other family affect part of my family I researched them a little and I think they end up marrying into my closer family later on. I just haven't got that far yet to complete the connection.

[Kit]

I've started making notes on my tree to try an avoid duplicating research as I spent days trying to figure out if the person in my tree was the person in the records I was looking at. Once I found the final piece of the puzzle to prove he wasn't my man I remembered that I had found that piece before, and worse it had only taken me hours last time to sort it out.

It remains to be seen if I will read my notes BEFORE I duplicate research but I live in hope, or delusion ...