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  #1  
Old 30-08-23, 10:47
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I know this is only a hobby. The information is in the public domain, and recording info on those who are dead cannot hurt them.

That said, it is upsetting to see close relatives appearing in people's trees when there is no blood relationship. Someone who I contacted to get her to correct an error in her tree in the 1700s has promptly raided mine, and added dozens of my close relations who I haven't even put online.

I have privatised my main trees until she hopefully gets bored.

But why does anyone do this?
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Old 30-08-23, 11:12
Olde Crone Olde Crone is offline
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When I first encountered the internet more than 20 years ago, I eagerly shared my tree with someone. I was horrified to see they had copied my remarks about my parents, word for word. My mother had only recently died and my father was still alive. I have never shared my tree since then. My online tree stops with my long dead grandparents and any prior connections I drip feed until I feel they are genuine researchers, not just name gatherers.

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Old 30-08-23, 13:14
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Certainly, everyone has missed the juicy stuff about the husband of one great aunt. Virtually all the stories he told about his family were misleading - except going to Canada, probably to escape his mistress and his then wife, who both promptly clobbered him for money and divorce on his return. He didn't marry my great aunt until post 1939, when he was looking for a family to sponge off in retirement. My new found cousin hasn't found the marriage, so killed off my aunt in the wrong name, in the wrong place and at the wrong time. Ha!

Yes, I too let the cat out of the bag in my innocence many years ago. I could tell this was a straight copy as "Legacy v4" appeared as a note on everything!

My offline tree has the interesting stuff: the stories, nicknames, scandals. My online, just the Janet and John stuff. But I struggle to understand what value a name without a personality has to anyone.
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Old 30-08-23, 13:18
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I can't say this really bothers me, though I don't understand the mentality.

However, I was absolutely incensed when, decades ago now, I shared part of my tree with someone in the US and afterwards she proudly told me she had had them all baptised into the Mormon faith so that I didn't have to worry about their souls.

As it happened, I wasn't worrying about their souls, but I was irritated that my devoutly religious ancestors (Quakers in this case) had been put through a process they wouldn't have wanted.

I have just read this, "In Latter-day Saint belief, the dead have the choice to accept or reject the services performed for them." - I didn't know that before - so I shall just have to believe they rejected the service!
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Old 30-08-23, 13:22
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Ancestry really seem to be encouraging "name collectors" now - they keep showing notifications saying "we think we have found XXXX's mother" or "father" when XXXX is only in my tree because s/he married one of my blood relatives. Also when I view XXXX in my tree, it will show these suggested parents and has an easy way for me to add them to my tree by clicking on them. So I imagine that newbies may just click on everything and end up with unnecessary additions to their tree.
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  #6  
Old 30-08-23, 16:52
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I get a lot of hints for people I don't even remember adding to my tree.

I am tempted to either: scream and shout in comments on other trees where things are obviously wrong or, when I've calmed down, put up alternative trees. Of course, Ancestry doesn't hint at the correct details.
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Old 30-08-23, 17:28
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Oh, and I've discovered my living (and my dead) cousins in several trees.
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Old 30-08-23, 18:00
Olde Crone Olde Crone is offline
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I get a lot of hints for a woman I have told Ancestry many times is nothing to do with the woman of the same name on my tree.

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  #9  
Old 29-10-23, 22:55
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I privatised my tree for a month, hoping my stamp collector would go away. Just checked, and she's pecking away again. She's added 3000 names in that month, in a tree full of unacknowledged errors. My tree is now unsearchable until 2024.

I wouldn't mind if she asked, or got things right. I suppose I should be grateful that she's helping the misinformation.
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Old 30-10-23, 09:39
ElizabethHerts ElizabethHerts is offline
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Family Search trees are horrendous too.

I had a notification over the weekend about a change to my Alexander ancestor in Avebury. He was born, married and died in Avebury. Now he has been allocated a different father from a different parish and included in a different family and I'm struggling to change it back.

Part of me thinks that if people want to believe this rubbish then let them, but the perfectionist in me is incensed.
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