Enquiry About How Research Was Undertaken
Here I am sitting at home on a rainy day here in New Zealand working on my family history.
Firstly, let me say I find this LDS site a godsend in terms of clear and comprehensive information on genealogy. I was stunned to see that my family tree can now be traced back to one Paul Camys in Hampshire, England in 1500, which is something I would never have been able to do had I continued on the road I was on. Wonderful, simply wonderful! My question however centres around that data & the tree itself.
Of course it's one thing to say someone was born at a particular time and place into a particular family, bit of course to be considered truly valid and accurate, it needs to be verifiable.
Can someone tell me how I could contact whomever did the "hard yards" and researched the tree back to that time? I would love to talk with them online about where they fit into the tree and exactly how they achieved the task they achieved. And of course, I would be willing to collaborate with the wealth of data I already have. One of my problems (!) is that I have been with a company called My Heritage for a decade but now find there are limitations with that.
Thank you again, and blessings for all your hard work.
John Beadle
Auckland
New Zealand
Answers
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If you're talking about Paul Camis (CWMQ-HG4), born "ABT. 1500", it looks like the record as a whole was added to the Tree by a certain Christopher Blair Taylor, from uploaded GEDCOM Data, username "TaylorChris1". By each datum that is unchanged fom that import, you'll see a link to his username.
You can click on that and you'll see a "Send a Message" button; you could try sending him a message that way.
I see that at least one other user has made contibutions of data to that record, username "WingNatieRae1", no name on the account but an associated e-mail address. You might also try sending that person a message within FamilySearch, via e-mail, or using that e-mail address to find and contact her some other way.
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I wouldn't get too carried away by the information attached to this ID. For example, the only sources attached are for children born when he would have been in his 80s or 90s - if we are to believe the "about 1500" birth detail. The children added have births between 1524 and 1599 - a strong clue that this is all totally unreliable information.
As suggested, you might wish to contact those who have inputted this information, but it appears to have been carelessly added, based on past efforts by users of other websites.
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One post has been edited to remove personally identifying information.
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I seriously don't understand this process. I had taken my family history back to the mid 1800s and a bit earlier by judiciously following up specific people from specific identifiable sources. Then, almost by accident I miraculously stumbled across other links back to 1500- then, another back to the 1400s!! I couldn't believe my "luck"!!!!!!!
But then I thought, hang on, how do I know these records are reliable and valid- as I believe they should be? Anything I have, I can show the nitty gritty to family members who are also hanging on by a thread.. I can back up what I have on my tree!
But in this case, the ONLY evidence I have of anyone doing anything is a name- in this case one Christopher Blair Taylor. So I click on Mr Taylor's link so I can converse with him as to the origin, validity and reliability of this data.
Zero response.
So at this stage, how do I know Christopher Blair Taylor even exists? And how do I now he hasn't just made up these links back to the 1500s? Because those are the sorts of (embarassing) questions family members are firing at me.
Now I know that Mr Taylor is probably a hard working, dligent member of the Church and I do not wish to malign him or impugn his credibility. But am I being unreasonable in wanting to talk with an actual human being about these family history results so I can determine their origin?
Thank you.
John Beadle, Auckland, New Zealand.
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Hello again davidleelambert re this enquiry. I note you say that "the username "WingNatieRae1", no name on the account but an associated e-mail address. You might also try sending that person a message within FamilySearch, via e-mail, or using that e-mail address to find and contact her some other way.
I'm unsure of where this leaves me. Returning to Paul Camis (CWMQ-HG4) I can see neither a reference to "username "WingNatieRae1" nor can I see any email I could contact- unless- I'm looking in the wrong place? Are you able to forward the email so I could contact this person?
Many thanks.
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Like you I am a non-LDS New Zealander.
The FamilySearch Family Tree (FSFT) is an open-edit tree that any FS user can edit. That format has advantages in being able to see research people have already done and make contact, but also the disadvantage that people can add false or poorly researched information.
You are completely correct about the need for all facts to be verified by reliable sources. Unfortunately, because it is not compulsory to add sources, there are many unverified or wrong assertions in the FSFT.
So unfortunately, if you don't hear back from the editors who added the information you have doubts about, you're on your own, and you'll need to add sources yourself. If you encounter information you can prove is incorrect, then you should delete it.
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