Unable to undo incorrect merge due to subsequent changes
A user recently created a new family of 3 new individuals (person, wife, and daughter) based I think on a single census record, then incorrectly merged the person with a pre-existing one, and followed that by deleting all connections the pre-existing person had to parents and siblings with just the reason 'incorrect' or 'incorrect location' and no note, source or reference.
I've been trying to track down what happened, and after finally finding the answer went to undo the incorrect merge. However, since the user (or possibly myself while trying to rectify the error) made changes since the merge it is no longer possible to undo it.
I've attached a screenshot of the prohibited Undo Merge with the user's details blacked out, but the IDs of the existing (GK6Z-9YN) and newly added (PHJG-W8D) William Brownes visible.
Any suggestions on how I should proceed ?
Best Answers
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Go to the profile for the deleted person either by using FIND by ID or by clicking on his name there in the View Merge screen:
Click Restore Person.
This will bring back that deleted person in the same state it was just before this merge. It does not affect the surviving person and you will have to manually put back all the information that was on the profile. The Change Log can help in that process.
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The Undo Merge function becomes unavailable once additional editing is performed after the merge is complete. At that point, you have to use the restore function that Gordon mentioned. Unfortunately, that also means it will no longer revert cleanly; depending on what editing was done, sources, relationships, notes, memories and events might "stick" with both profiles after the restore, and will have to be corrected manually. It becomes a real mess if there are multiple bad merges or if multiple people in relationships are merged — i.e. husbands, wives and children/parents.
I deal with having to revert mass-mergings a lot. This one was relatively minor, so I just went ahead and reverted all the changes myself.
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Answers
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@RTorchia - re your comment "I deal with having to revert mass-mergings a lot. This one was relatively minor, so I just went ahead and reverted all the changes myself."
Thanks for restoring the recently added and incorrectly merged William Browne (PHJG-W8D).
Thanks also for reconnecting my great uncle William Browne (GK6Z-9YN) back to his well-researched family, parents Ellen Purtell 9981-N7Y (1869-1944) and Edmund Browne GW3P-N3G (1863-1938). Unfortunately many of the sources for that research are behind an Ancestry paywall on one of my second cousins' trees. I've just started adding the freely available records that I have to the FamilySearch tree - mainly baptisms and marriages fromhttps://registers.nli.ie/ and civil BMD records from https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/, but it'll take a long time. I've already added a note to William Browne (GK6Z-9YN) summarizing all the dates and stating that the sources are behind the Ancestry paywall .
I also saw that you made changes to another fairly recently added William John Browne PC1F-L1Q (1900 – 1960) who married Margaret McDermott. This William Browne, despite the difference in death years, is in fact, the same person as William Browne (GK6Z-9YN). Since you seem to have done a fine job of fixing the incorrect merge, I wonder if you'd care to take a look at doing this merge? A couple of bits of information that aren't yet on the FamilySearch tree that might help. His wife Margaret (McDermott) died in childbirth (their son William John) in 1925. He remarried in 1927, to Grace Dix and I think that Grace may be recorded as William John's mother in later censuses.
The death year of 1978 for the senior William Browne GK6Z-9YN comes from my second cousin's Ancestry tree, but I can't see any sources. She also has a middle name for him - you've guessed, John.
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And thanks to everybody else who replied.
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I guess posting here wasn't a good way to ask @RTorchia to do a merge for me.
No matter, I've done it myself. ☺️
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