Family History

Pandoren, you seem to have had a problem with people wanting your research. I think this can be a problem for everyone, though with Asperger one can be more vulnerable to pressure from people.  I think it is okay to exchange information, but you do have to be careful of people who just want to take information and 'run'. As you will know this research takes hard work, money and time. People can be quite unpleasent if you don't pass it on to them, but I'm not sure I would give valuable research to someone who was being unpleasent to me.  It is difficult to know the best course of action if you are dealing with a relative.

I also have been cautioned about the accuracy of some of the information on familysearch. As I understand it, if the information has a Batch number it has generally been taken directly from the parish records and is therefore fairly accurate. The results with '1991 members' on the read-out are the least likely to be accurate, I understand.  I am not sure if they took the 1991 attribution off the results when they changed the system a couple of years ago.  Some of the old files still had it on at that time.

As you say, you also have to beware of the family trees that are copied from the incorrect information. I always tell people that they should double check all information against another source - as there is so much incorrect data out there. I constantly have people coming to me with the same type of mis-information as you describe, where the dates of deaths,age and children do not correlate, but the people just haven't questioned it. 

Rootschat is good isn't it.  I have been on there to browse but never requested information.  I like the way you can isolate the area you need research from. From the posts that I've read on there, the users seem very helpful.  The site I've used the most is 'ancestry', though I did try 'genes reunited' for a year or so. 

You seem to have found some interesting stories amongst your ancestors.  Doesn't it feel good when you find a person with an interesting past, like your would-be murderer. Think - people in the family would probably have been hiding that man's history for decades, feeling it was shameful, but when we find someone like that it is really exciting.

Pandoren, you seem to have had a problem with people wanting your research. I think this can be a problem for everyone, though with Asperger one can be more vulnerable to pressure from people.  I think it is okay to exchange information, but you do have to be careful of people who just want to take information and 'run'. As you will know this research takes hard work, money and time. People can be quite unpleasent if you don't pass it on to them, but I'm not sure I would give valuable research to someone who was being unpleasent to me.  It is difficult to know the best course of action if you are dealing with a relative.

I also have been cautioned about the accuracy of some of the information on familysearch. As I understand it, if the information has a Batch number it has generally been taken directly from the parish records and is therefore fairly accurate. The results with '1991 members' on the read-out are the least likely to be accurate, I understand.  I am not sure if they took the 1991 attribution off the results when they changed the system a couple of years ago.  Some of the old files still had it on at that time.

As you say, you also have to beware of the family trees that are copied from the incorrect information. I always tell people that they should double check all information against another source - as there is so much incorrect data out there. I constantly have people coming to me with the same type of mis-information as you describe, where the dates of deaths,age and children do not correlate, but the people just haven't questioned it. 

Rootschat is good isn't it.  I have been on there to browse but never requested information.  I like the way you can isolate the area you need research from. From the posts that I've read on there, the users seem very helpful.  The site I've used the most is 'ancestry', though I did try 'genes reunited' for a year or so. 

You seem to have found some interesting stories amongst your ancestors.  Doesn't it feel good when you find a person with an interesting past, like your would-be murderer. Think - people in the family would probably have been hiding that man's history for decades, feeling it was shameful, but when we find someone like that it is really exciting.