Top 5 errors not to be made in genealogy

Our advice for beginners genealogists (but not only!), To avoid wasting time and following bad tracks!

Some time ago, we shared our Top 5 Gold rules in genealogy, a precious article for beginners in genealogy, but not only.

Knowing these golden rules is a good start, emails are still a few errors to avoid to guarantee the reliability of your research, prevent unnecessary losses of time because genealogy is time-consuming and ensuring that it remains a pleasure and not a bag of nodes without outcome. 

1 - Blindly trust the data found on the internet 

One of the first errors made by beginners is to trust the genealogical data unreservedly found on family data sharing sites. If research seems simple and quick, the quality of information sometimes leaves something to be desired.

Some genealogists share false information, intentionally (to avoid looting genealogical data, yes, it exists) or not (error is human): erroneous dates, family ties or invented events and other inconsistencies. You must just find tracks, clues, to check, always! Never copy the information found (and do not much less copy a branch or the tree in its entirety!) Without having verified it by looking for the source in the departmental archives or other reliable archive databases. 

Vous risquez bien des misères à ne pas vérifier ces sources : vous pourriez remonter tout une branche d’ancêtres qui n’ont aucun lien avec vos « vrais » ancêtres. Démêler le vrai du faux en fin de compte est un vrai casse-tête. 

Si l’information est bonne, retrouver l'acte sera facile puisque vous disposez, par exemple, de la commune et de la date de l’évènement. Vous pouvez l’entrer dans votre arbre et même indiquer la source  !

If the information is false, you will not find the act in question or you will find an act concerning another person in the family, perhaps. So do not consider this information as true, do not enter it in your tree as long as you have not found any documents or evidence to confirm it. 

2 - Do not note everything and keep

This error echoes, inevitably, to one of our golden rules: note everything. 

Do not note everything has several drawbacks. First, that of wasting time in your research when useful information has not been annotated in the acts you spent time finding. But also, that of potentially preventing you from unlocking a genealogical obstacle. 

Know that all the information noted in acts and registers can be significant, one day. A date, a place, a name, a relationship of kinship, a profession and more, all these elements can be useful to deepen your research. 

In the same vein, Keep a maximum of family documents. When the time comes to sort them, difficult to know what will be really interesting and useful. Better to prevent than cure, we advise you to keep it as much as possible, if not all. These documents will have a value one day, sentimental and genealogical, and if you do not interest you, they will be able to interest another sheet of your tree ...

3 - Take conclusions without proof

You have not found the death certificate of your big uncle, no trace in the censuses, so you deduce the year of his death ... Error! Your big uncle was able to move to end his life with one of his children, or else he worked between two residences and was forgotten in the censuses ... Several reasons may explain that we lose, at one point, the trace of an ancestor in the archives. Do not deduce from the facts! 

Put yourself in the shoes of a detective, without evidence, his work is worth nothing. This is the vision that we have of the genealogist, without evidence, no conclusion. 

But it is true that certain evidence is difficult to find: missing or destroyed registers, forgetting, exceptional life course ... In this case, it is better to try to cross the available sources. Your ancestor may not appear in the census, but he may have attended the baptism or the marriage of one of your leaves. Crossing the sources makes it possible to take stock of the scene, the dates, the events, so that it is more likely to get your hands on your ancestor. 

4 - Believe that you have a relationship with someone who has the same surname

To all those who have always wanted to have a relationship with a celebrity or to those who see drawings in all those with whom they share the same surname ... Genealogy is beautiful, but it does not work like that! At the risk of disappointing, you may not have a family link with someone who has the same last name as you. 

But to have a clear heart, only one thing to do: the race for cousinage. Raise the branches and leaves on each side until you find a common ancestor or a kinship. But it will not be easy since most often you will be complicated to go back before the 16th century (except noble origins). 

Also note that the spelling of the surnames has greatly evolved over time and over the feathers of the priests. Do not ignore these spelling changes, they are important for your research. 

And above all: no conclusion without proof and do not trust the data on the Internet!

5 - Ignore other family members or skip a generation

It may not be obvious to everyone, it is in any case much more advice than an error not to make: Note the information on other family members, not only on your direct line. 

For what ? Because the most information you will have on a family, easier will be the search for evidence (cross sources, for example). But also because acts concerning brothers and sisters, children, a second marriage or other, will undoubtedly allow you to unlock genealogical knots. 

Do not jump from the first blockage either, you may miss out on important information. Jump only a generation if it allows you to quickly return to the blocking, to end it. 

All this information will also help you imagine the life and family context of your ancestors, and as genealogists, we know how exciting it is.