CHESHIRE-L Archives

From: "Bill Brown" <>
Subject: [CHS] Genesconnected and Brickwalls
Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 12:50:37 +1100

Where are the photos of our ancestors? For many of us the answer is; "Lost - probably burnt or buried".

Greetings

Where are our ancestor's original documents? For many of us the answer is the same; "Lost - probably burnt or buried".

What will happen to our genealogies, our family trees and our records in the future? Our computers, our software and our file storage medium will be obsolete.

In past weeks the has been discussion of the rights and wrongs of Copyright, of Commercial Exploitation, of Commercial Morality, of Brickwalls, of sharing information, of "brainstorming and more.

The new site, which some of us seem to dislike, seems to be an answer to many problems.

I entered some of my family tree some days ago. To do so I had to Register and obtain a Password. That took a few minutes. The entry of a section of the family tree - and I used the donkey method, not Gedcom, was quick and simple. At that stage I could access my family tree on the site, but nobody else could. I could also see the tree. The program matched my entries against the database and listed the total number of matching surnames, for each surname, "in all Trees including yours".

The Search facility allows search by Surname further refined by, if required, first name, middle name, year of birth, place of birth. The search returns a list of the people that match and gives their birth date, place of birth and an Envelope symbol (the contact for the submitter). To send a query to the person that provided the information cost Five Pounds (Annual Subscription). If you subscribe, you send your query, and you are asked if you want to give the other person permission to view your Family Tree - permission that you can withdraw at any time. Your email address is provided to the submitter - but until they respond you do not have the email address.

What are the weaknesses; at the moment only 1,572,000 names and 171,827 Registrations - but the Registration numbers suggest a large number of surnames. They may make a profit (What are they in business for?) Do I care? I do not see my family tree as something of commercial value to me. If it helps somebody else build theirs, so much the better. I do not really care if somebody uses the data - I sourced it - I do not own it.

I think that the www.genesconnected.co.uk site could achieve what many of us have been trying to achieve - quick, cheap and easy access to more data - and contact with person that knows the source and accuracy of that data.. If we all give it a shot it will work. It will complement sites like Sue Lund's, it will not detract from them. How could it?

I need to knock down some "brick walls" and I probably do not have all that much time there is left to do it. I need the information now and I need more genealogy and less "off the topic"..

A personal viewpoint.

Bill Brown, Sydney, Australia

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• [CHS] Genesconnected and Brickwalls by "Bill Brown" <>