Genealogy Chat

Thank you to all those people who have helped me find my great grandfather. See below.

I was given some information on my great grandfather a long time ago, before I got involved in this lark. I always took it as true. There was his parents, birthdate, place, everything. Then when I started this I decided to check, mostly to teach me how to do it. I have searched everywhere for William Ketley. Census, records, nothing! I had his age a couple of years out, but that didn’t upset me too much as I heard he had changed it to come to Australia. Then I found another WilliamKetley, same district, five years later, same parents names(different family). Which one?? So many people helped me. Then yesterday a breakthrough!! Someone answered a message saying he belonged to the first William’s family and had never heard of him. So he was the William Ketley who died the year after he was born. When I first got the info years ago, I was going to get a proper headstone made for William as all he has is a marker. I don’t know what stopped me. Now I’m glad I didn’t. So if you are new to this, please check everything you are given or told. I now have an almost complete family history for someone who is not related. That’s fine. The correct family can have it. But it has taken a long time.

I can identify with this. My Husband and his Sister were always told that their Gt Grandfather was a well known magician and was a founder member of The Magic Circle. I contacted Paul Daniels who sent me a lot of info about the man, and it really seemed like the stories were true. Since starting this genealogy business I have discovered that it was in fact their Gt Grandfather's Brother who was the magician. Another legend bites the dust!

Just nudging so those on different times get this.

Yes a lot of unreliable info goes around from the generation born in the early 20th century ive found-the wars distorted memory in my opinion- Ive sorted quite a few so called family legends-secrets and half truths abound.

Oh, well got the teeshirt for that one, first week on here an american cousin tells me he is a rellie, gives me info back to the 17th century. I did query a few things like a 16 year old boy marrying a 28 year old woman but he assured me it was all correct, hed been to Utah personally etc. Fast forward, I start looking at the line again and horror of horrors the guy he has followed back from in 1821 is not the right one. He, probably not having localised knowledge, jumped on to the line of someone with same name, born same year but in Richmond Surrey not Rotherhithe Surrey. The Richmond guy was alive and kicking at the same time as my rellie. So had to scrap everything he gave me from 1821 backwards. I sent him all this info explaining Richmond is a very different type of area to dockland Rotherhithe - but he wasnt having any of it, he had done this for 2 decades blah blah blah.