Genealogy Chat

I've hit a brick wall with some of my families so started branching out with siblings and the families who they married into etc. now its getting confusing as quite a few seemed to marry into extended family. I have a few surnames turning up several times. If I add them to my tree and they turn out to be related to someone else in my tree with same name will it send everything haywire. For example I have a girl who married a John Cobley in my tree, now I've just found a Thomas Cobley from the same place who married another family member. I dont know if these Cobleys are related or not. If they turn out to be it won't show it in my tree will it? I don't know what I'm doing anymore! Help. Carole xx

Best advice is to forget about your tree on this site for a while. Get a decent family history program for your computer, if you don't have one already (Family Tree Maker is used by a lot of people on here). These programs can cope with any sort of relationships you care to throw at them (cousin marriages etc etc) Then when you have sorted out everything, you can upload your tree from your home program onto GR and amazingly, the GR program will accept all those little problem relationships that you cannot load manually onto this site! Merry

If you just want basic tree software for now that can cope with cousins marrying etc. you can download one from free from www.familysearch.org follow the download/orderproducts link and get PAF 5.2 I got it just as a starter and I've never bothered with anything else. It's not so good at printing charts but it is really simple to use to add names to your tree. You can upload a Gedcom of the tree you have on here as a starter and add the other names to it.

Cant resist it 'Uncle Tom Cobley and all' - not related is he?

Just what I thought, Heather, and perhaps they'll all turn out to be a load of all cobblers? jay

If this did not happen we would have needed a population of billions in medieval times. I think espescially in small villages there were a lot of connections between familes and also different generations.. I have brother and siter marrying brother and sister those Trollope's again. Tribal pages also gives you an option to link to anyone already on the tree. Gene's are obviously thinking about upgrading their tree software.

Thanks for replies all, I really must get this sorted. I've just had such a shock! I've found one of my rellies aged 18 described as a concubine, in the same house as a prostitute and the house is run by a Sarah Balls a washerwoman!! Carole xx

Carol , you can also download a free Legacy tree to do ;; it is very similar to FTM and will give you a clue what it is like without spending money;; Babs