Saturday, March 5, 2016

Are you sure that "find" is really your ancestor?

Many beginners, when researching their family tree, find a name and approximate date which seems to fit and assume that they have found their ancestor - and stop looking. A recent inquiry relating to someone called William Howard turned up the following entries in the Hemel Hempstead baptismal register which clearly demonstrates why you have to be careful:
It shows that two different babies called William Howard, with different fathers also called William Howard, were baptised in the same church 8 days apart ....
For many more similar examples see 

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