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From:
Subject: [HWE] Forgeries and Guestimates
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 10:31:46 -0700 (PDT)


Hello Listers,

With the indulgence of our wonderful concierge, Andrea,
I thought that it might be appropriate to raise a topic
that has flowed through the genealogy world for eons.

Perhaps it is a topic that needs to be raised once
again for the benefit of those who are just beginning
on their quest.

I shall use a situation that is current in our own
family research by way of demonstration.

Like many, we have good days and not so good days when
information is discovered by our own direct methods or
by information sent as part of the world genealogy
sharing idea.

An article was found in another family that mentioned
our name.

Now our name is not all that unusual in France.

However, it came from the "right" region and does
mention a definite relative.

Eureka! a major break was about to occur.

At some expense to those involved, we set off to
actually view the original document. Yes, we have been
caught before with photocopies that turned out to be
not quite what they appeared.

The said document appeared genuine and so all due care
was taken (hiring a latin translator) to ensure that we
had the word for word translation and the "meaning" of
the document.

To be short. The document would connect our family to
another of some repute which also had a very long
pedigree.

Accepting the document led to the next step of
exchanging information (.ged files and notes) adding
some 500 "family" members to our database.

All was well, until!

A cousin who is well qualified in Moyen Age France,
decided to spend his own money on a quality assurance
idea.

The paper was tested and found to have been in general
use in the 16th century and not prior. Unfortunately
the dates on the handwritten document refer to February
1186.

Who knows how many other people have used this
particular document as a primary source over the
centuries ?

It would seem that it can be far easier to disprove
than to prove.

And so to the general question as the beginning of this
topic.

a) How do you know that a primary source is genuine ?

b) Are there well documented cases of genealogy forgery
that have and continue to cause great difficulty to
modern genealogy ?

c) Why do people "guess" about their genealogy ?

I hope that this topic is not considered 'off-topic' as
I believe strongly that it is of importance to us all
to undrestand the difficulties that lay ahead, not only
in our own small section on Huguenot but for the rest
of our genealogical work.

Kind Regards,
Peter Leroy

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