Hot match on GenesReunited

[hawthorne052]

Hi I am new to this forum. But I wrote to GR regarding their hot matches
and the reply was not very helpful. My gripe with GR is they only do English B,D,Marriages and Census. They do not do Scots as we have our own site. What bugs me is I get an email asking if this is my relative they have found in the Census. Naturally is the English Census.

I am researching Hawthorne, McCallum, Quinn, Corr, Johnston,Rae in Lanarkshire
Sharkey, Maguire Carr - Dublin and Killybeggs Donegal
-MacDaid, Quinn Madden Mooney in Antrim, Londonderry, and Colerain

Hawthorne052

[paddyscar]

Welcome to TalkingScot, Hawthorne052. We're glad you've joined us!

Your frustration is well understood by some of us, and others have had some good matches come out of there. While their site only gives access to English records, be assured there are plenty of Scottish families whose trees may eventually return a match that grows a whole new branch on your tree.

We're here to offer support and help, so come back often with your comments and questions!

Frances

[joette]

Yes Welcome to TalkingScot Hawthorne.Hope you stick around.

I too get peeved with those "Is this your Ancestor"? as most of mine are Scottish with a flavouring of Irish(more on that later)
However I had to eat humble pie when lo& behold one of mine turned up in England & indeed "It was my ancestor"

I see you are researching Corr/Carr in Lanarkshire & Donegal.I have Kerr/Carr from Donegal & later in Abbey Parish -Nitshill & then Kilsyth,Cumbernauld & Lanarkshire. Maybe there is a connection?
Hugh Kerr came from Donegal c1840's with his children Ellen,Mary,James,Hugh,John & William.He had I think a brother Cornelius living in Kilsyth in 1871.
Ellen married twice to Michael Monaghan & David Cameron.She also had her only child Margaret Waddell nee Leitch with Archibald Leitch. James married Martha McCann & Hugh Sarah Boyd.

Any bells ringing.As they were illiterate & their surname spelling varies from entry to entry but GR doesn't allow for this variation so maybe that's why we have never Hot Matched! ever the optimist!

[Russell]

Hi Hawthorne052

Can I add my welcome to Frances'.

I can understand your frustration with the sweeping claims made by Genes Re-united about the links they can make. You at least got a reply. My complaints have been totally ignored so far
Don't just delete the 4 or 5 pages of hot matches. One or two of the close matches may get back to you and it's good to be prepared.

On the plus side though, I have made contact with several more distant relatives and exchanged useful information. Most of the contacts don't last long because our family lines are too far apart.
Even though I allowed my membership to lapse I can still reply when a member contacts me. So 2-3 years of membership for someone starting out on the trail could be a worthwhile investment even if some of their claims relate solely to England and you grind your teeth in frustration.

Russell

[hawthorne052]

Thanks everyone. Re the Carrs of Donegall dont know much about them. My Great Grandfather was a Patrick Maguire who married a Margaret Carr but I haven't done much of that side of the family tree. Been concentrating on my Father's side. Also doing my late hubbies and my brother in laws. His is Docherties, Murphys Bells. Have had some contact with GR regarding my hubbys side and met up with a cousing who I had not seen for years. Russel, Oman is a very comman name in Caithness. Lived there for 30 years. It depends where abouts your relations came from. I lived in Thurso and there were a lot of them there. Will visit the forum again but need to close as someone is at the door.

Hawthorne052

[ninatoo]

Hi hawthorne052!

Yes, you know me, distant-ish cousin, through the Corrs, Quinns and especially the Maddens. Welcome to TalkingScot!

Nina

[Big Eagles]

Can't say my experiences with GR has been too bad - yes there are some barking mad hot matches, but it only takes a couple of success stories to keep the momentum going...

Having only recently started on this - I managed to find distant relatives out in Aus. who showed as hot matches. Got them to have a look at my tree and with a quick couple of emails it looks like we are there...now I just have to find the time to build them into my tree...

So it's not all bad - just sometimes a tad frustrating...

[Spacot]

Hi
I know exactly what you mean I am researching John Kelly Glasgow, and get hot matches from all over the world, but what really ticks me off is his daughter Annie who died at 2 weeks in Glasgow I can get pages of hot matches , I wonder why if they can filter for names and DOB why not area as well?
Lynn

[Russell]

Hi Lynn

I don't know if anyone else has welcomed you to TalkingScot. Glad you found us and we are all enthusiastic about solving family riddles. We do it for fun. Genes Re-united puts up Hot Matches for a different reason (Money ) If they made their search engine too specific you would only get about four matches and it would cut out all the matching names/dates where no place of birth has been entered. I think that some of the new searchers would get a bit disheartened with such a small number of hits.
We, on the other hand, prefer problems which have frustrated folk for months. No guarantees of success but we'll have a bloomin good try

Russell

[Spacot]

Thanks for the welcome Russell,
I am quite pleased with Genes really They have put me in touch with 5/6 family members who have moved from Scotland, and this has helped in filling in a lot of blanks. I tend to get 6 to 8 pages of new hot matches every 2 weeks, I did not know the name pool was so low. Today, for example, I recieved no less than 32 Matches for Elisabeth Cook all born same year, none born Scotland, but I would not be without it, it has helped me a lot.
If you really like brick walls, I have one for you.
Thomas Sanson born Cockburnspath E. Lothian 23 Feb 1807 to Thomas Sanson and Margaret Dickison, Died 27 Sep 1871 Glasgow.
Marries Katie Kennedy born Circa 1816 Colmonnell Ayrshire to Gilbert Kennedy and Mary Donochan Dies 13 Mar 1868 Glasgow.
First 3 childern born Edinburgh, in Edinburgh 1851 Census Glasgow 1861 Census.
No record of marriage anywhere, I know they were Free Church, I have been struggling with this for 4 years now any ideas?