johnnie Posted 25 November , 2008 Share Posted 25 November , 2008 This is a bit of an odd one. About half an hour ago I went on Ancestry and it had a note in the corner saying they had just added SDGW. I searched and came up with the chap I was looking for (Pte C A Brown 41122) and printed off the page. I have now gone back for another look, and the link has vanished and there is no mention of it on their list of databases. All the mention now is the National Roll of the Great War which I know is not the same. Could this mean they are going to add SDGW in the near future? Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMannus Posted 25 November , 2008 Share Posted 25 November , 2008 They've probably taken it off line as they've made a boo boo of the 'Theatre of War' data base! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pighills Posted 25 November , 2008 Share Posted 25 November , 2008 It is there - try Here ........... you just need to know where to look. I don't think it's on 'general release' just yet, hence why it's hiding away amongst all the other databases and no announcement has yet been made, but from the sounds of it they're almost ready to launch it to the public at large (ie: those who don't look further than the front page of Ancestry!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnie Posted 25 November , 2008 Author Share Posted 25 November , 2008 I did wonder that. My chap who died of wounds in France had his theater of war down as Aldershot like a lot of others that came up from the search. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nawyecanny Posted 25 November , 2008 Share Posted 25 November , 2008 I did wonder that. My chap who died of wounds in France had his theater of war down as Aldershot like a lot of others that came up from the search. Jonathan Name: Charles Alfred Brown Birth Place: Eccles, Lancs Residence: Worcester Death Date: 7 May 1918 Rank: Private Regiment: Northumberland Fusiliers Battalion: 9th Battalion. Number: 41122 Type of Casualty: Died of wounds Theater of War: Aldershot Comments: Formerly 3/3638, Manchester M. Med. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 Actually this is quite worrying. Heres his SDGW entry. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tootrock Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 I recently e-mailed Ancestry about this, and I have just had a reply as follows: "Thank you for your email. If you would care to send me the details of a record having 'Aldershot' on our records, but that should be 'France and Flanders, I will be able to help resolve this. We do not have original images for these online, but I will do my best to determine where the mistake may have been made." I have just replied, pointing out that if one searches for Aldershot as Theater(!) of War one gets 559,707 hits. I also included a screen print of the first page of these entries. I will keep Pals informed of any replies. Regards, Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procat Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 Yep, will be interesting to see their response. Thanks Martin Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkie53 Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 I just checked my relatives' details & sure enough it says Aldershot. Ancestry is so unreliable. I have spent hours trawling for 3 brothers in the 1841-1851 censuses & so far have found their surname (HODGSON - so not uncommon) mis-transcribed FIVE times! And I have not found them all yet. This error with the SDGW is an insult to the brave men who gave their lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff brown Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 I did the same and again the theatre of war was Aldershot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linge Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 Unfortunately they are also mixing up Place of Enlistment and Place of Residence Pam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 Have just checked out my gt uncle Arthur Lawson, he was in the RFA/RFC. Ancestry have him as RHA.... theatre of war Aldershot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroline@linkagecomputing.co.uk Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 My Great Uncles theatre of war is down as Antwerp, only trouble he died in 1914 in Gallipoli. Many who are looking on line now during the free period and do not know or come across this wonderful forum will be left in the dark and totally confused. Caroline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tootrock Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 I have had a reply from Ancestry (see post #7 above) as follows: "Thank you for your email. I appreciate your taking the time to pass this on to us. I will need more time to research this further. When I have information to address your concern that there may be a flaw in this database, I will contact you. Thank you for your patience." May be a flaw? Perhaps other Pals should contact them as well (although that in itself is quite involved). I will also mention to them about the Place of Residence/Place of Enlistment confusion. Don't hold your breath! Regards, Martin Edit. I have just looked at all the 1060 men called John Smith. Most have Aldershot, others have Antwerp, Austria, Copenhagen, British expeditionary Force, Brough-Sic and, in two cases only, France and Flanders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkie53 Posted 2 December , 2008 Share Posted 2 December , 2008 I sent a message to Ancestry on 26th re "Aldershot" Theatre of War & today got an reply from them. They asked me to supply a specific name that had the wrong info to enable them to research what had gone wrong, so have done so & here's hoping they attend to this quickly. Others may like to follow suit - but do give them a name to look at, rather than just a general comment as I initially did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Watch Posted 2 December , 2008 Share Posted 2 December , 2008 Do Naval and Military Press own the rights to SDGW?. If so presumably they must have flogged it off to Ancestry. Can't see many people paying £300 for the CD now. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhclark Posted 3 December , 2008 Share Posted 3 December , 2008 Neil, I presume that you are referring to copyright? It is not possible to copyright facts, such as who died in the First World War, who my (or your) ancestors were, or indeed any other facts. What can be copyrighted is the form of presentation of those facts. Hence all the fuss over photocopying books or pages therefrom, and any other form of copying such as pirate CDs etc. Copyright basically applies to creative works, and hence you breach copyright by quoting or copying whole sections from someone else's creative work and passing it off as your own, be it a book, music (e.g. the celebrated case of George Harrison, Joni Mitchell and "My Sweet Lord"), or any other creative work. You also breach copyright if you take some one elses work, such as a photograph, and include it in a work of your own, such as a book. The law is absurdly complex, of course, merely to justify high legal fees, but the above is a "bush lawyer's" version. Ancestry claim that they have transcribed the data from Soldiers Died in the Great War, and they go so far as to quote their source material. They are presenting known facts in a different form. You can be sure that their legal team would be right on to this issue, and I very much doubt that they have breached any law. Noel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 6 December , 2008 Share Posted 6 December , 2008 There are differences still not corrected. SDGW disk and Ancestry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Walsh Posted 6 December , 2008 Share Posted 6 December , 2008 This error with the SDGW is an insult to the brave men who gave their lives. Now thats a bit much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnethmont Posted 6 December , 2008 Share Posted 6 December , 2008 It looks like Ancestry have got hold of the source of the SDGW database. How else could they be repeating the errors built into the CD? Are they seriously saying they have transcribed all the books and made the same mistakes, I don't think so. Add to that, in their usual way, they have distorted the details. Notice the spelling of " THEATER " It beats my why they are not compelled to spell the theatre or operations where British personel died correctly. Where will you find a similar mess made of the MIC cards, UK Censuses? Ancestry.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Clay Posted 6 December , 2008 Share Posted 6 December , 2008 It looks like Ancestry have got hold of the source of the SDGW database. Yes. And they tell us so: Source Information: Military-Genealogy.com, comp. UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2008. Original data: British and Irish Military Databases. The Naval and Military Press Ltd. Shame about the spelling but they are an American company. They do need to get the Theatre/Theater of War right, though. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esskay Posted 7 December , 2008 Share Posted 7 December , 2008 As a matter of interest I just tried a search only using 'Aldershot' as "Theatre of War"- it brought up 559,707 entries (out of total number they say is over 703,000) - while a similar search using 'France & Flanders' managed only 1373 Egypt, Mesopotamia and Gallipoli for example each brought up not a single entry!! Searching on 'Home" brings up 374 they classify as "At Home" - I thoughts dates of death of some of these were interesting (quite a number well into 1919) and from a random check of half of dozen or so - found they were actually listed as Russia or North Russia As we know, these errors totally debase the value of the information they are purporting to provide - what is the best way to contact them to highlight this does anyone suggest Cheers Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 7 December , 2008 Share Posted 7 December , 2008 And how do you get the message to all those who have accessed Ancestry and believe great grandad was killed in action in Aldershot? Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnethmont Posted 7 December , 2008 Share Posted 7 December , 2008 As we know, these errors totally debase the value of the information they are purporting to provide If they were providing it for free they could possibly be forgiven a bit. They are presenting this as fact and making a hefty charge for it. As with other things, I don't mind paying for a decent service. The other new theatre of operations is " Brough - Sic " . I thought Brough was a place between Penrith and Scotch Corner. According to Ancestry 32,566 soldiers fought and died in a campaign there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 7 December , 2008 Share Posted 7 December , 2008 Brough is also a place near Hull. Terrible place. The Germans overlooked you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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