Researching an unrelated soldier

[peterkennedy]

I would like to hear what forum members think of the following -

In 2006 I began researching an unknown serviceman whose name was engraved on a coin that had been in my family's possession for as long as I could remember. I hoped to find out how he was connected to my grandfather - who had served in The Great War in the RFA.

I managed to trace the officer named and even made contact with his descendants. His daughter was extremely happy with all the research I shared with her the family - all at my own expense. (The only thing that I asked for in return was a photograph of the soldier.) Now, after the daughter's death, the family are accusing me of invading their privacy and saying that I had no right to carry out this research. All records obtained were available either online or at The National Archives.

Any comments?

Peter.

[bigbill]

As you say, you obtained your information from from records which are in the public domain, so no problem there. If you have anything in print, letters, emails etc from the soldier's daughter indicating her approval and/or gratitude for your research, you should - if you can - shrug it off.

[KevinBattle]

You've done nothing wrong by accessing online information and it cannot be an invasion of their privacy by you.

I don't understand the family's agenda, you had a perfectly good reason for your research.

Perhaps it's that great god "Compen Sayshun"?

Humans are weird at times and leave them to their own miserable existence.

Don't let their misery affect you, just get on with your own life and tell them to "Go Forth" if they try and harass you further about this.

As per lancejack, keep any evidence of the lady's approval and exchanges to show that far from intruding she was encouraging.

You have learned that there's nowt so queer as folk, so take the positives and move on.

Don't let them affect you, sounds like you are too nice for your own good!

[Waddell]

Peter,

Were they specific in regards how their privacy was violated? I know records are available to the public but often their are details contained within them that a family might not want known or contradicts their memory of the person.

I think that if the coin was in your posession you had every right to research it's original owner though.

Scott

[tn.drummond]

It's an ethical area that requires a lot of diplomacy.

I've researched hundreds of soldiers, from postcards and photographs, using information from public sources (Ancestry, Local Papers, LG, War Diaries etc) but have only ever approached families on two occasions. On neither occasion was I seeking information it was just by happen chance, when I stumbled across a living relative, that I thought it would be a good thing to let them have copies of what I had found. Both contacts were pleasant and grateful but I gradually found myself being used as an unpaid family detective and then on the brink of various internecine intrigues. I bowed out gracefully from both and vowed never again to become embroiled.

Chastened by these experiences I began to feel a little uncomfortable with the collection I possessed before I received a piece of advice from a local antique dealer. He had a rather ruddier perspective than me feeling that any artifacts such as photos, medals and cap badges had come onto the general market because someone, somewhere and at some point had not cared enough about their relatives or family to preserve or take care of their heritage. As such they were best kept by historians, collectors and museums who had a vested interest in maintaining them.

Interesting point, and though a little more sanguine than my own woolly liberal values, it did alter my view to my collecting.

I think the family can be a nightmare unraveled One cousin may have cherished their grandfathers' memory while another cousin gave away the very same man's heritage to the rag and bone man in 1965 for the price of a port and lemon. Its this kind of stuff you can get drawn into.

My advice; leave families alone unless you are prepared to pass on all you have to them for gratis and as an act of benevolence. Try and exit immediately.

If seeking information be clear and transparent about your motives from the outset, tread carefully and stipulate from the outset what you are and are not prepared to do.

Good hunting !

Tim

[bigbill]

As Waddell says - your research started with your own family - your grandfather - so having the coin you were entitled to research outside your own family. You don't say for how long you were in correspondence with the daughter, but I would assume that at that time she would have let it be known to others in her family that she had news about her father? So why didn't they complain then? Again - let it drop, and move on.

[IPT]

When you say "the family", is this just one person?

They may just be a bit of an odd fish.

[peterkennedy]

Thanks for all your answers.

Basically you all supported what I think. I'm not worried about what the family think now, just wanted to know what other members feel - and if they have experienced the same thing.

The correspondence with the daughter was, albeit very sporadic, for six years including a meeting at which the now disgruntled family member was present (who did, to be honest, always come across as a bit two-faced).

Peter.

[mandy hall]

Part of the problem Peter, lies in the fact most people don't realise how much information is in the public domain and how much you can find out about people. Also people probably don't realise that you can buy anybody else's birth, death and marriage certificate.

I am currently reading the letters, that employees of Shippams Chichester wrote back to Mr A E Shippam during WW1 (including my grandad, great uncle and their mother). I know who most of them married, who their children and grandchildren are/were and when they died.

Mandy

[Dublin Fusilier]

Hi Peter.

You have gotten a lot of sound advice. If I was you i would put it all behind me and learn from it.

I was talking to a bloke selling cap badges at a militaria fair in Dublin and he told me that he bought a WW1 trio of medals to a soldier from the Liverpool Regiment and traced him back to a house in Liverpool and his family still lived there. He phoned them up and told them he had the medals and offered them back to them for the price he paid , I cant remember how much it was but it was a low ammount, they basiclly told him to stick the medals and that they never believed what their grandfather said. He said he would never try return medals again.