Going back to my Cornish lines has been eye opening! I did some of this research years ago, and was perhaps not as diligent as I should've been. There are many common names, and it was too easy to just assume that John Oats married Jane Ellis, when in fact there are multiple Jane's he could've married.
Just yesterday, I noticed a Julian Oats marrying a Paskow Greinfield/Grenfell. I had Julian as a male, and Paskow as a female --- as did many online trees. Well, that's WRONG! Paskow is the male, and Julian is his wife. This was confirmed via the OPC site (see below).
So, I've gone back to doing multiple checks to verify I have the right couples, and subsequent children. My process involves:
Checking the OPC (online parish clerk) database - for baptism, marriage, burials
Checking the British Newspaper Archive - birth, marriage, death announcements, and other articles
Checking West Penwith Resources webpage -- they have Parish BMD's and other valuable info
Checking online Ancestry Trees -- this can be very unreliable, but sometimes gives you a hint to further research on the above sites.
Checking some Private databases I have access to (from Cornish Association of Victoria)
So, bottom line -- be diligent, don't just accept an online tree/hint, without documenting!
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