Before the internet came along my cousin Ruth (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hope-4693) generously funded an incredible amount of family history work from a professional genealogist. She died in 2022 and since then I have wanted to expand and preserve that work and so, by default it seems, have become the current family historian. It’s an activity I will be pleased to share with anyone else who is interested!
There are three processes that one needs to manage:
1) Research on individuals
2) Preservation of the research in a family tree
3) Turning the research into a readable story
This article sets out how and why I use Ancestry and WikiTree for the processes of research and tree creation.
Research
There will still be some instances where original research of paper-based archives is necessary but most research can now be done online. There are a number of searchable databases. They provide access in return for a subscription. Some are general and some have a specialist focus but, having tried a number of these, Ancestry has the most comprehensive and easy to manage search facilities.
If you build a family tree on Ancestry, processes in the background will pop up suggestions for linked records. This help is not altruistic on Ancestry’s part – its business model is based on keeping people subscribing. In addition, by taking a DNA test, it is possible to identify and reach out to distant or long lost family members if they have also uploaded a test.
Family tree
It is possible to draw up a small family tree (parents, grandparents, a few siblings) on paper. However, the numbers of people to keep a record of balloons as soon as you go wider or deeper. There are stand-alone and online software database options and all have their shortcomings. It is tempting to take the ‘easy’ option of building a family tree on Ancestry if you use it for research but there are some serious drawbacks.
One major drawback is that there is no ‘version control’. In other words individuals and their relatives can, and indeed are encouraged to, create our own trees. Not only can birth dates differ, for example, but I believe that one could create a fantasy tree comprising prime ministers or presidents. I have seen many trees with errors where someone has unquestioningly accepted an inaccurate Ancestry ‘hint’.
The second major drawback is that you have access to your tree only while paying Ancestry’s subscription – although other paying members may be able to see and link to it. Stop paying and you lose access to your research until you subscribe again.
I have found that the best alternative place to develop a tree is on a site called WikiTree. It is funded by advertising to non-members but is intended to be permanent and free to registered members who sign their honour code.
WikiTree is creating a single, shared world family tree, with one profile per person in the database. It does sometimes happen that two or more profiles are created for the same ancestor by different researchers but there is a procedure for merging them and resolving any differences. There is a strong emphasis on recording one’s sources. The act of doing so helps prevent errors. Moreover, there is a strong community spirit amongst contributors. Some build the software and others will help if one is stuck on finding a particular source or connection. There are also online groups of people with shared genealogical interests.
The one downside of WikiTree is that its demand for rigour in quoting sources means that starting a person’s profile on WikiTree is a bit of a pain initially but it does get easier. The biggest time saver is the WikiTree Sourcerer add-on for Chrome, Firefox or Safari. It is brilliant for extracting source information at a click and pre-formatting it to paste into the profile: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:WikiTree_Sourcer
WikiTree does not have any external research facilities but it is great at what it does as an open and permanent repository for one’s research.
From a person’s profile one can follow links to their parents, siblings, spouses and children if those have profiles. A good example to explore is my Gt, Gt, Gt (‘Third great’) Grandfather on my mother’s side, William Hopes (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hopes-65).
In the current (2025) version of the WikiTree profile, the first view one has of his profile is of the ‘Family’ tab where one can see as much of his biography as I’ve been able to record.
The next tab is ‘Ancestors’ and, in William’s case there are none recorded at the time of writing.
The third tab is ‘Descendants’ and clicking on this will reveal all those I (and others) have been able to identify. If you drill down, these include the twentieth century entertainer Bob Hope (Leslie Townes Hope https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hope-152), my parents and me (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hards-139).
But there’s more!
Going to William’s name at the very top of the page there is a dropdown menu which reveals a large number of other ways of looking at the data. This includes the useful ‘Compact Tree’ and, if you have a WikiTree Profile, ‘Connection to me’. You can, in fact, enter any two WikiTree IDs in the ‘Relationship Finder’ to see how they are related.
At the bottom of the dropdown menu there is ‘Tree Apps’. Clicking on that gives another dropdown and a lot more ways of presenting the tree. I do not yet know what many of them do!
In summary, Ancestry is a great research tool and is focused on providing subscribers with access to a growing collection of several billion records and DNA analysis tools to build their family history – but errors are easily created. WikiTree does not have external research facilities but it is a permanently free, community-driven platform that is focused on the collaborative creation of a single, well-sourced world family tree of which, after all, we are all a part.
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On 4 May, Garth Kay-Hards posted a response on The Hards Family Genealogy group on Facebook where I had posted a link to this article. He helpfully said:
“I enjoyed reading the comparison of Ancestry and WikiTree. You do say in there…
The second major drawback is that you have access to your tree only while paying Ancestry’s subscription – although other paying members may be able to see and link to it. Stop paying and you lose access to your research until you subscribe again.
“No, I have a totally free Ancestry account and I can build what I like as normal. I just can’t access any of Ancestry’s hints without them asking me to subscribe. I copied the 27000 profile account of my cousin’s tree (where I was invited in as an editor, over to my tree via RootsMagic on my computer. I can use Ancestry’s Search, up to a point, before subscription is asked for, and I can use their GEDCOM upload and download facilities too. And, I can invite anyone into my tree as a Guest, Contributor, or Editor. When a paying member stops their subscription their tree falls back into a ‘free’ account.
“I have my main tree in Ancestry but I have set up just my Hards and Hood blood lines in WikiTree and Geni. And, of course, FamilySearch, which I use a lot to look for certificates etc. Actually I started in Geni before my cousin invited me into his Ancestry tree. I have tried GRAMPS too and some others but I have found that, overall, Ancestry is the easiest to manage and has the most pleasing view to work in.
“WikiTree love to try and connect people to famous people like the film stars – and I have seen Bob Hope being one of these that they sent me ?. about 25 degrees (as they call it) separation. WikiTree has also been very useful for me in find folk like you guys to invite to this group.
All the online trees, unless they are made private, have the problem of folk adding info in that is not checked properly.
“RootsMagic is the only tree software that I have paid for ($35 one off) and it’s versatility in syncing with Ancestry and FamilySearch is great and really worth having.”
[Republished with Garth’s permission]
I replied:
“Garth, that’s a great, thoughtful response, thank you. I think I probably hadn’t appreciated how much you can access without a paid Ancestry subscription because any time I didn’t have one it just popped up a subscribe request. I also have a copy of Roots Magic and there is something to be said for keeping one’s ‘master’ tree off-line but I never got on with it. However, I can see it could be good the way that you use it.”