No Replies from Ancestry Contacts

I do still get messages via Ancestry from other Ancestry users with regard to DNA matches, though the vast majority are in response to conversation I have initiated.

 

Death is definitely a good explanation for getting no response to an email! I watched one of the old RootsTech presentations on how to find the people behind your DNA matches. There were a couple of suggestions not included in Peter's Masterclass which I tried out. Unfortunately I could not access most of the relevant white pages websites as they block European users to get round having to comply with GDPR regulations. However, unfortunately I did manage to find obituaries for two of my matches. Which left me wondering why they still appear in my match list. Unless someone else is paying the Ancestry subscription presumably they will eventually disappear.

 

They don't need to be Ancestry subscribers to appear in your DNA match list, they just need to have had their DNA tested with Ancestry. Even if they have been Ancestry subscribers in the past and have created a tree linked to their DNA results, that will stay there indefinitely, unless someone deletes it. That's my understanding anyway, though I could be wrong.

 

Thanks. That must explain it, because the accounts aren't being explicitly managed by someone else.

 

Would that be why I have received no reply to the two messages I sent to the person with the largest match after my niece? It was to the person managing the tree. If she is a relative, even by marriage, would she still not pass on the query to him? Unless all he cared about was ethnicity.

 

Although I have posted elsewhere about an Ancestry contact responding after 10 months and promising to get back to me with an answer within the week (which incidentally did not happen), I have now had a reply to a Message sent to a completely different Ancestry researcher in May 2019 (repeat 2019), but this time have struck gold.

I had asked if the person knew why our shared Ancestor (my paternal 6th Great Grandfather)-apparently born in Calais, France (c1660) - came over to the UK and settled in Dover, England and where all their descendants remained and raised families in the UK after moving to Gloucestershire. I had pre-guessed they might have been fleeing Huguenot persecution, and the reply -this time within the day - confirmed that was indeed the reason. So news indeed and the first Huguenot connection in my Tree that I know about.

He has promised me stories and pictures of descendants and have sent him my email to allow him to send them as attachments and eagerly await same.

Who said everything comes to him that waits? Not sure and to be truthful had forgotten all about my original message. I have no idea why it took a year before the person replied and made no reference to the time delay. Perhaps he did not notice my message was posted a year previous!

 

Yes, I am permanently logged in ......

 

I always reply out of courtesy when I know the match is not linked to my side of the family, explaining that the connection is visa my cousin's paternal family which has not been researched since my interest interest is in the maternal line only.

 

I have also contacted DNA matches as well as possible links via Ancestry messages only to receive no response. Before I send a message check to see how recently the other person logged on to Ancestry. If it is more than a few days ago, I don't bother. I always reply to messages I receive via Ancestry. Leaving a comment on someone's tree is reliant on them looking at the person you left the comment on.

 

Yes but as I get an email telling me of a response to a message (even one ages old) that triggers me checking the actual Ancestry message. Even though I am on Ancestry daily I often fail to notice the Message number has increased so without the email reminder, I too would likely take a while to respond. The only difference being that I always do respond and with an email reminder, that is likely same day.

Mind you I agree that if someone has not logged into Ancestry for weeks, that should be enough to remind one is unlikely to get a reply any time soon, if ever.

 

There is an option in the email settings to 'receive emails when others add comments to your tree.' But of course the person would need to have this option switched on to receive an email notification. So I agree it's much better to message them, assuming they've logged into Ancestry recently - if not, they wouldn't see the message, unless prompted by an email to log in.

 

I have received brilliant information from people commenting on my tree (it doesn't happen often). One of which took a brick out of one of my stodgiest brick walls, that of my 3x great grandfather, which gave me his birth date and place (which I was missing) as well as some members of his family and the possibility of more cousins. I now also have the most likely names of his parents.

Plus it told me that my 3x great-grandfather was able to write quite an impressive letter in the 1850s.

Unfortunately I haven't gotten much further than that, but that's ok with me!

 

One thing I've wondered is, if you add a comment on a person in someone else's tree, and another Ancestry member then links that person into their own tree, does the comment get copied across with the other information?

 

No, I don't think it does, otherwise everyone would be interlinked across trees. (somewhat like how FamilySearch's tree function seems to work). I think other people can see the comments on your tree though.

And you can see people's comments on records.

 

If I've contacted somebody and I get a reply saying thanks I'll fix it. I'll check and if it doesn't get fixed within a reasonable time I'll leave a comment as an aide to other researchers, likewise if the tree owner has not logged in for some while.
It's my personal effort to prevent perpetuation of errors.

 

Yes, that's why I sometimes add a comment on someone's tree, though 'thanks I'll fix it' messages are somewhat rare in my experience.

Recently I found a cluster of about 20 trees all linking two siblings incorrectly to someone in my tree, despite a bucket load of readily available evidence to show who their father actually was. Two of the trees seemed to be owned by serious researchers, and I messaged one and added a comment to the tree of the other. The one I messaged did eventually reply but not very politely (understatement of the year!), while the comment I'd left received a grateful response within 24 hours, with their tree already updated.

 

Some people don't like being corrected, even if there is bucket loads of evidence!

I've had a few corrections, which I'm always happy to take and alter where needed! I've sent one or two suggestions to other users with obvious issues and never received a reply!

The comments I have received are generally speculation - i.e. that an ancestor of mine followed his only daughter to Australia, even though I haven't managed to find a death notice (there were some references in papers etc, citing the name and occupation.); and suggestions on where to search - the latest one was a reference to a newspaper article that moved one of my brick walls back a generation.