I didn't say discard it - but when it contradicts other information, some people are too willing to say "oh but it's a CERTIFICATE, so it must be right. " In the family I'm currently working on, out of 9 birth/marriage certificates not one is 100% accurate. So because the certificate says he was born in one place doesn't mean he wasn't the person arriving from another place, only that the person filling in the certificate had misconceptions or misinformation. cheers Min At 05:12 PM 29/01/2009, you wrote: >Min, > >Perhaps you are being a little harsh. How about certificates >sometimes include errors? It is good to have a healthy scepticism, >but until one finds contrary information then the certificate is the >best source. The historian's job is to collect information from a >number of sources and then interpret it. > >All good questions you raise, but 200 years on most likely >impossible to answer them. > >I suppose what I am getting at is don't discard a piece of >information too easily. > >Best regards, >John > >- original message - >Subject: Re: [PJ] Help - Duggan William >From: Minuet <minuet9@internode.on.net> >Date: 29-01-2009 04:50 > >I'm the first person to say that certificates are almost never accurate ;) > > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >AUS-PT-JACKSON-CONVICTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word >'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus >signature database 3809 (20090129) __________ > >The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. > >http://www.eset.com