Ladies and Gentlemen, This salutation does not include Roy Stockdale because he does not fall into either category. This professional genealogist is an old hand at this game - drop into a mailing list, join in a few discussions and wait for an oppurtunity to set the cat among the pigeons (or sitting ducks). A simple question sets him up nicely for his patented barrage of insults which are both cruel and unwarranted. He claims to be "frankly astonished" when he knows full well it is just the type of question that a "Newbie" would ask. Why this list is his target has not yet emerged, but a few months ago he was unsubscribed from a list for exactly the same behavior. There he subscribed to the list as Robin Lane-Pudsey apparently primarily to draw the list administrator into a battle. The name, he later informed us with glee, was actually "his dear old mum's address - Robin Lane, Pudsey, Yorkshire. He retired from the list after handing out some extremely rude comments. Why this admittedly well-informed man has to play these tiresome and childish games when he has so much more he could offer is a puzzle. But now people here have risen to his bait and are getting hot under the collar and most conveniently fufilling his ambition to stir things up. It has made the list lively for a few days but now it is uncomfortable and should end. I have hopes that he will now retire from this one. Gill Smith

Enough Enough! I can't take no more! First we had Homer (not sure if it was that yellow faced chap on TV) Now we have Pudsey! Will it be Pooh Bear nnext? Seriously though how about getting back to what we are here for? If Gill is correct then so be it, maybe the guilty party will let us all research our Family History/Genealogy in peace! ~Genealogist do it in trees!~ What do you mean, my birth certificate expired? Chris History of the villages of Dorset, Hampshire and Isle of Wight http://southernlife.org.uk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gill Smith" <geneagill@i-zoom.net> To: "Isle of Wight List" <ISLE-OF-WIGHT@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, September 27, 2009 11:32 PM Subject: [IoW] Re : A mischief maker in our midst > Ladies and Gentlemen, > > This salutation does not include Roy Stockdale because he does not > fall into either category. > > This professional genealogist is an old hand at this game - drop into > a mailing list, join in a few discussions and wait for an oppurtunity to > set the cat among the pigeons (or sitting ducks). A simple question sets > him up nicely for his patented barrage of insults which are both cruel and > unwarranted. He claims to be "frankly astonished" when he knows full well > it is just the type of question that a "Newbie" would ask. > > Why this list is his target has not yet emerged, but a few months ago > he was unsubscribed from a list for exactly the same behavior. There he > subscribed to the list as Robin Lane-Pudsey apparently primarily to draw > the list administrator into a battle. The name, he later informed us with > glee, was actually "his dear old mum's address - Robin Lane, Pudsey, > Yorkshire. He retired from the list after handing out some extremely > rude comments. Why this admittedly well-informed man has to play these > tiresome and childish games when he has so much more he could offer is a > puzzle. > > But now people here have risen to his bait and are getting hot under > the collar and most conveniently fufilling his ambition to stir things up. > It has made the list lively for a few days but now it is uncomfortable and > should end. I have hopes that he will now retire from this one. > > Gill Smith > > ************************************** > You can contact the Isle of Wight List Administrator by emailing: > Isle-of-Wight-Admin@rootsweb.com > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ISLE-OF-WIGHT-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

On 27 Sep 2009 at 18:32, Gill Smith wrote: > Ladies and Gentlemen, > > This salutation does not include Roy Stockdale because he does > not fall into either category. > > This professional genealogist is an old hand at this game - drop > into a mailing list, join in a few discussions and wait for an > oppurtunity to set the cat among the pigeons (or sitting ducks). > A simple question sets him up nicely for his patented barrage of > insults which are both cruel and unwarranted. He claims to be > "frankly astonished" when he knows full well it is just the type > of question that a "Newbie" would ask. > > Why this list is his target has not yet emerged, but a few months > ago he was unsubscribed from a list for exactly the same > behavior. There he subscribed to the list as Robin Lane-Pudsey > apparently primarily to draw the list administrator into a > battle. The name, he later informed us with glee, was actually > "his dear old mum's address - Robin Lane, Pudsey, Yorkshire. He > retired from the list after handing out some extremely rude > comments. Why this admittedly well-informed man has to play > these tiresome and childish games when he has so much more he > could offer is a puzzle. > > But now people here have risen to his bait and are getting hot > under the collar and most conveniently fufilling his ambition to > stir things up. It has made the list lively for a few days but > now it is uncomfortable and should end. I have hopes that he > will now retire from this one. > > Gill Smith It's a pity - and perhaps an illustration of your own research skills - that in your otherwise very amusing and entertaining message you can't manage to spell my name correctly! My name is NOT Roy STOCKDALE. It's STOCKDILL, a variant of the Stockdale name from Yorkshire - and I can be extremely boring on the subject, being probably the world's foremost authority on it and the Guild of One-Name Studies- registered member for the surname, but I won't bother to give you the definitive history today. I also edited the Guild's Journal, the Journal of One-Name Studies, for 10 years and twice won the FFHS's Elizabeth Simpson Award for the best family history journal because I've been a media professional for over 50 years Actually, I never targeted the list, nor do I any others. I joined originally because I was researching the ancestry of a very famous person in the media who had a somewhat dubious ancestor from the IoW. This for my series on celebrity ancestries in Practical Family History magazine, a sort of Who Do You Think You Are? in print, one of my numerous projects. The archives of the list will reveal the full story if you or anyone else bothers to look at them. I did not get any help or responses but simply stayed because I thought I might be able to help one or two people with their own researches. You make it out to be some kind of conspiracy, which is utter nonsense. I hang around and help people when I can. And, BTW, Robin Lane-Pudsey was my grandparents' address, not my mother's, so that is something else you got wrong. I am still a member of the Yorksgen list and my messages still appear there now and then. The Administrator of the Yorksgen list, Janice, I should add, is actually a good friend of mine and we speak regularly and meet now and then at fairs, etc, as Janice runs a very commendable commercial company supplying Yorkshire data and I, amongst wearing numerous other "hats", am chairman of the London Group of Yorkshire Family History Societies. The formal world of UK genealogy, to which we both belong, is sometimes incestuous and mysterious to outsiders and maybe that's our fault! However, as I have repeatedly said, my expertise as one of the UK's best-known and leading genealogists is at the disposal of anyone who cares to ask me a sensible question. -- Roy Stockdill Professional genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE