Wikitree

I run google searches on my ancestors when doing research and just for fun. One site that comes up often is Wikitree.  I find Wikitree intriguing.  I  like it's setup with a pedigree format for ancestors.

I was using it for the Wilson family and generally speaking there's always more generations on a Wikitree than my database.  Wives have maiden names and generations extend one, two or more generations.  I never believe any of that.  In the case of  Gregory Belcher it had his mother's name, something I did not.  The page for her makes it clear that none of it could be true.  But someone did unearth a marriage record for a Thomas Belcher and Elizabeth Mason in nearby Mancetter which is where Gregory marries.  I find this compelling.  I also note they give burial dates for  both Thomas and  Elizabeth.  This is more information than I had.  Assuming no one is making this stuff up out  of whole cloth, these records exist.  As I stated in my own recounting of  Gregory Belcher, no one has done an article on his  English origins yet.  There seems to be good evidence of it.

But on the same thread, they had the parents of Nathaniel Spear who married Thankful Woodward as Ebenezer Spear and not Nathaniel Spear Sr.  This is demonstrably incorrect.  I couldn't see how to lodge a protest to correct it.

So I use Wikitree for clues.  Their medieval information is extensive but spelling and naming are not uniform so it can be difficult to navigate who is who.  It is a useful tool and more navigable that Ancestry's trees (which you have to pay for).