Help:Conventions/Family relationships

Quick reference

Generally accepted relationships

When family relationships are proven or are considered to be generally accepted based on available evidence, they are indicated by links created in either:

• the “Parents and siblings family” and “Spouse and children family” sections when editing the Person page.
• the “Husband”, “Wife”, and “Children” sections when editing the Family page.

By WeRelate convention, only biological parent-child relationships are entered this way.

• Exception: Children who were adopted as infants and whose biological parents are not public knowledge.

No Person page may have more than one set of proven or generally accepted biological parents. No Family page may have more than one proven or generally accepted husband or wife. (Note that same-sex relationships are not well-supported by WeRelate at this time.)

• Exception: When a merge results in multiple sets of parents or multiple husbands or wives, these may be kept in place for up to 3 months while research is conducted to resolve the situation. In this case, a note should be added to the page to indicate that research is in progress to resolve the issue. If the situation cannot be resolved within 3 months, the standard relationship links should be changed to speculative relationships.

Qualified and indirect relationships

The usual way of entering family relationships is reserved for proven or generally accepted relationships, and (with one exception) for biological parents. WeRelate has templates that provide a standard way to indicate:

• Speculative relationships
• Refuted relationships
• That no relationship (of a particular type) is considered to be generally accepted
• Adoptive relationships
• Indirect relationships

Unlike the links of generally accepted family relationships (which are automatically reciprocal), each template provides only a one-way link. Thus, two templates should be added for each qualified or indirect relationship.

As with any fact, be sure to support it with sources and notes. The Speculative, Refuted, and NoAccepted templates in particular require explanation to assist future researchers in confirming or refuting speculative relationships or to convince them not to add refuted relationships as if they were generally accepted.

Speculative family relationships

A speculative family relationship is a possible relationship that is neither generally accepted nor convincingly refuted. Documenting these types of relationships encourages research to confirm or refute them.

Speculative relationships are usually expressed between a Person page and a Family page (like conventional family relationships), but can also link one Person page directly to another Person page.

Speculative relationship templates are entered in the Description field in the “Facts and Events” section. They may be entered on “Birth”, “Alt Birth”, or “Other” facts. They are used in pairs as follows (click on the template link for exact usage):

Example scenarios

1. It is known that John Sprague’s father was named George Sprague, but there were 2 men of that name in the area, one married to Sarah Dickson and one married to Anne Unknown, and it is not known which was John’s father.
   • Add SpeculativeParents twice to John Sprague’s Person page – one pointing to George Sprague and Sarah Dickson’s Family page, and one pointing to George Sprague and Anne Unknown’s Family page.
   • Add SpeculativeChild to the Family page for George Sprague and Sarah Dickson, pointing to John Sprague’s Person page. Do the same on the Family page for George Sprague and Anne Unknown.
2. It is known that Jane Eaton’s father was Samuel Eaton, and she is usually assigned to his first wife, Sylvia Unknown. However, there is also a good possibility that she was the daughter of Samuel’s second wife, Amanda Walker.
   • Link Jane Eaton to the Family page for Samuel Eaton and Sylvia Unknown as Jane’s parents (generally accepted relationship).
   • Add SpeculativeMother to Jane Eaton’s Person page, pointing to Amanda Walker’s Person page.
     • Note: If Jane’s birth year is estimated, and the estimate is affected by who her mother was, it can be useful to have an “Alt Birth” fact for the alternate estimate and to put the template on that fact.
   • Add SpeculativeChild to Amanda Walker’s Person page, pointing to Jane Eaton’s Person page.
3. A marriage record indicates that the husband’s name is Abraham Dieter and that he was born in a particular town. Other records provide two candidates who fit the description and are of a reasonable age for the marriage. There is insufficient information to determine which is the husband in the marriage record.
   • Create the Family page with Abraham Dieter as the husband, but no Person page for him.
   • Create a Person page for each Abraham Dieter with the information known about him from other records.
   • Add SpeculativeHusband twice to the Family page – one pointing to each Abraham Dieter Person page.
   • Add SpeculativeFamily to each of the Abraham Dieter Person pages, pointing to the Family page.
4. There is some speculation that Mary Smith married Henry Johnson, but it is not known that a marriage occurred or that they had any children.
   • In this case, there is no justification for creating a Family page, since it is not known if a couple existed.
   • Add SpeculativeHusband to Mary Smith’s Person page, pointing to Henry Johnson’s Person page.
   • Add SpeculativeWife to Henry Johnson’s Person page, pointing to Mary Smith’s Person page.

Be sure to support the speculation with sources and notes to assist future researchers.

Refuted family relationships

A refuted family relationship is one that was speculated in the past but has been shown to be incorrect. Documenting these types of relationships discourages contributors from (re-)adding refuted relationships as generally accepted relationships. Usually, it is only necessary to document refuted relationships that “refuse to die” (that is, they keep showing up in online trees or even published articles and books).

Refuted relationships are usually expressed between a Person page and a Family page (like conventional family relationships), but can also link one Person page directly to another Person page.

Refuted relationship templates are entered in the description field in the “Facts and Events” section, using a fact type of “Other”. They are used in pairs as follows (click on the template link for exact usage):

Example scenarios

1. Online trees (including WeRelate) have long identified Robert Brook’s parents as John Brook and Mary Lane. New (reliable) evidence shows that his parents were a different John Brook and his wife, Mary Singer.
   • Link Robert Brook to John Brook and Mary Singer as his generally accepted parents.
   • Add RefutedParents to Robert Brook’s Person page, pointing to John Brook and Mary Lane’s Family page.
   • Add RefutedChild to the Family page for John Brook and Mary Lane, pointing to Robert Brook’s Person page.
2. It is known that Jane Eaton’s father was Samuel Eaton, and she is usually assigned to his first wife, Sylvia Unknown. A journal published credible speculation that she was actually the daughter of Samuel’s second wife, Amanda Walker. This provoked a more thorough review of the documentation and discovery of a new source that proves Jane was, in fact, the daughter of the first wife, Sylvia.
   • Link Jane Eaton to the Family page for Samuel Eaton and Sylvia Unknown as Jane’s parents (proven relationship).
   • Add RefutedMother to Jane Eaton’s Person page, pointing to Amanda Walker’s Person page.
   • Add RefutedChild to Amanda Walker’s Person page, pointing to Jane Eaton’s Person page.
3. An early book about David Shell correctly identified his parents as Thomas Shell and Martha Hurd, but misidentified David’s older brother Thomas Shell, Jr., as the husband of Martha Hurd. This has been straightened out, but many trees have copied the incorrect information.
   • Link the Family page for Thomas Shell and Martha Hurd to the Person page for Thomas Shell, Sr. as the proven husband.
   • Add RefutedHusband to the Family page, pointing to the Person page for Thomas Shell, Jr.
   • Add RefutedFamily to the Person page for Thomas Shell, Jr., pointing to the Family page.
4. A journal incorrectly stated that Mary Smith married Henry Johnson, and this was perpetuated in other articles by authors who didn’t question the statement. Decades later, the error was realized, revealing that there was no basis for believing such a marriage existed.
   • In this case, there is no justification for having a Family page, so delete it if it exists in WeRelate.
   • Add RefutedHusband to Mary Smith’s Person page, pointing to Henry Johnson’s Person page.
   • Add RefutedWife to Henry Johnson’s Person page, pointing to Mary Smith’s Person page.
5. A book speculated that Martha, the wife of Henry Jackson, was the daughter of Samuel and Mary Jones. Recent research shows that this isn’t true, and that there is no evidence that Samuel and Mary Jones ever had a daughter Martha.
   • In this case, because Martha Jones didn’t exist, there shouldn’t be a Person page for her.
   • RefutedWife and RefutedChild templates can be added to the Family pages of Henry and Martha Jackson and Samuel and Mary Jones (respectively) with the name Martha Jones, but note that her name will be displayed as a broken link. Alternately, regular text can be added (e.g., '''Refuted Wife''': Martha Jones, which will display as Refuted Wife: Martha Jones) without displaying a broken link.

Be sure to support the refutation with sources and notes to help future contributors understand why they shouldn't add the relationship as a generally accepted relationship.

No accepted family relationships

A “no accepted relationship” template is used to positively assert that there is no person or family for which the indicated relationship is generally accepted. An assertion of this kind does not preclude speculative relationships of the same relationship type, but it should preclude a normal WeRelate relationship of the indicated relationship type.

No Accepted relationship templates are entered in the description field in the “Facts and Events” section, using a fact type of “Other”. They take no parameters (click on the template link for exact usage):

• NoAcceptedParents
• NoAcceptedFather
• NoAcceptedMother
• NoAcceptedChild
• NoAcceptedHusband
• NoAcceptedWife

Be sure to support the assertion with sources and notes to help future contributors understand why they shouldn't add that type of relationship.

Adoptive family relationships

Adoptive relationships may be between a child and a couple or a child and one parent (e.g., a step-parent).

Adoptive relationship templates are entered in the Description field in the “Facts and Events” section, using a fact type of “Adoption” on a Person page and “Other” on a Family page. They are used in pairs as follows (click on the template link for exact usage):

Example scenarios

1. Jane Doe was the biological child of Samuel Doe and Mary Smith. She was adopted by Mary’s sister, Sarah, and her husband John Bolt.
   • Link Jane Doe to the Family page for Samuel Doe and Mary Smith as Jane’s biological parents.
   • Add AdoptiveParents (on an Adoption fact) to Jane Doe’s Person page, pointing to the Family page of John Bolt and Sarah Smith.
   • Add AdoptiveChild to the Family page for John Bolt and Sarah Smith, pointing to Jane Doe’s Person page.
2. Fred Minor was the biological child of George Minor and Isabel Hurd. Isabel remarried to John Smith, who adopted Fred.
   • Link Fred Minor to the Family page for George Minor and Isabel Hurd as Fred’s biological parents.
   • Add AdoptiveParent (on an Adoption fact) to Fred Minor’s Person page, pointing to John Smith’s Person page.
   • Add AdoptiveChild to John Smith’s Person page, pointing to Fred Minor’s Person page.

Indirect family relationships

Templates for indirect family relationships exist for situations where a direct relationship cannot be documented in the usual way because one or more of the people involved is still living (and thus, cannot have a WeRelate Person page).

Indirect relationship templates are entered in the Description field in the “Facts and Events” section, using a fact type of “Other”. They are used in pairs as follows (click on the template link for exact usage):

Example scenarios

1. Lucy Walker, daughter of Andrew Walker and Lucinda Wilton, married Brent Carter. Brent and Lucy’s parents are deceased, but Lucy is still living.
   • Do not create a Person page for Lucy or a Family page for Brent Carter and Lucy Walker.
   • Add the Inlaws template to Brent Carter’s Person page, pointing to the Family page of Andrew Walker and Lucinda Wilton.
   • Add the Soninlaw template to the Family page of Andrew Walker and Lucinda Wilton, pointing to Brent Carter’s Person page.
2. Adam Walker, son of Andrew Walker and Lucinda Wilton, married and had two children, Karen and Linda, who died young. Adam and his wife are still living.
   • Do not create a Person or Family pages for Adam and his wife.
   • Add two Grandchild templates to the Family page of Andrew Walker and Lucinda Wilton, one pointing to Karen Walker’s Person page and one pointing to Linda Walker’s Person page.
   • Add the Grandparents template to the Person pages of both Karen and Linda Walker, pointing to the Family page of Andrew Walker and Lucinda Wilton.
   • Add the Sibling to the Person pages of both Karen and Linda Walker, pointing to each other’s Person pages.

Note: Once the living persons are deceased, create normal pages and relationships for them and remove the indirect relationship templates.

Why enter data this way?

It is important to distinguish between what is generally accepted information (based on some sort of evidence) and what is mere speculation (a starting point for further research). By documenting speculative relationships differently from ordinary relationships, WeRelate minimizes the chances that someone will assume a speculative relationship is generally accepted. (Even if notes indicate that the relationship is speculative, they are not always read. Bots, in particular, are susceptible to treating all ordinary relationships as if they are generally accepted.)

The same thing holds for adoptive relationships. Using ordinary relationship links for adoption creates ambiguity over who the biological parents were, and increases the risk that other trees will copy information incorrectly.

Using templates provides a standard format for indicating qualified and indirect relationships, which makes them more readily recognizable.

Other relationship situations

When a couple were not married to each other

If it is known that a child's biological parents were never formally married to each other, a Family page should still be created to link the parents to the child. A Family page may also be created for a non-married (e.g., common law) couple that never had any children. The words "not married" can be entered in the Description field of the marriage event line.

This can be entered as plain text or by using the template:

• NotMarried – takes no parameters

When a person is part of a multiple birth

Indication of being part of a multiple birth (twins, triplets, etc.) can be noted on a Person page in the Description field of the Birth fact line.

This can be entered as plain text or by using the following template (click on the template link for exact usage):

• MultBirth – takes one to four parameters

When a person is associated with a House of Nobility

Royalty and nobility, depending on the time period, might not have had surnames, but they were usually associated with a house or dynasty name. While a house or dynasty name is quite similar to a modern surname, it is not considered to be equivalent, so it should not be entered in the Surname field.

Instead, WeRelate prefers that you enter the following template on the Person page in the Description field of a fact of type "Other" (click on the template for exact usage):

• NobleHouse

This template will not only display the name of the noble house on the Person page, but it will also include the Person page in the corresponding noble house Category page. If used consistently, in a fact type of “Other” with no date or place, users familiar with this convention will know where to look for the information – with other miscellaneous facts towards the bottom of the list.