This missing individual on the tree obviously exists but I don't have a name. Well, I do, I have two, but neither seem to be right. The daughter of this person was almost certainly born illegitimately and I have her mothers name ...... there are names for the father on the child's birth and, later, her marriage certificate ...... but both are different and both almost certainly fictitious. From censuses before and after the child's birth I have proven that her mother certainly wasn't married ....... and am hoping, no, expecting, some certificates I have ordered today, to prove beyond doubt that the mother was a single person from her birth right up to her death.
Did our ancestors have any idea how their future descendants would delve through all the evidence they left behind ? Did they realise that lying about who the father was would be found out ...... albeit it has taken 150 years for someone to do so ?
Could someone in 1860 even contemplate the idea of the internet or blogging ? If we sat down round a table, would we be able to communicate with them on any level ? Would they be able to communicate with us ?