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Research Philosophy
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Many family historians and genealogists "complete" their family trees fairly early in their research project.
In many cases this is because the only information seems to fit all the available data.
With the increasing popularity of the internet for family research, "doing" a genealogy seems like a piece of cake.
Over the years, I have been in touch with hundreds of family historians researching their Brebner/Bremner families.
These contacts go back well before the advent of internet and easy access to BMD and census certificates,
and now that proving various family claims is easier than ever before, it's essential that every serious genealogist should go back and verify all early links.
One can easily be led astray, especially in Scottish genealogy, when so many surnames are similar,
when so many husbands remarried (often several times) after wives deaths, when so many children were born out of wedlock,
and when so many of the informants at deaths simply had no reliable information on which to base their information.
My goal throughout this project has been to compile as much accurate information about the Brebner/Bremner families
as possible. That means that I often rely on submissions, however well meant, that often don't stand up under the scrutiny
of certificate proof.
Unfortunately, when I point out questionable data to some family historians, they bury their collective heads in the sand.
While I understand this reaction; they have, after all, spent years compiling the data, and often
shared it with family members who accept the material as gospel, there is a reticence to change any suspect information.
I believe that it's important to update all genealogies, and particularly those that are available on the web,
where new and often younger family historians look for their family roots.
In this I always have been open to any corrections or suggestions about any Brebner/Bremner ancestry.
If it's not right...please tell me so that I can update and correct any information on the site!
John Brebner
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