Many thanks for all the input. It is only since I started building my own tree at Ancestry that I've become aware of all the possible pitfalls, and how easy it is to add totally ludicrous data. There appear to be folk out there who genuinely believe that if Ancestry offers up a hint, either from historical records or other trees, it must be right - and while of course, some hints are correctly applicable to the person entered, some definitely aren't.
When contacting tree owners who have incorrectly added a chunk of my ancestry to their tree, even when the connection is impossible, and however diplomatically I try to phrase my comments, more often than not I have been met with a total reluctance to do anything about it. I now try, wherever possible, to include alternative suggestions, perhaps a more likely baptism or whatever, in the hope of softening the blow, and sometimes that does the trick.
