* Advice on merging data

[annejay55]

This started out on Ancestral sources board under a now infamous post that mucked up your system, but the causes of the problem are really my actions in AS and I have created problems in Family Historian.

I have input a husband George (314) and wife Ann (315) on FH and they have 3 children.

Somehow, George has 2 wife tabs both named Ann and examination shows they are both number 315
Similarly Ann as a wife has 2 husband George tabs both numbered 314
One of the wife entries has 3 children and the other 1 child (1 of the 3)
The source for this marriage has not been put in as I cancelled it yesterday due to the problems, however it does have the source of a marriage of one of the daughters (the one daughter common to both records) present on all the husbands and wife tabs.

I hope this makes sense - it sounds like a logic puzzle!

Mike suggested I should merge the data but at that time I only knew about George having 2 wife tabs and I did not know that they were numbered the same.

I am unsure how to proceed and would be very grateful for any help.

Many thanks.

[tatewise]

OK, that is really easy to fix, and does not require merging.
I am impressed that you have spotted the Record Id are all the same.
I assume the Record Id of the replicated Child is also the same.

I assume the first Spouse tab for both George and Ann have all three Children linked.

What has happened is a second Family Record has been created for the same couple (George & Ann) suggesting they have re-married, like Richard Burton and Liz Taylor. So that record and its links simply needs to be deleted.

Open the Property Box for George and select the All tab.
There should be two Spouse family entries both linking to the same ...with Ann record.
Select the second entry so that Spouse family is highlighted with a blue background.
Press the Delete key on your keyboard, and in response to The selected field will be deleted click OK.

That should fix it.

.

[annejay55]

Before I press any buttons...

You are correct in that the replicated child also named Ann (151) is numbered the same on all records affected.

But it is the second spouse on each of husband/wife George/Ann's records which has the 3 children in each case.

George's marriage to Ann (has been input in AS) is against the family of the single daughter and she dau=Ann is duplicated along with the parents with her and her 2 sisters. (3 daughters total) One family = parents and 1 dau etc and 2nd entry = parents plus 3 daughters.

Hope that this makes sense - if not ask, please?

Many thanks.

[tatewise]

OK, that changes the procedure slightly.

Ensure you have a File > Backup of your GEDCOM just in case.

First lets preserve a copy of the Marriage Event and its Source Citation.
Open the Property Box for George and select the All tab.
Click on the little square box to the right of both Spouse family entries.
Both little boxes will gain a X and the family Events, Wife & Children will be revealed.
Right-click on the Marriage in the first (upper) family and select Copy.
Right-click on the ...with Ann in the second (lower) family and select Paste.
That has replicated the Marriage and its Source Citation.

Now to delete the first family and its links.
Select the first Spouse family entry so its background is blue.
Press the Delete key on your keyboard, and in response to The selected field will be deleted click OK.

Check all looks OK, and if not you can use Edit > Undo repeatedly to get back to the start.

You can also restore your backup if needed.

[annejay55]

The second attempt worked perfectly and when I looked at the chart - the wives, husbands and children are where they should be - exactly.

For Ann wife (315) The property box - all tab - is still showing 2 entries, the first with -no husband- and the original child showing Ann (151) although she does not show separately on the chart)
with her details including gender/residence/born calculated/
then a greyed out Parent Ann then in brown Ann (315)
then the mothers parents George and Ann (Blue)
and then Spouse John

[then Spouse family with George starting with Marriage and all is exactly as should be after that with where/church etc, the sources scroll, etc all in brown followed by the red section with marriage details, the gold repository stuff, the brown witnesses, ages followed by a list of husband and three daughters of the family]

The paragraph with the square brackets is the record I would like to retain.

Is it at all possible to ditch the other stuff?

Many thanks in advance

Tomorrow will be fine, good night!

[tatewise]

Yes, I suspect you have not quite followed the delete the first family instructions correctly, and only unlinked husband George.

I guess you selected & highlighted the ...with Ann right-hand field instead of the Spouse family left-hand field.

On using the Delete key the message would have been Delete link to Family record? instead of The selected field will be deleted.
So FH has only unlinked one Spouse (husband George [314]) leaving Ann [315] still linked to her daughter Ann [151].
This will be represented on Main tab for Ann [315] on her Spouse: <no spouse> tab.

So listen very carefully - I will say this only once!

In Property Box of Ann [315] select Spouse family left-hand field (with <no husband> in right-hand field).
Press the Delete key on your keyboard, and in response to The selected field will be deleted click OK.

[annejay55]

Thanks Mike for all your help.

What a small job it turned out to be. Everything is easy when you (Mike) know how. All seems sorted now.

Thanks for all your help and for your very clear instructions.