Policies – Terms – Conditions

Policies – Terms – Conditions

Who we are

Our website address is: https://www.familywareham.co.uk. We are a Genealogy Research Project based in England.

We are interested in obtaining information pertaining to ‘anyone’ with the name Wareham/Warham and any variant e.g. Whareham, where there is a record that they had lived. I.e. Census, Parish Records, Historical documents etc. especially photographs with relevant details such as name, date of birth, date of death, Grave/Cremation site etc.

The Wareham Genealogical Database (WGD2023) was designed in September 1995 using Lotus Approach (C) IBM and is currently enjoying its 25th ‘birthday’. (We have now transferred all data from Lotus Approach to Microsoft Access) A large amount of data and information has been generated (c.750Gb) and with the need to search that information quickly, a database was the obvious choice for storage.

Currently the database is approaching sixty six thousand records with each record representing a different individual! Each record contains as much information as possible about each person, including topics such as: First and Middle names / address lived at / dates of: birth/christening/marriage/death; 
Parents/siblings/children’s names and ages; information sources / information suppliers and providers.

Genealogical information privacy and protection

The WGD2023 is stored on a private computer system that only the database designer/owners have access to. It is not available via the Internet. Enquiries to search the database may be sent to the designer/owners, using the appropriate search form, provided at the bottom of the Genealogy Page One. Note: Please do not enter search information into the Guest book, or feedback Forms – it will be deleted.

We love to work with other researchers for mutual benefit, however, due to the unethical behaviours of some researchers in the past, information will only be provided as part of an exchange agreement. The requester will be expected to provide new research information in exchange for similar data and obviously information that is new to us; this will be clarified through discussion.

The database has records dating from approx. 1086 where we have Hugonnis De Quarham (Hugh Wareham) to almost the present day. The majority of the records are from the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Prior to this the records become sparse due to the lack of information available, however there are a few records taken from historical documents covering the 16th, 15th, 14th, 13th centuries and indications of Warehams/Warhams living around 1150 and before.

Personal data is collected during our communications (email etc.) and that which is offered freely by the site visitors. We will not pass on this data to anyone else. It is only used for the purpose it has been provided for. When visitors leave comments in the address book, the entry is checked to ensure it is not offensive, is relevant to Genealogy Research and is stored in the Guest Book then moderated and displayed.

Research data entered into the Search Form is not visible on the Website; the data is sent to the Administrators who use the data for the searches.

Media

We are working on a drop-box to allow visitors to upload documents and photographs. It is not ready yet so please be patient while we get it up and running.

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included; this is to protect your privacy and personal data. (Unscrupulous visitors to the website could download and extract any location data from images on the website). For any file uploaded, it is recommended the owner checks their meta-data prior to upload and that they are satisfied they wish to continue with the upload. The familywareham website takes no responsibility for errors, omissions, the content or any action resulting from any uploads which are undertaken at the owners risk. If we are made aware and identify such data, we will endeavour to remove it on the owners behalf.

Contact forms

Are you searching for a missing Wareham/Warham ancestor/relatives? If so, can we help? Within the Genealogy page One you will find a Search Request Form.

If you would like us to search our database for information, please enter details of the person you are searching for into the Form and submit the details to us. Ensure you include supporting information; just a name is not enough for us to be able to conduct a search on. The fundamental information required would be: Full Name, Age, Location and anything else that may help.

We will then conduct the search and if we find any information, we will reply to the e-mail address you provide with indication of the detail of what we have found and if you are interested, we can then move to the Information Exchange Rule for the next step. Please bear in mind that we may not have any more information than that which you might be able to locate yourself. We do not have any secret stores of information.

Please refer to the Information Exchange Rule in that all we ask is that if you have any information about any WAREHAM/WARHAM, especially photographs or a family tree line, please let us have a copy to add to our database. We will then release any information by return – and we will uphold our part of the deal.

Please note: we do not purchase information!

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, Hyperlinks etc.). Embedded content from other websites should behave in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

We may use some media from other web sites to help make the site look good; we will credit the owners of media by mentioning them with the media, however we endeavour to replace the ‘borrowed’ media with our own as soon as possible. If owners of the borrowed content are not happy that we are using it, and bear in mind we are a non-profit project, then we will gladly ask permission to keep using it or remove it completely.

Be aware that those websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content; if you have an account or are logged in to that website.

Familywareham web site owners accept no responsibility for any issues relating to other websites or embedded links. We will do are best to ensure that any external links are working as expected and for their intended use; on becoming aware of any links that are causing issues, we will take action to de-link them. Safe-surfing – be aware – be safe.

Advertising

We have received a few requests asking us to add links and advertising for other Websites, not necessarily related to Genealogy and without any offer of support.. Firstly we are foremost, a research project so if we are approached for genealogical advertising we would need to discuss how this could work. The research agreement stance was/is to encourage information exchange, however being realistic, the financial support/donation door is always open for discussion as we are unfunded and any donations would be put to proper moral use to support our research.

We have received numerous emails (100+) from (cold-callers, cold-emailers?) asking for business e.g. asking us to pay them to upgrade our website to improve it, raise the visitor hits etc. We are not interested!

Analysis

The WGD2023 has been designed to store information about people with the name Wareham (including variants* where necessary – e.g. Warham) who are deceased and who lived anywhere in the world. This database has not only enabled us to store, search and retrieve information efficiently, but has allowed us the power to match individuals to their families, which as far as i can ascertain, has never been done to this extent before.

Of the information we receive we have to view each piece of information and search the database to see if we already have that info. If we don’t, we check the authenticity of the data and its original source, then update the record. If we do not find any matches, a new record is created and the information is added. Any paper copies get scanned and are then destroyed/recycled.

Information Exchange Rule

Some of the information we receive is from people who have known or are researching a Wareham and they contact us with their information and details. In return we help them out with their searches and provide any information we can. Information exchange provides one of the core methods of obtaining the data and is essential to the purpose of sharing information for mutual benefit.. In the early days, we found we were providing information with a promise of return new information which never arrived. This was unfair and we now work to the information exchange rule. We guarantee to uphold our side of the Rule.

How we manage your data

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) infers that the storing of a ‘living’ individual’s personal/sensitive information can only be allowed if certain authorisations are obtained from the individual in question, plus the justification of how the data has been obtained; why it has been obtained; what it is being obtained for; how the data will be used; how long you intend to keep the data and as long as it is only kept and used for the intended purpose/reason it was obtained for in the first place. Therefore, in respect for the purpose of GDPR we have only stored individuals data who are deceased in the main database and for living individuals we have a contacts file. For those who are living and which we have made contact with, we ask their permission if we can keep their details as a contact.

We do not Pass on their information. We only use the information for the purpose it was obtained. We only retain the information if the owner agrees. We process the information fairly and lawfully. We will not pass any information outside of the European Community.

The information we obtain is relevant to the needs of the requester and we only use minimal adequate information in the research. The information we receive and use is not excessive and is kept to the minimum.

Information kept in a contacts folder is kept up to date and accurate by contacting the owner / person concerned to check the contacts information has not changed, is up to date and they are asked to agree for our continued retention of the information.

Subjects of the information may request copies of the information we hold for them and we will delete the information if they ask us to do so.

The contact information is kept in an electronic file and is not accessible from the internet.

*Please do not contact us for information about any Warehams who are currently living with the intention of getting their personal information including contact details; we will not under any circumstances provide such information without the owners consent.

We have been contacted by people asking for information about living Warehams* and on questioning further has given us cause for concern about the purpose they are asking e.g. about children. These requests are denied and our concerns will be passed to relevant authorities when it is appropriate to do so. Because of our policies we have only had two cases in which information about children has been sought. It was obvious that the requester was one and the same person but issued the request from two different addresses to try an ‘con’ us. The action taken was to warn the requester by email that their actions were suspicious and perceived to have an unacceptable intent and that any further request would be forwarded to the Metropolitan Police Service for investigation. The situation ended there with no further contact.

The designer/owners of the WGD2023 will not directly pass on information or contact details about any living individual without adhering to the safety / privacy standards. Requests to be put in touch with other researchers etc. is usually managed by an e-mail request to us to pass-on / forward the requesters contact details to the subject. We will then (if we have it) e-mail the requested contactee informing them that someone is trying to contact them. If they then choose to make contact we will pass on the contactor’s details to the contactee to make the next step. We will then step back and leave them to it. We are happy to put people in touch but will have both sides agreement first.

The Wareham Project is not seeking to research other people’s family trees or to provide them with a complete set of information about their tree.  We are not a Genealogical research service. That is up to each family to research their own family tree and it should not be for someone else to ‘steal their thunder!’ However, if we are directly asked for information about an individual and we subsequently find that in the database, we will only provide what has been specifically asked for. e.g. to confirm a name or date or location etc and within the Information Exchange Agreement rules. We consider that it is very unfair if we rattled off research information thereby ruining the fun and excitement of researching for that person; something we hope you’ll agree.

How long we retain your data

Familywareham will only keep your data for as long as we only use it for the purpose we obtained it for and if the owner of the data agrees.

What rights you have over your data

For site visitors that provide their contact information and/or research request data to our website, we store the information they provide in our contact file. All users can request copies of the communications, data held or to have their information deleted at any time. To do this please use the contacts page, placing the words ‘Request to remove my contacts data’ in the subject line and stating clearly what you expect and reasons why. We will reply to your email address with confirmation that your data has been deleted.

Please note that some data may have already been deleted; this is because we had no reason to retain that data or due to an unknown reason, contact information has been deleted in error. (We had an issue identified during the Covid Lockdown that some contact information had disappeared from the contacts folder. It is not clear what caused the data loss however, it appears that it was related to a data transfer from old equipment to new equipment during the first Windows 10 upgrade. The old Hard Drives were physically destroyed and therefore no data was or is at risk.)

Research conduct

During the last 30 years we have received queries and challenges about the accuracy and provenance of our research. We strive to ensure that our information is accurate from its source and that each source is a recognised-valid and formerly executed record.

We will not under any circumstances be subject to abusive, aggressive email content or feedback.

If anyone has a point to make, a challenge or enquiry etc. please contact us in a positive manner and we will gladly check our source(s) for errors, omissions etc. and discuss the issue, however we request that if you do contact us with a challenge, please ensure you provide the source, supporting evidence and your reasoning.

We are not here to prove other researchers work is incorrect. If ‘you’ see something you wish to challenge, just contact us and explain your reasoning. We are not about trying to be the one and only source of information about Warehams etc.. We offer open and constructive discussion and teamwork. So, good luck with your own research.

Good Hunting!