I came across a couple of problematic profiles today while looking through the unsourced profiles in Oxfordshire. Since the changes I propose are quite wide-ranging, (and some I couldn't make if I wanted to), it seems best to published them here. They concern the Pope family in north Oxfordshire.
The key people I am going to talk about are William Pope and his wife Margaret Yates (or Yate). Some facts about this couple: they lived at Deddington in Oxfordshire, where William died in 1523 (he left a PCC will dated then.) Margaret remarried, and she died in 1553. The text of a monument to her put up in Wroxton church is published in the Harleian Soc. Visitation of Oxfordshire, page 152, which makes it clear she was the widow of William Pope, mother of Sir Thomas Pope (Pope-7662) and John Pope (Pope-292) on 25 August 1557.
There are 2 profiles that I think represent this Margaret, but neither are entirely satisfactory: Yates-2583 and Yates-260. I suggest they should be merged, and given a more likely birth date of 1485 (or perhaps for convenience no birth date at all). She probably lived and died at Deddington rather than Wroxton as well. The visitation mentioned, and Victoria County History, are good starting points for sourcing.
The 2 Margaret Yates each have their own William Pope as a husband: Pope-1904 and Pope-295. Once again, I think these should be merged, but they each have only partially true facts: birth about 1475 and death in 1523 are true; birth and death in Deddington (not Wroxton, which the family only acquired in 1537). The visitation and VCH are once again above a good starting point for sourcing.
Of course, one might argue that these 2 pairs represent different couples in different generations. In that case, I would claim that Yates-2583 should be married to Pope-295. I suppose anyone who really thinks their identities are distinct could add sources that say so.
There is one more change that I would suggest: this John Pope - Pope-69 - is not the son of William and Mary and should be unlinked from them. He clearly represents something, having been imported through so many gedcoms, but he was not the child of a couple who lived in Oxfordshire all their lives and died, once accurate dates are attached to them, before he was born.
Also, I am dubious about Pope-294 (John Pope) and Simpson-499 (Grace (Simpson) Pope), said to be parents of one of the William Popes. Their names conflict with the genealogy in the visitation and the use of Wroxton as a birthplace seems wrong. (I might also say I am surprised by "Grace" as a 15th century name too, but what do I know.) However, that would lead me into the swamp of medieval genealogy, where I do not wish to go.
