Ancestry - WW1 British Army Records - Free for 1 week - 7th to 14th November

GraceCourt

butterflymum wrote: »

Until 14 Nov, family history site Ancestry.co.uk is making official First World War service records free to view.

This is a great offer... great for users and also great for the company, as I'm sure that this will result in many of those taking up the trial offer going on to become genealogy enthusiasts and signing-up for a paid-for subscription.

Just a note... another genealogy site, FindMyPast, is also mentioned on this thread... this is, in my view, a site to be avoided. The company claims (under "UK family history records") that it has "... the only complete 1841-1911 census collection online" - and elsewhere that they have the "... complete 1841-1911 UK censuses..." but these claims simply aren't true.

Their material covers England and Wales only and despite entering into correspondence with the company to request that the misleading claims, including the one on their home page, be amended and clarified to reflect the truth, they've refused - not the response one might expect from a reputable company. In comparison, Ancestry.co.uk provides a 14-day free trial of all of its databases, which include UK Census data for ALL of the UK. For the avoidance of doubt, I have no connection whatsoever with the company other than as a satisfied customer.

Bearing in mind that you won't know whether your ancestors moved around during their lifetimes (I thought mine were all Scots yet many migrated around the UK and some emigrated to New Zealand), what's the point of paying for a service that you know will only give you partial results? And would you pay for data from a company that thinks Scotland isn't in the United Kingdom?

covlass

GraceCourt wrote: »

This is a great offer... great for users and also great for the company, as I'm sure that this will result in many of those taking up the trial offer going on to become genealogy enthusiasts and signing-up for a paid-for subscription.

Just a note... another genealogy site, FindMyPast, is also mentioned on this thread... this is, in my view, a site to be avoided. The company claims (under "UK family history records") that it has "... the only complete 1841-1911 census collection online" - and elsewhere that they have the "... complete 1841-1911 UK censuses..." but these claims simply aren't true.

Their material covers England and Wales only and despite entering into correspondence with the company to request that the misleading claims, including the one on their home page, be amended and clarified to reflect the truth, they've refused - not the response one might expect from a reputable company. In comparison, Ancestry.co.uk provides a 14-day free trial of all of its databases, which include UK Census data for ALL of the UK. For the avoidance of doubt, I have no connection whatsoever with the company other than as a satisfied customer.

Bearing in mind that you won't know whether your ancestors moved around during their lifetimes (I thought mine were all Scots yet many migrated around the UK and some emigrated to New Zealand), what's the point of paying for a service that you know will only give you partial results? And would you pay for data from a company that thinks Scotland isn't in the United Kingdom?

There are known issues with census some parts are missing which even ancestry do not have

Soulforged

covlass wrote: »

I'd say join genesreunited and rootschat, both sites are free and there are a lot of people who will give you lots of help for free !!

There are plenty of web sites where you can do free searches for census birth marriage death.

Take a trip to you main library I know a lot of library's have free access to Ancestry

Start with yourself and work backwards, keep a record of any 'matches' you find if more than one so you can go back and check at a later date.

It is a long process but once you get the hang of it it is addictive lol You will hit brick walls but that is all part of the fun, once you establish a area of your research there are lots of resources for example my fathers side of the family came from Leicester my mothers Coventry finding old photos of the areas they lived in was interesting.

It can be a really expensive game buying certs but it all depends on how certain you are on dates names etc

I will put a list together of the sites I use later

neutron wrote:

I agree, the price they charge for one years access is ridiculous.

Have a look here http://www.cyndislist.com/ there may be something to get you started without paying.

Also try http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp

Good luck

thanks for the advice, and the list of sites, i have a free day tomorrow so i can spend some quality time on them, hopefully get started and actually get somewhere.

butterflymum

Soulforged wrote: »

thanks for the advice, and the list of sites, i have a free day tomorrow so i can spend some quality time on them, hopefully get started and actually get somewhere.

Make sure you have a very comfortable seat and a stock of food/water/whatever nearby, as it will be addictive! You have been warned.

covlass

butterflymum wrote: »

Make sure you have a very comfortable seat and a stock of food/water/whatever nearby, as it will be addictive! You have been warned.

Not to forget time will fly by

Clutterfree

Hi,
Is there a genealogy thread/section on MSE please?
I am hoping a paid up member of Ancestry could do a look up for me, so if anyone could point me in the right direction of where to post please, I'd be very grateful.
Many thanks.

butterflymum

clutterfree, re your

Hi,
Is there a genealogy thread/section on MSE please?

....usually best to try some of the many dedicated forums and/or chatrooms on family history sites for such help (albeit, technically, members of paid resource sites are meant to use the paid resource for personal use only)....suggestions were posted earlier in this thread, eg

covlass wrote: »

I'd say join genesreunited and rootschat, both sites are free and there are a lot of people who will give you lots of help for free !!

and there are a number of others too if you google 'family history forums'.

Clutterfree

butterflymum wrote: »

clutterfree, re your ....usually best to try some of the many dedicated forums and/or chatrooms on family history sites for such help (albeit, technically, members of paid resource sites are meant to use the paid resource for personal use only)....suggestions were posted earlier in this thread, eg



and there are a number of others too if you google 'family history forums'.

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.
I am a member of Genes and I have been since 2002 but my paid membership has lapsed. Unfortunately, I cannot post on their forums unless I am a paid member.


EDIT: Just managed to find my nans brother on the WW1 records. No luck with my great grandfather, though.
Good luck with your searches everyone.

butterflymum

OK, then the other site sugested by covlass seems to get a very good reputation :staradmin and even better, is completely free, with forum boards and 'live' chatroom, so why not give that a try.

ps
well done finding your nan's brother.

Clutterfree

butterflymum wrote: »

OK, then the other site sugested by covlass seems to get a very good reputation :staradmin and even better, is completely free, with forum boards and 'live' chatroom, so why not give that a try.

ps
well done finding your nan's brother.

Thanks butterflymum,
On Ancestry, I typed in the name of my elusive great, great grandfather for a general search.
I have only ever been able to find him on the 1871 census (he was born in 1862) and I've never found him on a Census again, nor found his death record.
He was my "brick wall".
I've not done any genealogy research for about 5 years now (time and money contraints), BUT when I typed in his name on Ancestry it showed that another member has uploaded a photo of his marriage to my great great grandmother! :eek: I tried to contact this member but I cannot as I am not a paid up member and they've not logged on in 6 months.
I've never seen a pic of this couple so for this member to have it *may* mean they have some info as to where he disappeared to.
His daughter (my great grandmother) was in a workhouse in the 1901 census which probably explains why she never spoke of her childhood and had no photo's. So sad.

Looks like I'm getting "the bug" again, but I don't have the time for this right now... lol