RootsChat.Com
Census Lookups General Lookups => Census Lookup and Resource Requests => Census and Resource Discussion => Completed Census Requests => Topic started by: robert58 on Saturday 22 April 06 20:36 BST (UK)
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has any one else found that ancestry.co.uk is a waste of money. I have been unable to find records of several ancestors born in the 1920's.Have now found them on 1837 online and with help from rootschat members. What a waste of £70.00. Have asked for refund but have been ignored.
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Hi Robert,
I was interested to read your posting as I have been considering whether to join ancestry or not, be good to see what others say.
Patrish.
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I think that the 1920s pages (among others no doubt) suffered a spate of having only the odd (or even) GRO index pages, so in effect only half of the index was viewable.
I can't see ancestry being sympathetic to a refund unfortunately, given that the pages were free-to-view?
Pauline
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I've heard Ancestry was a waste of money for us Brits anyway, and also that they were hard to unsubscribe from, but lately quite a few Rootschatters have told me they've found it to be really good value and have no trouble if they want to unsubscribe. My brother, who's a newbie, has joined and seems to be making a lot of progress, so I'm putting my feet up and leaving the hard graft to him for a bit!
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I joined ancestry .co.uk in November and after searching for 2 months e-mailed them and complained I got my money back so worth a try. Helen
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thanks for your replies, I realise now how hit and miss the ancestry records are. I have the 'de-luxe' membership which cost £69.95 so hardly free to view. I will try for a refund and will post details if successful
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It's a shame you haven't been able to find what you were looking for on ancestry.
Getting a year's subscription was the best thing I've ever done - I wish I'd done it as soon as I started researching the family!
Monica
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I've found Acestry invaluable. I wouldn't have got anywhere near as far as I have without it. Even when my rellies have been mistranscribed, I've found most of them in the end and my success has been that much sweeter because of the challenge of having to find someone who I know is there, but not immediately visable.
Robert58 - for BMDs on Ancestry, you needn't have subscribed as they are free for all to access.
Anita
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I agree with Anita and Monica-I have found Ancestry invaluable (but then I'm not really looking at the 1920's) and they have provided me with better customer service than two other providers I've used. If you have no joy with email, I'd recommend you use their freephone number-they are usually very helpful
Monique
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i have been on ancestry for just over 12 months and find it great i now have over 10,000 names on my tree not bad for 70.00 pound , at least you can do most of the work from home and you don't have to pay to go to the records offices all the time titch
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I agree titch, best thing I`ve ever done is subscribe to Ancestry :)
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Ancestry do not do Scotland so that will be the reason I got my money back,I had and e-mail from them saying they had found someone on my tree, when I looked it was my son!! he went down on the titanic, imagine my surprise as my son was only 31, every person they said they found was indeed American. When I spoke to them they said sorry don't do Scotland. Well why sell to us advertising Scottish BMD.
Well had my little moan good luck to all you lucky people who have other Nationalities to look up.
Helen
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so I guess the lesson is-check what is covered before you sign up. At least ancestry allows you to do that
Moniquw
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Where else can you find all the English, Welsh etc censuses in one place and indexed and searchable(even if the transcriptions are sometimes very bad)?
Well worth the money.
Try searching some of the other databases - there are thousands of them and some of them extremely usefull (again indexed - if badly)
Sutton Rog
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My brother says he's not going to sign up to Ancestry again. He's seen the ads for The Genealogist website and reckons their search facilities are better. 8)
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My brother says he's not going to sign up to Ancestry again. He's seen the ads for The Genealogist website and reckons their search facilities are better. 8)
oh dear-tell him to take avery careful look at what he will get for his money before he signs up :(
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thanks, will do. Is there much on ancestry or the genealogist sites, that we can't find on the 1837online site? I know you can now search for census records on there but maybe the others have other record sources.
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Hi,
I am now well into my 2nd year on Ancestry. I find it an invaluable source of information, even more so now with the GRO indexes from 1837 to 2002. It is particularly valuable for us Colonials who can't get to a Records Office.
Below is a brief list of what is available in the UK Deluxe membership, if you have US ancestors there is a lot more available (for an additional fee).
UK CENSUS RECORDS
1901 England 1901 Wales
1891 England 1891 Wales
1881 England 1881 Wales
1871 England 1871 Wales
1861 England 1861 Wales
1851 England 1851 Wales
1841 England* 1841 Wales*
*new
MORE COLLECTIONS
UK & Ireland Parish and Probate Records
England & Wales, BMD Index
Pallot Marriage Index
Irish Immigrants: New York Port Arrival
The transcriptions and indexes are sometimes a bit screwy, but that is not surprising considering the huge amount of information and the sometimes very dubious handwriting on the original records.
Highly recommended!
Paul
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I have used the genealogist a little
Ancestry is far better value, census images are better, and it is easier to find intinerant ancestr who wander the country from census to census.
Providing you check what is included it is excellent value
Bob
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I'll tell my brother that.