RootsChat.Com
Census Lookups General Lookups => Census and Resource Discussion => Topic started by: jake01 on Monday 02 February 09 13:16 GMT (UK)
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I have noticed over a period of time many people seem to have problems with "Ancestry" and fewer problems with "Findmypast". I would like your comment as to whether or not I should consider subscribing to one these two or any other source. As I am about to subscribe I would like advice on the which is considered the most useful. My research is confined to mainly census records and parish records.
Thank you for any help. Jake.
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There's been several threads on this subject before, no doubt someone will find them and post a link. My advice is that if your research is going to be mainly in the UK, and you're not too worried about getting hints from others, then choose FindMyPast. If, however, your research is likely to take you outside the UK, and if you are happy to accept hints from other peoples' trees, then choose Ancestry.
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Hi there
There's this thread: http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,341920.0.html
But if you got to the census and resource board, there are quite a few threads, offering varying opinions. I personally, belong with Ancestry, and have had no problem with it. If I have needed FindMyPast, have just got the credits.
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I thank you both for your comments. I have had a look at the link Daisy Loo posted and yes very interesting. Now to reapraise my research and decide were to spend my cash in these credit crunching times.
Thank you both once again. Jake
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You best bet would be to try each site on Pay As You Go, and then decide which one to take out a subscription on. Last weekend I found a new site that I thought looked promising, but before shelling out £40 on a year's subs, I took out a £6 PAYG credit instead. I'm glad I did, because when I looked around the site I discovered that it offered little beyond what I already got from Ancestry.
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Yes Nick29 there are a number of sites around with offers but not offering much beyond ancestry. I had a 14day trial on Ancestry some 9months ago which I was quite happy with. My first post was to see what experience people have had with others but I feel that my best course of action is to subscribe to Ancestry.
thank you again for the advice.
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Hi Jake - I have subs to both and would just say that if your research is mainly on the census I find the FindMyPast originals are very poor quality in comparison with Ancestry and can be quite difficult to read so the suggestion that you try before you buy is a good one.
Good luck Yvonne
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If you are interested mostly in the UK census, then you also need to check whether FindMyPast has the counties that you're interested in or not as some of their census databases are not complete.
I have both as well and some things are better at Ancestry and some are better at FindMyPast. I have a lot of lines in North America so Ancestry works much better for me.
Jacquie
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I'm new to this website but have done extensive research online, mostly with Ancestry which I have been pretty happy with. I was particularly pleased with how easy it was to cancel the monthly subscription. I've used FindMyPast but find the search engine slightly poorer and the records not as extensive.
However Ancestry does contain a lot of transcription errors and they have used the wrong method for indexing the BMD image pages. There is no easy way for correcting errors as there is for FindMyPast.
I'd recommend taking a short subscription with Ancestry, then when you have collected a number of gaps and missing people, switch to FindMyPast. You'll be surprised how many of the gaps you can fill because the records have been transcribed differently.
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Well after taking a one month subscription with Ancestry and using it for a number of days I am quite happy with it finding much useful information. I will see how my research goes and then my extend my subscription.
I Thank you all for your inputs to this topic. :) Jake01.
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Here's a tip, Jake - buy a copy of Family Tree Maker 2009 - you get either 3 or 6 months free Ancestry membership (depending on whether you buy the Deluxe or Platinum Edition) - bargain ! ;D
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I use both sites, ancestry has alot of databases espcially overseas, but some aren't complete and the searches aren't always that good. However it is a very good all round site. With FindMyPast they are adding so many parish register transcriptions and the census records that have been transcribed are excellent as is their search engine. However if you want to search in BMDs it's trawling through each quarter on FindMyPast at the moment.
So both sites have really good points, it really would depend on where most of your research will be.
Shirl