RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: suttontrust on Saturday 19 March 05 11:12 GMT (UK)
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Some time ago I was told very sniffily (not on Rootshat, of course) that I could do my own look ups on Ancestry because they had the censuses, I think 1891 and 1871, on pay per view. Now I'm not an Ancestry fan, both on principle and because I had a bad experience with a week's free trial, but last night out of curiosity I went there looking for James W. Barratt. The results were badly organised. If you wanted more information on any of them you were directed straight onto the "sign up for free trial" page. And where there was an image to buy, there wasn't enough information to tell you if it was likely to be the right person - or how much it would cost, come to that. It was too much to expect that Ancestry would put the censuses online on a pay per view basis, like the 1901. Or am I missing something?
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I believe that once you have purchased credits then you *may* be allowed to see a bit more of the info in the indexes before you choose whether or not to 'purchase' the census image.
I *think* images work out at 30p/pop. Credits are valid only for 7? days.
Pauline
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I didn't see any way of purchasing credits. Thanks for your PM, very useful, Pauline.
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I have used the Ancestry site for pay per view.........£6 for 20? credits PLUS VAT........valid for 7 days. I then had the chance of taking a 3 month subscription or years subscription at a reduced rate. Watch that you don't give them permission to take another whack from your credit card though!!!.........I ticked/unticked the box that gave authorisation and they took another years subscription from me!! I now only use the 7 day membership just in case, as I find my brain gets a mind of it's own when I'm doing searches and I can never be sure what I have bought, or not bought, or who I'm supposed to be searching for after an hour or two!!
The census are not complete which annoyed me somewhat and neither is the BDM but I think it gives very good value as the credits are not used for everything on site and you do get a good look around.Useful to see if you want to sign up for longer than 7 days.
I found Pallots Marriage index especially useful for what I was looking for too
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I used Ancestry several times as pay per view, then I signed up for 3 month subscription. Well - I must have used it a hundred times or more.
If I see something in a census wich is interesting (about someone else) I can look at it at no extra cost.
Even though some things are missing, I have more than made up for it in 1871 census readings. It took a while to learn how to use this site though. just putting in someones name brought up thousands of hits, but if you choose, on the left hand side, BM&D then Civil registration, it lists it much more readable.
I would recommend it ( and they didn't pay me to say that!)
Mary :D
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Oh and Sutton Trust -
They have 1871,1881,1891 and 1901 censuses to look at.
Mary
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Edited message
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Wow,
I think the 6 pounds for twenty credits is a bit steep....the way I use Ancestry, I would go broke!!! I probably average 20-30 look ups a day for myself and other people that I help.
I'm happy with my yearly sub....I think it has more than paid for itself.
Also, I don't feel that anyone is being MADE to pay for the information. The information is in the public domain and free...or cheap... to view....in certain places. I just can't get to those places! :o
Ancestry is a business and have to cover their expenses and make a profit....that is what makes the world go round.
Cheers,
Indi
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Nobody should mind paying something to access records digitally. I pay in my Council Tax for the manual storage of local records and the salaries of the people who look after them. I don't resent paying a fee to access a website - providing the people behind it are not profiteering, and the site is set up in an efficient way. The trouble with Ancestry is that it's a big American outfit that spotted a market and went about making as much money as possible by buying up records. They "sponsor" other sites to carry their advertising. They've only moved into pay-per-view because most people found the subscription ridiculous or unaffordable. But £6 for 20 credits is still ridiculous compared with our other pay-per-view sites.
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You can do a lot with those 20 credits though.You only use them to access images.Whatever membership you take out gives you access to the whole site....and often you can obtain the information you want without seeing images.I often have credits over after 7 days and the only real bug I have is that they don't carry credits over like Scotlands People. I think Ancestry is better value than Scotlands People.
I think in the overall scheme of things £6 plus VAT is not a lot to pay to try something out...........if you don't think it gives good value don't use it again if you do think it represents good value then use it again or take out a membership.
I do agree with you on the point of paying to access your own family information....but tracing your roots has become big business......I hate to think how much I have spent over the last 10 years!!
Mind you Ancestry is still a lot cheaper than asking the church to access information in Ireland...........gone are the days when you could give the priest a bottle of whiskey in exchange for family information!!!!
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When I think back to the hours I spent looking through films and fiche years ago and the money spent travelling to record offices all over the country I reckon my subcription to Ancestry is worh every penny! Those who have started researching their family recently do not realise how easy it has become in comparison - not necessarily always a good thing!
Andrea
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Yes, I totally agree with you Andrea. Gone are the days of my once a year trip to London (with husband as I wouldn't go alone so about £80 just for the fare nowadays) to spend hours trawling through a census and perhaps come back with just a couple of entries then ...................... having to wait perhaps another year to proceed just one step further.
Unfortunately, as you say, there are drawbacks for those just starting out .............. they don't have to read how to do it! There is no comparison to spending hours reading books and magazines in an attempt to find another way around the problem or to establish just what information is out there just waiting to be found.
Best wishes
Casalguidi
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I agree with you sillgen. I can't conceive of research in a non-online period, and I take my hat off to all those who have worked this way.
I was lucky enough to get an ancestry subscription for Christmas (after dropping a few less than heavily veiled hints!) and since then I have taken my in-laws tree back further than a chap who had been tracing it for ten years, and who has had to do a lot of his research manually by visiting different records offices.
I must confess I've also had a lot of fun by hunting out some of the wierder indexings on there! :)
I suspect the cost of accessing by the pay per view process is comparable to other services such as 1837online's 1861 census (which only covers part of the country at the moment), and the FHS sites I've tried for Durham. I find the pay per view process frustrating - you're never as sure as you are when you can roam freely. And I stupidly bought £10 worth of credits on 1837 and found myself, two days before they expired, with about a fiver left and no time to use them.
Swings and roundabouts I suppose.
best wishes
Paul
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To use up credits on 1837 on-line etc. I have passed the account over to my sister or good friends.......they sign in as me and use credits up..they then re-imburse me pro rata.
Must be my Scottish roots!!!!!!
Sue
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Hi
Hope you dont mind me asking a few questions on this thread. I am thinking about paying my fee and joining ancestory.com, but before I do...
I am wondering if I able to see the BMD for England and Wales from 1837, and which census's can I view for England.
And once I have paid my subscribtion...do I have to pay again to see these things.
Sorry if this has been asked before, but I have tryed to find this info our before posting this message, but have not been able too :)
It would also be great for me to help other people on here, as you have all been so helpful to me in the past.
Thanks :)
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Hiya all
I signed up for the £6 fee originally but found it frustrating because I used up the credits too quickly viewing the images. I now have the £25 for 3 months one. I reckon I have got my moneys worth out of it though.
Its really up to you and your pocket whether you subscribe
I'm afraid on the 1837 site I got through a £10 in an afternoon! will not be doing that again - its cheaper to got up the archive office!
Willow x
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Hope you dont mind me asking a few questions on this thread. I am thinking about paying my fee and joining ancestory.com, but before I do...
I am wondering if I able to see the BMD for England and Wales from 1837, and which census's can I view for England.
And once I have paid my subscribtion...do I have to pay again to see these things.
Hu Cassie
Your subscription (as opposed to pay per view) includes unlimited access during the time your membership runs - you can revisit files again and again, and download copies for your own research.
The BMD information is pretty similar to that which is held on freebmd, but its useful to be able to search it from the same site.
The censuses currently held are 1871 / 1881 / 1891 / 1901 for England & Wales and bits like the Channel Islands (but there's the odd county that isn't complete in - I think - 1901: Durham being one of them).
Hope this info about Ancestry helps
Paul
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Hi Cassie,
Yes you can see the BMD for England andWales, and also the censuses - 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 at no extra cost. The pay per view runs out quite quickly, but a subscription has let me look at tons of stuff, especially if I see something relating to a stranger (so to speak) I can look up their census and not worry about cost.
Sometimes the transcriptions are a bit odd, for instance I had a Horace translated into Harriet ! so always double check with the spouse or a child to get the census page if you can't find the man.
The only drawback is that lists of people on the census page is done alphabetically. On familysearch.org the 1881 list is done by age and is easier to read.
There is masses of information on the site, it is worth using.
Mary
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Hi Paul, Hi Mary....Many thanks to you both for your infomation. I think I will join up for a few months and see how it goes :)
Its good to know that once I have paid my subscribtion I dont have to pay again to view census etc.
Thanks alot
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Cassie
I don't know much about ancestry, but as far as I know their BDM data is simply a copy of FreeBDM. It's free to use (you do not need a subscription) - I use the Ancestry version when FreeBDM is being super slow.
Can someone please correct me if this is wrong - I didn't think they had the complete register.
Trish
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Hi Trish
Yes, it is actually a copy of freebmd - just a little behind in the coverage.
Casalguidi
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Cassie
I don't know much about ancestry, but as far as I know their BDM data is simply a copy of FreeBDM. It's free to use (you do not need a subscription) - I use the Ancestry version when FreeBDM is being super slow.
Can someone please correct me if this is wrong - I didn't think they had the complete register.
Trish
Thanks for that info Trish :)