RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Ringrose on Monday 28 June 10 08:40 BST (UK)
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I took full advantage of 3 sessions on the Free offer with sucess ---many printed copies to look at.I was disappointed in the coverage of the BMDs pr 1837.I can remember using the Family History on Line before i t was taken over by FindMyPast and Im sure they had more records---have they all been transferred over. I also found one county(Cornwall) in my research areas very well transcribed but the others very sparse.I also found BMDs hard to look at and could only see half the page ---did not want me to scroll down which meant printing off page to get the whole record. This took too long and wasted paper.
I use Ancestry and was wondering whether to give FindMyPast a go but I am staying with Ancestry as I think they cover more.Anyway well done FindMyPast for your generous offer ---avery good idea.
What do others think?
Ringrose
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Hi,
I'm another ex user of family history online when it existed . I think all the records that were on there are on FindMyPast . What I dislike is the expense of viewing these records on FindMyPast , where they were relatively cheap with FHO (2p and 5 p a record) - everything is so commercialised these days! .
Family history online did not cover all counties - Carmarthenshire was one. - just because carmarthenshire family history society does not seem to like to pool with others - you buy directly off them
Cornwall has always been good, so has Glamorgan
FHO were family history societies pooling all together their transcripts , those same Parish records are on FindMyPast with the permission of the said family history societies.
Anyway I'm with ancestry , have been for years, I actually took the 14 day free trial with FindMyPast just a few weeks ago - I decided to cancel it. There is nothing on there worth my money .
It depends on the individual,, but find my past do not hold anything relating to anything I need
Kind regards
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Couldn't swear to it, but I've an idea that I've seen that some societies didn't give permission for their records to be transferred from Family History Online to FindMyPast. I think it may have been because of the fact that it was going to cost more to view the records.
I'm very grateful to FindMyPast - it was an incredibly generous offer. If they do bring in a monthly sub, then at present I'd probably sign up for a month every six months or so. I can't do without Ancestry at present, as I'm still ploughing through all the London records, and I can't afford two annual subs. If FindMyPast expand parish records more (in the right counties of course ;D ), I'd probably start begging for next year's Xmas present early.
I must admit that once I got used to some of the quirks of the 1911 search, I did like the site, and found it much quicker than Ancestry (apart from the hour I had to do when a match was on.) Hopefully FindMyPast will listen to people and bring in a monthly sub.
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Hi
Silvilocks,i use to subscribe to Family History On Line too & a lot of FHS did`nt give permission to be transferred. I do miss it.
Omega
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I think they used to have Oxon burials on FamilyHistoryOnline but they seem to have disappeared when FindMyPast took them over.
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A lot of things didn't go over to Findmypast. There has been a previous thread about this, which alerted me to the page on FamilyHistoryOnline which tells you exactly what the situation is:
http://www.familyhistoryonline.net/database/index.shtml
Scroll down to the bottom of the counties list for the key.
Anne
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Yes there were some Berks records didn't make it across
It was to do with permissions
familyhistoryonline was good value for money too
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I subscribe to both sites, and when my sub on ancestry ran out a few months ago, upped my membership to include the london parishes.
FindMyPast is invaluable for the 1911 census.
However, census searching is better via ancestry, unless you have a specific address.
When some census details (yes, the actual pages) were missing from ancestry, i found them on FindMyPast, and the resolution was much better.
However, I use ancestry for the london parishes, as the coverage is quite good, now.
Ships passengers out are on FindMyPast, but In are on ancestry.
But having found an ancestor on the Ellis Island site, and scrolled thru the actual pages on FindMyPast for ships out, there is no way to amend what must be a transcription error, as there is no way of finding out what they actually trancribed the entry as, in the first place.
military records are on FindMyPast.
regards
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I thought that the offer made my FindMyPast during the World Cup was awful.
As a fully PAID UP member it was impossible to access any records during any England Matches.
I subcribe to both Ancestry and FindMyPast, and find that if I cannot find someone on one site I can often find them on the other.
Also I prefer the way the results are shown on FindMyPast, and their advanced search is even better. But where they do fall down is when you go to view the originals and in some instances they are awful.
But all said and done would not consider doing without either. Ancestry for the LMA records and FindMyPast for 1911 census.
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I thought that the offer made my FindMyPast during the World Cup was awful.
As a fully PAID UP member it was impossible to access any records during any England Matches.
How strange. When the third match was on, the only time I could fit 90 minutes in meant starting about 10 minutes before kick off. The site came to a standstill 2 or 3 times and was certainly slower than during the second free session, but at the end of 90 minutes I had downloaded 38 images from the 1911 census, which was far better than I expected.
Maybe the problem lies with your internet provider or computer, rather than with FindMyPast?
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Ancestry....do not always record things correctly, as they have no permission from Scotland to record data they rely on researchers who are tracing their own families, who may well have the wrong information ; so that people who are also looking for that information cannot correct the original mistake by others.
I found it so when trying to reply to someone who only had part of the name correctly marked in their family tree,. i.e. Muriel Hamilton ne Mays Smith
(Muriel Mays Smith) I found she had a son James Stanley Hamilton and a daughter called Agnes Hamilton who married a Neill MacDonald.
If the database is not correct it makes genealogy into a myth. Regardless of who is in charge or charged with the honour of all our family history.
marcie
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I found the FindMyPast freebie quite good for the 1911 census, but ran out of things to look up by the third free session (and I completely missed the first one). For any other random things I looked up on FindMyPast I got 0 results.
I also really miss Family History Online which I mainly used for burial records. Thanks for the FHO link Anne - that may go some way to explaining the 0 results.
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Silvilocks
I actually contacted FindMyPast and they apoligised for the problems that not only I encountered during all the England Matches.
They admitted that the volume of people using this free access far outstripped what they were expecting.
There is nothing wrong with either my IP or computer it was just the sheer volume that their system was unable to cope with.
I doubt if in the future they will do anything like this again.
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Ancestry....do not always record things correctly, as they have no permission from Scotland to record data they rely on researchers who are tracing their own families, who may well have the wrong information ; so that people who are also looking for that information cannot correct the original mistake by others.
Ancestry are far from perfect - but nor are FindMyPast, TheGenealogist, etc.
When it comes to Scotland Ancestry are far the best subscription site as they have census transcripts (yes there are plenty of errors) - but none of their competitors have anything to match.
Of course ScotlandsPeople (pay per view) have pretty much got Scottish family history sewn up - at a price.
FindMyPast have the 1911 as an advantage (though I expect Ancestry will have it in six months or so). The subset of the FHOL data that they could be useful, but very patchy (my ancestors have pretty much avoided being included).
TheGenealogist has PCC wills as part of the subscription package, and the images are significantly better than those on DocumentsOnline. If you want a lot of these wills its worth subscribing for a period. Their searches are also more flexible.
However, if I was to go for only one subscription it would be Ancestry - they simply have more than anyone else. If Brightsolid include the BL newspapers in the FindMyPast collection I suspect I would opt for FindMyPast, but I suspect there will be a new newspaper subscription site rather than an enhancement to FindMyPast (hope I'm proved wrong).
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I had subscription to FindMyPast but ran into a brick wall when ancestors came from Ireland, they have nothing, but they didn't mention that in the subs page
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Ireland like Scotland has all its own records.
And unless Ancestry and any of the other sites can come to a financial agreement then they will never be available via these sites.
As for the 1911 census, yes of course all the other sites will get that next year, providing they are willing to pay and transribe them for themselves.
But also next year the records on FindMyPast for the 1911 census will be able to be viewed in full, i.e. last column for disabilities etc., will be opened up as the 100 year rule will come into effect.
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Thanks plummiegirl, got any tips on good Irish sites?
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Do not know of any Irish sites, I have decided that as I am unable to find my grandfathers army records (post WW1 & pre WW2) that I have as much on him as I can get. I know his dob, where he lived, where & how he died and where he is buried. I have even contacted his brothers children and although they were initially ok for some reason they seem to have decided that they do not really want to know about me.
Not bothered though, my fathers side of the family is so interesting & complex that this far outweighs the lack of contact with my closest relations.
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Sorry to hear about the family, a lot of my relatives are much the same, I think we would be more interesting to them if we were rich!
Still, you can't choose your relatives, but you can choose your friends! ;D
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Thanks plummiegirl, got any tips on good Irish sites?
sorry - got distracted see below .. eadaoin
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Thanks plummiegirl, got any tips on good Irish sites?
1901 and 1911 Census Free for Ireland
also BMD Indexes
have a look at the Irish Resources Board on Rootschat
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/board,385.0.html
eadaoin