RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Essex => Topic started by: findem on Monday 11 July 11 07:08 BST (UK)
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Hi All,
The following is pasted from an E Bulletin from the ERO which I received:
Pay-to-Browse Launch
Essex Record Office will be launching Essex Ancestors on 30 August. This new service will offer unlimited pay-to-browse access to Essex parish registers and many wills, giving customers fuller and wider access to our holdings from the comfort of their homes. Parish register coverage will extend from at least 1538 to 1837 with the period 1837 to the present partly included at go-live date or planned imminently. Marriages within the last 50 years will be excluded, in compliance with government guidelines, however.
Parish register and will images will become available for 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 6 months or 1 year according to the user’s need or preference, but we are pleased to say that access to the images will be free in the ERO Searchroom.
We look forward to your future comments (e mail: ero.enquiry@essex.gov.uk) and hope that this new departure will help mitigate our savings in the new financial climate.
Regards
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Thanks, Findem, for this news ::)
I suppose it was inevitable that this would happen. The big thing will be how much it will cost. I notice it is proposed to be pay per view, and not a subscription.
JULIAN
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I contacted the ERO for the purposes of writing a news article on this and they told me the charges would be as follows:
1 day £5.00
1 week £15.00
1 month £25.00
6 months £50.00
1 year £75.00
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I think the costs are a bit on the high side to be honest
Louiosa Maud
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Parish register coverage will extend from at least 1538 to 1837 with the period 1837 to the present partly included at go-live date or planned imminently. Marriages within the last 50 years will be excluded, in compliance with government guidelines, however.
If the offer is exactly as described above and the digital images are as good as can be achieved I think the prices are reasonable. Think about the travelling time and costs saved
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Yes I tend to agree Clincher.
It costs me a fortune in petrol and B & B to travel from Dorset to Chelmsford plus the time involved. If as you say it will cover ALL parishes and wills I think that's very reasonable and I'll be more than willing to have a years subscription.
We are very fortunate that the Essex Record Office offers a service such as SEAX at all. Most record offices jealously guard their information and have never wanted to share any images on-line free of charge.
I look forward to further progress reports..........
:)
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I do agree with you but I do subscribe to 2 other sites, the costs go up and up each year
It is a bit of a drive for me but I like to go to the ERO when I can manage it, but I do understand for people who travel long distances it is well worth the money
LM
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Like Diblet I am also in Dorset, so have to weigh up the cost of travel and accommodation against the proposed charges.
I have bought many of the PR's on microfiche, these also work out quite expensive when you need a lot of them, many of them are also much harder to read then the excellent digitised images, so for me the proposed charges will be good value in comparison.
Jebber
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Thank you for posting this findem and keldon.
I have made extensive use of the PRs currently available on SEAX and was hoping more would come online. Although I am sure to need to visit the RO again I shall certainly make use of the pay site. It is a long way from Cornwall to Chelmsford!
Barbara
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I contacted the ERO for the purposes of writing a news article on this and they told me the charges would be as follows:
1 day £5.00
1 week £15.00
1 month £25.00
6 months £50.00
1 year £75.00
That sounds fair to me Its cheaper than a rail fare for me
Ronnie
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Being in Australia,much of my research in Essex has been in abeyance pending another holiday,so the prices are quite reasonable.
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Thanks for posting the charges keldon,
Whilst I understand the economics behind the decision I do feel the that the charges are excessive, for GBP5.68 I can eat out, getting a heaped plate of good food at my favourite places ;D. I would imagine that people on low incomes, eg pensioners and the like, who are unable to visit the ERO will be disadvantaged. I can't speak for the pensioners in the UK but here in Australia pensions are far from generous, also in New South Wales recent large increases in the cost of electricity, gas and water hasn't helped.
I also understand that for those who would have to travel distances to the ERO, when considering costs of travelling, it's not a too bad deal but the reality is that if there were no Pay-to-Browse there would be less reason to need to travel/visit.
I suppose I'll have to hoard my searches until I have enough to get my money's worth, at GBP5 a go, no more quick checks/rechecks
I have always sung the praises of the ERO and especially the staff, I have experienced nothing but kindness and helpfulness from them. Of the ERO itself, it made me immensely proud that my home county, by putting that much of the PRs online and free to view, were so far ahead of any other county, introducing Pay-to-View has taken the shine off somewhat.
I just hope that before the charges commence the ERO have all the PRs online to at least 1837.
Regards.
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At the annual rate of £75.00, that only works out at £6.25 for a month of what I presume to be unlimited look-ups.
Still sounds like a bargain to me. With all the work that's going into making the project possible, I really don't mind contributing towards it.
:)
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I assume this means that the ones currently visible for free will become part of the charging scheme
MY own ancestors are not from Essex, but my wife has some
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With many Essex ancestors I've made good use of the SEAX site and will almost certainly subscribe if they are expanding the collection available online.
Many other authorities would do well to copy the Essex example, and if the ability to charge for their services encourages more of them to do so it will be to our advantage.
Mike
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They've had a notice on SEAX for some time saying they were exploring ways of making more of the records available online, but in the current climate it's not surprising they've had to go to pay per view.
I agree with previous comments, that if the images are as good as those currently available, it would be worth a subscription, particularly if more of the Wills appear as it costs me quite a bit each time for Wills photocopying. The quality of many is significantly better than the microfiche images of which I have a number too. I've been waiting (im)patiently for them to make some of the later registers available as I have a few brickwalls and it's at least a 4 hour drive each way to get to Chelmsford so they've remained brickwalls for now.
I would imagine that all that is currently free will come under the new charging scheme at the end of August. Wiltshire RO started charging for Wills that had previously been available as free downloads when they expanded their database ... mind you it hasn't expanded much since and at £5 per Will download it's not cheap. ::)
Nicola
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At the annual rate of £75.00, that only works out at £6.25 for a month of what I presume to be unlimited look-ups.
:)
Considering the LDS are now charging £7.50 per film for 2-3 months (seems to vary which page you look at) and you have to look at these at one of their family history centres, it only works out at the price of 10 films per year and some of the Essex parish are very large. Similarly, if they are going to make post-1837 marriages available, think of all those certificates you can save money on. ;D
Nicola
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Looks exciting. Look forward to it.
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Sounds brilliant to me - and I only live about 8 miles away!
It costs over £3 to park there for a day - add on petrol and it probably costs £5 for me to go there just from here, per day..
So I would imagine that unless you live on the doorstep, these charges make accessibiltiy to the records cheaper for everyone.
So it will be even quieter there - it is already the quitest Record Office I have ever been to, no need to book readers etc as always plenty spare.
I do wonder if this means that the in-person service there will be cut as a result, if even less people will use it, and that would be a shame.
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I took a short holiday to Chelmsford for the purposes of going to the records office there and I have found it one of the easiest to use records offices. I have not been back simply as the distance is too far to travel there and back in day and finances mean that I can't afford overnight stays so I have been using the online SEAX images. Whle it is a shame they will no longer be free it is fantastic they are online at all. I haven't worked on my Essex lines for some time but when I return to them as I normally do fh mainly in the holidays I shall happily buy 1 week's worth of subscription and do mass look ups and have a concentrated fh week to make the most of what I have paid for. I assume you will be able to save the digtial images to your hard drive once you have paid to view them.
It's a pity more subscription services (such as FindMyPast) don't offer an option to pay for a month. Sometimes I don't buy a sub becuase I know I won't get my money's worth out of an expensive year's sub but a month's sub would be cheaper (although I know rarely are they one twelth of the cost of an annual sub) and I would get more value for money out of it as I could use it intensively in the holidays.
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I have been to Chelmsford Record Office as well and the staff are very helpful. I went in February.
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Hi all,
Further info from the ERO in response to my query "will the later year PRs currently not online, be online at the commencement of Pay-to-Browse?"
They’ll all be published and available online from 30 August if all goes according to plan, 1538-1837 as a minimum and I think most likely 1837-date for the front of the alphabet.
Regards.
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I shall be willing to pay as it will certainly help me track down some elusive Essex ancestors.
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Hi as one of the people who do look ups for people at the ERO ,I thought something like this would happen,they signed up with Ancestry some time ago and I always got little info from ERO when I asked them when they were putting more records online .
I am both sad and pleased that this is happening ,I do like to do what look ups I could for people and this will now end but I am pleased that requests for PR's on Essex rootschat will no longer slip down the lists with no relpies as they could not be answered by the people with lots of subscriptions to pay per view sites,I would think that if you had a sub to Ancestry you would be able to use the new records coming online free,well sort of free.
I surpose we should be pleased that ERO are without doubt the best records in the entire country,one can only hope that the others will drag themselves into the modern era quickly ,but I still cannot feel completely happy about it,I surpose having started my family history some time ago when visits to records around the country was the only way, and the excitement of finding something made the trip worthwile,still time marches on .
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Interesting Geno
One of the things that make family history interesting is that everything is different in each county
Cheshire - where I have a number of ancestors - has a fantastic Cheshire BMD website
It was however always under-represented on the IGI as one of the bishops did not want to give records to the mormons!
To some extent this is now a bit improved, though I dn't really have most of my Cheshire lines traced far back
I can quote lots of examples how other counties are different, but you get the picture
Essex is where some of my wife's ancestors come from
She is not mad keen on FH so my efforts are fairly limited
If it's not on the net I won'y pay much
However so much more is available now that some dead ends may eventually fall
I might find my Varnden ancestors and pigs might fly!
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Hi stonechat I have been to some very poor records Haverford west in wales is a small castle like structure with a room the size of a average lounge to do look ups ,a few years ago Dorset and Somerset were quiet poor as well,they may well have improved by now,but Essex has easily been the best I have used,it's strange your wife not being to interested in FH nearly 80 percent of the people who do it are women,you can nearly always tell if male or femail just by looking at the rootschat postings the ones with lots of names at the bottom are nearly always women they research all the female lines so very soon are researching half the world :) still it makes Ancestry happy,just thinking that last comment may well light up the switchboard
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Hi geno500,
A bit of advice, take to the hills! ;D
Regards.
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Hope you're wearing your cricketer's box, Geno :o
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Hi I have taken your advice and I am writing this from a secure place with lots of bodyguards :D getting back to the topic I surpose that people will have done alot of research on there family so if they use the ERO's new pay per view site they will maybe only need a day to look at the records they need so the cost will not be great,the people it will affect will be those who just want to brouse the records still it's up to them,also when I have usd the ERO site for people I have not been able to capture the images using the latest IE version suspect it is something microsoft have done,I have found using Goodle Chrome will help there,no point paying and not be able to archive the images on your computer.
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I have not been able to capture the images using the latest IE version suspect it is something microsoft have done,I have found using Goodle Chrome will help there,no point paying and not be able to archive the images on your computer.
I've had the same problem, it occurred after I upgraded to IE7, when using IE6 had no issues. You can also email yourself a copy if you use something like Outlook on your PC. This is my workround unless I use Opera which works OK. I just select the email a copy option, which creates the email and then I save the file rather than emailing myself it. You just have to remember to select retain original size when you are prompted to reduce it through Outlook. There are ways around the issue but I'm surprised that ERO haven't done anything about it since it's been going on for several years ... I suppose it's possible they aren't aware of it but I'd be surprised.
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I have not been able to capture the images using the latest IE version
I've not had problems doing this using Firefox
JULIAN
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Hi,
I cannot copy an image using 'Save as' from the right click menu, I get an IE error message, however I can do so from 'File' and 'Save as'.
Regards.
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Hi all,
Another snippet of info is that the ERO aim to put the Non Com registers online, unfortunately they cannot give a time scale.
I've a couple of IGI sourced baptisms I need to get verified in one of the Non Com registers, now that will be worth Paying-to-View for, no whingeing about that one ;D
Regards
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I've got lots of branches on my tree "on the backburner" just waiting for more research to be done on them.
With all these records becoming available soon I can see the autumn being a frenzy of activity and new breakthroughs propelling me back a generation or two or three.....
:D
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I have several lines on the backburner until more records go online. Essex is poorly covered on the IGI and SEAX has mainly 1500-1700 records which are online whereas I want mainly 1700-1900 records.
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There's a message on the SEAX site that says the new service will now launch on 3rd October.
That's a shame, I was looking forward to next Tuesday!!
;)
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What is the phrase "Too good to be true"?
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Thanks for the info Diblet.
I suppose it's inevitable that anything connected with computing will have a glitch somewhere to hold things up, during my working life I can't recall any new computer program being up and running 100% at the scheduled date ;D
Regards
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Further to Geno500 & others about downloading images, I almost never do that because I then forget to label them consistently so that I can find them again.
I keep Excel s/s in family folders & do screen dumps onto appropriate pages (Alt+PrintScreen, then, Ctrl+V to paste) The advantage is that I can type comments alongside, edit the images to trim off the irrelevant stuff & all of the toner-hogging black surrounds. Images can also be moved around the page, stretched, shrunk & overlapped if necessary.
When working on census entries, I like to paste the transcription alongside the actual sheet image, then use FreeBMD to get a listing of the people shown (use Download results, open the .TXT, highlight what you want, Ctrl+C, then CTRL+V onto the s/s) Once I'm offline I have all I need to update my tree without juggling too many screens.
If you just do PrintScreen on its own, you capture everything you see. If you do Alt+PrintScreen, you just get the active window within the screen. Just make sure you have the s/s or Word doc open in the background before you take the copy.
D.
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I saw this on the Essex RO website recently when I did a websearch (more in hope than expectation!) for Essex parish registers online. I've hundreds of people to look up in Essex (mainly east London) registers, so this is great news. Even more fabulous news if it's going to be on Ancestry.
The annual sub to Essex RO would be less than the cost of railfare or petrol and an overnight stay there, so even that will be good value.
I've recouped the cost of at least a couple of years of Ancestry subscriptions since they put their London parish register collection online, so would expect to do the same with all the West Ham, Ilford and points east registers I really want to plough through.
Do we know for sure that they'll be on Ancestry?
When you consider that GRO certificates are now £9, and think how many you might be able to find in a day, then a fiver a day is terrific value in comparison, and post-1837 marriage registers are identical to marriage certs (plus you get your ancestors' signatures).
Bad news it's been delayed though :(
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Do we know for sure that they'll be on Ancestry?
First I'd heard of that. Where did that come from?
JULIAN
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There's a message on the SEAX site that says the new service will now launch on 3rd October.
That's a shame, I was looking forward to next Tuesday!!
;)
All good things come to those who wait. ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Do we know for sure that they'll be on Ancestry?
First I'd heard of that. Where did that come from?
JULIAN
On p. 3 of this thread: http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,543364.msg4009763.html#msg4009763
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The New FamilySearch uploaded England, Essex Parish Registers, 1538-1900 on the 18th August. No images, but it at least provides an index for some parishes which can then be more easily found on SEAX.
https://www.familysearch.org/s/collection/list#page=1&countryId=1927033 (Scroll down)
K.
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Hi,
Out of curiosity and because something Geno posted regarding Ancestry I emailed the ERO asking if there would be a likelihood of people being able to access the Essex PRs via Ancestry, here is their reply:
There’s no connection with Ancestry, EA is an entirely separate enterprise and service. Essex County Council will be organising some publicity shortly.
The revised go-live date is 3 October.
I hope this helps. By all means publish this on RootsChat.
Regards.
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Hi,
Out of curiosity and because something Geno posted regarding Ancestry I emailed the ERO asking if there would be a likelihood of people being able to access the Essex PRs via Ancestry, here is their reply:
There’s no connection with Ancestry, EA is an entirely separate enterprise and service. Essex County Council will be organising some publicity shortly.
The revised go-live date is 3 October.
I hope this helps. By all means publish this on RootsChat.
Regards.
Thanks, Findem. Very helpful clarification :)
JULIAN
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Yes, thanks Findem. I was a bit confused with the ancestry connection too.
I'm pleased the ERO have kept it a separate enterprise so that the subs we pay will be kept in house and hopefully help fund more images going on line!
;)
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Hi,
Personally I was a bit sceptical of the ERO joining up with Ancestry but rumour has it I can be wrong :o, I'm sure that's not true though ;) Anyway I thought it best to get the info "straight from the Horse's mouth", always best to know the full picture e.g. anyone thinking of letting their Ancestry subs lapse can work out whether it's an economic advantage to resubscribe.
Regards
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Hi
How can I access the actual images of Essex parish records on FamilySearch as it says it contains indexes and images? I cannot seem to find a link?
Ben
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Hi Ben,
I think the only way of viewing the PR entry of something you've found on Family Search is to order the film at a LDS Family Centre and view it at the LDS Family Centre. I did it once around 1980 but can't remember the process fully, as I recall I had to note the various reference numbers attached to the entry and hand them to the LDS Family Centre who then order the film.
Regards.
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How can I access the actual images of Essex parish records on FamilySearch as it says it contains indexes and images? I cannot seem to find a link?
I guess someone at FamilySearch made a mistake.
Although the description of the Essex collection says that it contains both indexes and images, the index of the UK Historical Record Collections does not have the camera/image icon next to its name.
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There is no mistake, they are not claiming to have images for Essex, as is quite clear in the image you have posted.
Jebber
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Ah, well, if you were to click that link (in the image above), the search page for the Essex PRs does say that the collection contains both indexes and images.
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Yes is sure does but I cannot find any images of yet. Very misleading if they say images when there are none.
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There is a mistake on the next page where it says images
I have reported this to them
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At least they have some records for Essex but not many for the areas I am interested in yet.
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Hi all posters to and readers of this topic,
I will be in Chelmsford from 13 September until around end October (hopefully). If I can assist with look-ups at the ERO, please let me know. I would be very happy to help.
I don't have a lot of experience in searching but, the one time I visited the ERO, I found the staff very helpful. I think, with their help and the right details, we might get somewhere.
Liz
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Hi Eleesavet
Could you lookup the names of the witnesses to the marriage of Matthew Bradford to Susannah Watty in October 1798 at Southchurch please if you can?
Ben
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They have now changed it to say
Image is not available for this record on familysearch
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Hi Ben,
Will do and get back to you.
Liz
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Thanks Liz.
In America at the moment on vacation and enjoying it.
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According to the Seax home page the launch has been put back to the 17th October. >:( >:( :'( :'(
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Grrr, I was getting excited about it happening next week!
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Dangling the carrot, moving the goalposts, come to mind. :-\
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I saw that, and am champing at the bit.
Couple of weeks delay isn't any great concern. To me, it says they've got it all up and running, but in testing have come across a couple of issues that they're sorting out before going live. Two weeks wouldn't be enough to do a great deal of further work.
fingers crossed!
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Your quite right Aulus, was just so disappointed. :'(
But we will all soon be happy bunnies.
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Looks like it's now been put back until the 24th October :(
I really hope it's worth the wait as I know they have some records I'm desperate to see relating to my 3x Great Grandfather but can't physically get to the ERO to view them in person.
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Its a strange thing,they have been running the service with a limited amount of records on it for some time,so I would think it must be the pay to view part that is holding everything up still it will come on line some time and should be a great help to people who cannot get to the ERO.
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I still have some Essex lines on a back burner.
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I'd rather they kept delaying the launch until they are happy with the service rather than bumbling in with a half baked effort!
;D
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Be good when they finally publish them.
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Oh dear........... a launch date seems to have disappeared altogether now.
Obviously having quite a few problems.
:'(
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Going it alone may be a risky strategy
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you seem to be right diblet,well as this saga has unfolded,you get the feeling the council has over reached themselves,maybe they should let the people who collect the council tax online get the system up and running,I feel it has to be the pay part of this thats giving problems,but who knows,whenever I asked at ERO over the last two years when they were going to put more records online you got a faint smile and the words we are working on it,as though the secret that they were going to charge for the service was going to be a major shock,still no doubt it will be online one day.
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That's a real shame and a bit of a concern.
They surely wouldn't have got to the point of moving the go-live date back a couple of weeks if they weren't close and just ironing out the last few issues, so I wonder if something bigger (i.e. bureaucratic or legal) has come up, which has blocked the project going live.
Complete speculation on my part, but the revelation that the GRO had been operating outside the law by charging for unsuccessful matches of checking points on bmd certificates comes to mind. Essex Council's lawyers might have decided they should check that the ERO is allowed to charge for access to its collections. Though of course parish records are only deposited, they don't belong to the Council, so there could be another obstacle there, if a diocese is unhappy. Though you'd have thought they would have checked with the diocese(s) before even starting.
They were too close to launch for it to be something like a budget freeze has prevented them buying the server/diskspace needed.
Pure speculation of course ...
Or maybe somebody at the ERO was supposed to be updating the web page in preparation for going live next week, but accidentally restored an old version of the page? <wishful thinking>
If someone's going in person to ERO soon it would be interesting to hear what they have to say. An in-person response is likely to get more than email enquiry, even if it's only in the way of "I can't tell you more" sort of gestures!!
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Or maybe they've been relying on volunteers to do the work and its taking longer than expected?
Although I would agree with Aulus that its probably something "bigger"
Or maybe they are doing a "deal" with Ancestry or FindMyPast perhaps???
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Some lines will have to remain on the backburner until I next visit Southend or Chelmsford RO.
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I must admit that although I wasn't relishing having to pay to view (yes I know I'm tight) I was looking forward to being able at last to confirm a marriage in St Peter ad Vincular, Coggeshall PRs. Also a baptism for the same family in the Non Com registers which the ERO have plans to put online at a later date. I'm hoping the online version might be a bit easier to to decipher than that on film at the ERO, I remember checking that same film on a UK visit many years ago, in parts it was a pig of a thing to decipher.
In the end though I agree with Diblet, I would prefer they iron out any bugs first.
Regards
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Hi all,
As an interested member with ancestors in the Essex area I was naturally excited when I came upon this post.
I wrote to the Essex RO and below is their reply;
"Thank you for your message.
We apologize for the delay in introducing this service. There were a number of technical hurdles which have taken longer to clear than we had expected. To avoid further disappointment we are not currently publicizing a launch date, but we expect the system to go live within a few weeks. The most likely date is 7 November.
Essex Record Office
Wharf Road
Chelmsford
CM2 6YT
UK
Essex County Council | telephone: + 44 (0)1245 244644 | fax: + 44 (0)1245 244655 | email: ero.enquiry[at]essex.gov.uk | web: www.essex.gov.uk/ero
The Record Office searchroom will be closed for stocktaking from 28 November until 10 December inclusive.
If you would like to subscribe to the Essex Record Office's monthly e-bulletin, please e-mail marilyn.hawkes[at]essex.gov.uk and type 'e-bulletin subscription' in the subject line."
(replace [at] with @)
I thought you would all like to see the update.
Alan
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Thanks Alan
Regards,
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Thanks, Alan, for sharing the e-bulletin info
JULIAN
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Hi all,
The site went live today - and I paid my hard earned cash - and it isn't working! Argghhh.
Anyone else having problems?
Yorkslass
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I've just had a look at the SEAX site and think I now have a feeling of total disappointment with the whole thing.
Unless I'm missing something, I can't see that they've added any extra images to the parish registers I'm interested in at all.
After all the hype and delays I've been patiently waiting with my list to launch into new avenues of research with the expectation that all areas would be covered at least up to 1812.
So what's changed? Are we just being charged to look at what we could see for free before with no added extras?
:(
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That's a disappointment and I hope they will give you extra days for the money you have paid.Iwas all set to pay a months sub but thanks to you ai will hold off.Its abut cheeky if we now have to pay for records which were once free.
Ringrose
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Apparently all parish registers pre 1837 are now available by sub. Later records for parishes beginning A-F are also available other parishes to be added later. Info from the Essex Ancestors user guide.
Haven't tested it though - I'm reluctant to spend money when there's no guarantee of access!
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I tried again, and got a bit further. The small "preview" image came up on the right hand side, but when I tried to enhance it, it didn't work.
Said I didn't have cookes enabled, which I know I have.
It's very disappointing, having waited, and the site being "postponed" time after time.
If it doesn't improve, I shall be after a refund.
Yorkslass
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Diblet, it still says microfiche only for lots of the PR's that do actually have images available now - you have to click on the View button to find out whether they're three or not. I can see images, but only tiny ones, and when I click to enlarge them nit keeps telling me that either I don't have cookies available or I've been on too long and timed out. :'(
(edit - same problem as you, Yorkslass. Glad to know it's not just me, at least. I'll see if I've got a big magnifying glass somewhere!)
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I am tempted to pay my fee and try and access the records myself now.
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I would wait till the gremlins are sorted out if I were you, Coombes.
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I've just had a look and the ones I looked at previously that were free, I now can't view.
I'm going to hang fire a bit until they've got this sorted out. For the parishes I want, there doesn't appear to be anything that wasn't there before.
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Hi,
Boy was I lucky! I went on to SEAX yesterday afternoon (Aussie time) to carry out rechecks in the Terling and Fairstead online PRs and they were still free to view ;D 8).
Being only the 5th of November I thought I might do some more today and found they are no longer free :( so I'll wait now until the later years come online, looking forward to the Non Com coming online sometime.
Regards
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I shall have a try at viewing them today.
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Morning everyone
Well i have read that they are having glitches, but is anyone having problems logging in this morning? Becauce all i keep getting is log-in failed.
How can i subscribe if it won't let me log in? i have reset my password but keep getting the same "Log-in failed"
Kevin
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Hi all,
Think I may have found a way to "get into" the Parish Registers. Works for me, and I hope for everyone who has bought a subscription.
Instead of going through the "Essex Ancestors" search, do a search on the ordinary Seax screen.
I typed in "Barling baptism", and the list came up with various registers and dates. When you click on the little icon, you get the parish registers page - but this time it worked!!
Hope I haven't spoken too soon .....
Yorkslass
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I looked this morning for 2 of my parishes Woodham Walter and Boreham. The transcripts they had digitised did not seem to be new as I had searched them previously. I really needed different dates. Have they just put the same registers on line that were there before for free???If so Im not over happy. Family Search has just put loads of Essex parishes on line for free but of course you dont see the transcript.
I think having waited so long I will be patient and see if my villages do get on.
Ringrose
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What dates are you wanting Ringrose?
I've just looked at the main Seax search site and they have baptisms ranging from 1563 to 1863, with viewable images.
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Morning everyone
Well i have read that they are having glitches, but is anyone having problems logging in this morning? Becauce all i keep getting is log-in failed.
How can i subscribe if it won't let me log in? i have reset my password but keep getting the same "Log-in failed"
Kevin
Any suggestions??
I used to use it as a guest, but registered today, received my email link but after activating i still can't log in. Is there a period that i have to wait after activation, hope not as my money is burning a hole in my pocket and i'm chomping at the bit to get to the Brightlingsea PRs. :P
Kevin
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Hi yorklass
I ave had another look and realise that I have got the wrong idea.I thought it was just where it said digital that the records would be on line but I now thinkIuderstand Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Ringrose
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wll it seems that the clever people at the ERO have made a complete mess of this launch with seasoned users of the old web site unable to access the site and it would seem very little in the way of how to use the new site,its a shame as lots of people have been waiting from all over the world to get access,me well I will go along to the ERO in person I enjoy the day out.
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I'm not happy >:(
I bought a subscription but right at the end of the payment process I was timed out because it was so slow ..... I thought it had processed anyway as I received a receipt in my emails until I logged in again, tried to view an image and was told that I have to buy a subscription!!
Grrrrrrrr >:(
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It's all working well for me for the last four hours. The only issue that I have encountered is that when I am browsing images a reset occurs infrequently taking me back to Image 1. It is annoying to lose my place if I am not keeping track of which image I am on.
I'm using Windows XP SP3 and Chrome as my browser. To save, I right click the image, Save Image As .., at which point I enter my chose filename followed by .jpg. Using my jpg viewer I can then zoom in, high quality.
Trevor Rix
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I am going to bite the bullet and purchase £25 of money for a week.
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I am going to bite the bullet and purchase £25 of money for a week.
Go for it, I have been having a great time and found lots already.
;D ;D ;D ;D
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Surely its not 25pounds for a week is it. I thought you got a month for that amount. Can someone recheck the subs for me as I cannot find them on the SEAX site pre registering.
Ringrose
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£5 for a day
£15 for a week
£25 for a month
£50 for 6 months
£75 for a year
Like suffolk*sue, having a great time too ;D
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These are the subscription charges -
1 Day (24 hours) £5.00
1 Week (7 days) £15.00
1 month (30 days) £25.00
6 months (182 days) £50.00
1 year (365 days) £75.00
Prices include Value Added Tax (VAT) at the current UK rate where applicable.
Copied off their website.
I've been on for hours, and found loads! I'm delighted.
But I have found that some of the registers are a bit mixed up. No doubt they'll sort it out.
Yorkslass
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Piad for a months worth.
Found out some info tonight already including the baptism of James Salmon in 1770 in Birch to Samuel and Sarah.
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As this is on my wife's side and she is not mad on family history, I'll take my chances with the Essex records on family search
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I found out why my payment didn't get processed - RBS online banking system went down!!
Now it works!!
........ ::)
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I ave had a successful two hours on Halstead registers.Have had reasonable luck and a few thigs which I thought Ihad right prove to be questionable.whilst looking at marriages for mid. 1700s I came across a maiden name which occurs in later generations as avChristian name.This must be my ancestor but I'm ot sure how she fits on.
I've only taken out a month so I hope zi have time todo allthoe various areas .
My eyes ache now so time for lunch.
Ringrose
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Does anyone know if they have actually added any new registers to those previously available free? First impression is that they haven't :(
I already spent many hours browsing thousands of entries, and downloaded around 200 pages, when the scans were first made available free so I can't see much point in paying unless there is something new . . . although I would have happily paid at the time for the valuable information I found 8)
For anyone new to SEAX there is a wealth of information there if you are prepared to search page after page of sometimes barely legible handwriting.
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Its worth looking as I have found all the Halstead records there. The only problem perhaps because its Sunday and its NEW I keep getting logged out and need to keep tabs on what I ve done or the record IM looking at.
Ringrose
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There definately are a lot of new registers that weren't previously available on the free to view SEAX. I know the odd extra register had been added in the summer since found an extra one for Harwich from the early 1700s, but now the whole of Harwich is available up until the early 1800s. I think it may depend on whether the parishes you were looking at were small, as some of the smaller ones were fairly complete into the 1700s previously. Apart from a few of the larger ones used as a test, most larger parishes only had a few registers available previously. It's disappointing that Leyton isn't included because the RO doesn't have the originals, but Romford is now available when previously you couldn't even purchase microfiche copies of the registers. I know previously that Braintree weren't available, but they are definately there now. Now if I could just find a couple of marriages, the fun will really start ;D
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I spent 2 hours on Seax today and plan to do some soon tonight as I have found a baptism of ancestor Jeremiah Hurrell in Burnham.
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Hi,
The later years Coggeshall PRs are now online.
Regards.
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Seems worth risking a few quid to have another look then . . . thanks :)
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Hi Mike,
Essex Ancestors allows checking for free to see if the required PRs are online yet, cuts out some of the research risk. ;D
Regards,
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wll it seems that the clever people at the ERO have made a complete mess of this launch with seasoned users of the old web site unable to access the site and it would seem very little in the way of how to use the new site,its a shame as lots of people have been waiting from all over the world to get access,me well I will go along to the ERO in person I enjoy the day out.
Hi Geno
Well i have finally got into it now, no thanks to any advice on here ??? or from the ERO. What i had to do was request that my readers no was sent to me via email and then use that in place of my email address as it would not accept my email address on the login page. I have had no problems except every now and again the page goes back to the beginning of the book. Fortunately for me most of the PRs i am interested in are from Brightlingsea so they are all online now.
Kevin
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Well i have finally got into it now, no thanks to any advice on here or from the ERO
Bit harsh wasn't it Kevin, now come on, be nice about it, or have I miss-interpreted the tone ??
Louisa Maud
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I'm not doing too badly but very frustrated when lookingb at Halstead that there are quite a few gaps.I wanted to check some 19th century marriages and find they are not there.
Ringrose
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Well i have finally got into it now, no thanks to any advice on here or from the ERO
Bit harsh wasn't it Kevin, now come on, be nice about it, or have I miss-interpreted the tone ??
Louisa Maud
Call it frustration :D, i felt like a kid looking at presents under the tree on christmas day and waiting for my parents to get up... i'd been trying all weekend, then couldn't even get ERO to answer their phone this morning. I did get a response to my email to them today, stating that my i had an account and that i should be able to login immediately after i had activated it. Anyway i'm please to say that after the wait, i'm not disappointed :D
Kevin
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Does anyone know how to save an image. When I try on my laptop (Windows 7) I get the message "The file being saved or retrieved has been blocked*. Is there any way round this.
I haven't tried on my desktop yet XP.
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Good, Kevin, another problem solved but you must know by now how frustrating this hobby is, how many dents are there in many walls trying to find something that appears not there till someone else gets on the case
Happy hunting
LM
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Hi Suffolk sue you will need to use Google Chrome instead of internet explorer,I have not tried to use the new entries but the old ones would not save using windows 7 and internet explorer,try it and see you will find using any windows later than 5 giving you the same thing.
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Problem with saving started with IE7, as it always used to work with IE6. ::) I use Opera rather than Google Chrome, but if you have Outlook (not Outlook Express installed) I have found that you can select "email picture" from the right click menu on the image and it will attach to an email, you can then, rather than send yourself the email, right click the attachment and save from there. A rather long way round but it does work on Windows XP anyway. I keep forgetting to use Opera and usually can't be bothered to switch. I don't like Google Chrome personally.
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Hi
Just received this update from ERO regarding difficulties logging in using an email address
Quote
"We - and more importantly the software development team - suspect that the system has a problem with certain long email addresses, in that it accepts them for registration but fails to accept them at login. They are still working on the issue, but your experience does seem to suggest something of the kind. Thank you for telling us."
Kevin
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Well, I tried . . . .
First the site wouldn't accept my old reader number so I eventually registered again and got a new number. Success! I managed to log in ;D
Next I bought a £5 subscription but after entering all the information and waiting . . . and waiting . . . the connection timed out >:(
Then I logged out and logged in again, and it said I have no current subscription :-\
So I checked my bank and the £5 had left my account ::)
I'll give them a call if nothing has happened by tomorrow . . . glad I only risked a fiver!
Mike
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Re saving images.....
I am using windows 7 and google chrome. I right-click on the image and choose save as and choose the file I want to save them in. They are saved with the suffix .aspx but Irfanview will change that to jpg.
The images also get saved in my download file and can be moved from there to wherever you want them. However when I cleared the cache (ie the download file) halfway through my browsing I got logged out of SEAX immediately - I think SEAX places something there that recognises you as there was a strange file there, which was not an image, when I looked yesterday.
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come on mike get a grip,no not around the throat of the person who made this web site :D you seem to be the fall guy ,just think of it as a public service while all the energy of the ERO web site is aimed at preventing you from using it all the others can get in and use it,also they may well have given your £5 to some good cause .
I am going to the ERO on Thursday and will ask the IT person whats going on and why have they picked on you
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I made my first visit in months and tried to log-in with both reader number and email address without success,then after re-registering system found my original account.Guess there will be some settling in time.
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Do you think the ERO will continue to add to the digitised records.So disappointed that not all churches ina village have been done.Youhave a rough idea of a date but can't find the name at one church so one would go to another...not always possible.
Ringrose
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Hi Ringrose,I believe the new digital records were going up to around 1850 and later the others would be put on the site,looking at your interests if you are looking at Halstead then Holy Trinity was built by subscription and started life around 1850 so there are no digital images this time round,if you are looking at some of the Congregational church then those records are original and have never even been micro fiche,not sure if and when those would be done,I will ask on Thursday.
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Thanks geno.I think the records I want wil probably be on one of the other established religious buildings though I have found some at St Andrews.
Many thanks
Ringrose
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Hi all,
Re saving images.
If I right click on a SEAX image and try to "Save picture as" I get an annoying error type message.
I can get round that problem by going into "File", click "Save as" this saves the link direct to the particular image on SEAX.
Then I right click on the link in the folder I saved it in, then for some strange reason when the image appears I am allowed to save the image by right clicking on that image and "save picture as", the image is then saved in Bitmap format which of course if I choose to do so, I can convert to Jpeg format using paint.
It's a bit cumbersome I suppose but at least it allows me to have the PR entry image stored on my computer.
This morning I still had one link left not converted to a picture, having brought up the image I right clicked on it and much to my surprise I was able to "Save the picture as", I had assumed the Pay to View system might block the image coming up without a payment. ;D
Regards.
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I tried logging in again this evening but still no subscription so, throwing caution to the wind ::), I bought another £5 worth . . . which was immediately accepted, with the result that I just spent nearly 2 hours searching and found 8 previously unknown register entries including an unknown wife for one of my ancestors ;D
My other £5 is still floating around somewhere in the ether but if necessary I will gladly sacrifice that for the information I gained this evening 8)
I had no trouble saving images in Firefox.
Mike.
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Hi Ringrose,
The ERO have stated that they plan to put the Non Conformist registers online at a later date.
Currently most, if not all, Non Com registers are on Micro Film, which means they can only be viewed at the ERO.
I'm eagerly waiting for the Coggeshall Congregational registers to go online, I have an IGI sourced marriage that I'm dying to verify, I'll just have to be patient. ;D
As for Halstead Holy Trinity the ERO have on Micro Fiche: baptisms 1844 to 1967, marriages 1844 to 1947 & burials 1844 to 1978, Marriage Transcripts 1844 to 1865. This info comes from a printed ERO guide I bought at the ERO several years ago on a trip to the UK, it was printed in 2004.
Regards.
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Well I took the plunge this morning and shelled out £75 for an annual subscription.
Much to my happiness it all went through without a hitch and I spent 4 solid hours trawling through various parish registers.
I had to surgically remove myself from the computer in order to eat my tea!
Definitely the best investment I have made on a damp gloomy November day.
;D ;D ;D
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Well I took the plunge this morning and shelled out £75 for an annual subscription.
Much to my happiness it all went through without a hitch and I spent 4 solid hours trawling through various parish registers.
I had to surgically remove myself from the computer in order to eat my tea!
Definitely the best investment I have made on a damp gloomy November day.
;D ;D ;D
Did the same at the weekend, so far have spent quite a few merry hours trawling through the registers. ;D This, accompanied by a marriage that now appears on Boyds index on FindMyPast but never appeared when I looked when it was on origins.net, and now I have a new line to look for as a brickwall has been demolished ... just now need to find the baptism. It's definately worth the money for anyone with a number of lines in the county and who doesn't live close enough to get there regularly to visit. ;)
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Is there a list of what we can actually view once we have paid? I only want to view about 4 parishes.
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Hi Lisajj,
If you go to their site (http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/EssexAncestors.asp) and then select the letter
of the parish your interested in, then wait and choose the parish, and select the name of the church you will then be presented with a list of records. Those which have digital images listed
should then be available to view but of course now you have to take a subscription first.
Hope this helps you.
Alan
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thanks Alan
looks like all the ones I want are still only on microfiche :-(
Ah well, I either wait and save money or trek to Essex then.
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Hi all, just started using SEAX having discovered about it on Rootschat. I do have a lot of ancestors in Essex so I thought I'd give it a go.
After having trouble downloading I phoned the RO and they talked me through downloading an image.
They got me to right click then choose 'copy' rather than 'save' (as I had been trying) and then 'paste' into word (though I pasted straight into photoshop to edit).
Seems to work perfectly. ;D
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welcome Thomas great that you have found the site just as alot of the records from the ERO are online I was at the records today and they say they have almost completed the few problems that occurred with the site,it would seem they have enough time to talk you through your problem ,we have talked about the saving of images before Thomas ,it is all about the IE 7 if you can use Opera or Google Chrome you can save yourself alot of bother, still ERO came up with a way to help you,I wish you well in your search.
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Saving images with Firefox works fine. Get an error with IE.
Had to use IE to buy a subscription though as FF did not like that site.
Looked at some Barking images, and they are quite small compared to the others I looked at for Broomfield. Can hardly read them, even on a big screen.
Ian C
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Hi Ian I would get in touch with ERO they may have made a mistake with those images, the only very small images I have come across on micro fiche/film were from non conformist and this was because the records were kept in a small note book so the image was small but with this new digital image they should be able to make even a small image much larger,I have looked at the records for All Saints at Barking pre digital and there were no small records at that church.
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I just noticed that this has gone live.
But I have to admit I'm a bit confused by the site, which seems to changed very little, if at all, since before going pay-to-view.
I think for each church I've looked at (mainly West Ham & Stratford) virtually all the registers have been shown as "Microfiche" with just the occasional "Digital Image" - from memory, not really much change from before. Does that mean those records aren't online? (yet?) If that's the case, I'll probably hold off a bit longer.
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Click on 'Images' before typing 'west ham register' into the search box and hit enter (or the search button) and it will bring up a list of the ones that are actually available online. You have to pay before you can look at the registers but you will get a list of the dates available and can click on them for more info e.g. church name and actual dates covered.
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Aha! Thanks a lot Scrabble.
That produces much more useable results than the way they seem to want people to search (pick parish from dropdown, pick church etc).
Seems to be mainly pre-civil registration and mid 20th century.
Oddly, the search seems to have difficulty refreshing results when I change search terms, though that's more likely to be the caches through which I have to access the web than ERO.
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At present I am trying to find the marriage of John Merritt to Sarah. They had a child Anna in 1769 in Eastwood and there was another John Merritt who had a Sarah as a wife having children in Romford 1760 to 1763. I am trying to see if it is the same couple. Eastwood is now in modern day Southend.
I still have not found a marriage and I am going in ever increasing circles around Eastwood and surrounds and also Romford and surrounds.
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Hi there is nothing as bad as having some leads on your family line but have to jump from village to village trying to find there marriage,even with the records online it can take ages,I nearly always forget which ones I have looked up ??? I would suggest you post a request for somebody who is going to the ERO to do a very quick look up for you,ERO have Boyds Marriage records and with the info you have it will narrow down to one book and take all of 30 secs to locate the marriage or not,also a look at the marriage licence may give you a lead this again is one book but if they are recorded the person will have to look at the original licence to find the place they got married,I will not be going to the records for at least 3 weeks,but if you want I will do this look up for you.I suspect that the ERO will one day put the marriage licence online ,it will be a big job as they have lots but it would make it much easier for people.
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Yes it is a time consuming task as unfortunately Essex is poorly covered on the IGI.
I shall keep at it for now although thanks for the Boyds lookup. I shall let you know if I do find anything.
A John Merrit wed in 1755 to Ann Harvey in Romford and they had a child Elizabeth in 1756. I dont know if it is the John Merritt who wed Sarah and had kids in Romford and who may be my John Merritt.
I shall make the most of my months subscription as I have found lots of other stuff.
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For anyone who has checked Boyds when it was previously on origins.net and couldn't find a marriage, it's actually worth double checking it again now its on FindMyPast because I actually got lucky and found the marriage I was looking for last week when previously it never appeared, yet I know I tried the particular variation of the surname. ::) I'm just glad they didn't wed in the parish they were from because the marriage registers for there have a 50 year gap and therefore I'd never have found out the bride's maiden name. Sadly though Boyds doesn't cover Essex very well either and we are still on the hunt around the county for some marriages. It's possible they married out of county but without checking everywhere it won't really be possible to say and nothing comes up elsewhere either. >:( But that's the joy of genealogy, you never quite know what you'll find. I'm certainly making good use of the online records and no doubt will for some time. ;D
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I've already found 2 marriages that have eluded me for years and I did it by the process of elimination. ;D
I knew where the children of the marriages were baptized but had never been able to find the parents marriages.
I literally sat with my map of Essex parishes and a pencil and paper to make a note of what I'd looked at already.
Far from being boring, I thoroughly enjoyed trawling through the registers and discovered many other unknown entries too.
I'm really glad I took out my years subs. now. I can look at leisure and hopefully take several branches of my tree well back into the early 18th century.
:D
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I haven't signed up yet. I really wanted to trawl through a few wills but it doesn't appear that they have put any more wills on than weren't there already when it was free to view.
Carole
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Hi,
Noting the time frame of marriages being searched for, I'm wondering if the below mentioned marriage index may be of use to someone, here is the link.
http://www.sturnidae.com/Essex/Marriages.htm
It is the Jack Baxter's ESSEX MARRIAGE INDEX, it covers the years 1754 to 1851 and is intended to augment coverage by Boyd's, the site has an index attached which shows the parishes covered plus the years covered in each parish.
For those of you who cannot get in to the ERO the link above gives the address and the fee which is one UK pound per marriage and a stamped self addressed envelope, the link gives methods of payments for overseas people.
The index is also found in bound typewritten pages on the shelves at the ERO, free to view of course.
I have used the index service a number of times over the years and as I live in Australia found it very useful.
Regards.
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I did track down the John Merritt marriage. It was in 1767 in Barling near Rochford. My mum and aunty and uncle grew up in Wakering and Barling. Sarah Davey was the bride but she was a widow.
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Hi
Saving images.....Well i've tried a couple of suggestions but with no success. Has anyone got any ideas please, i'm using Windows 7 and IE9. I know the easier option would be to install another browser but i wondered if it was possible with what i have got.
Kevin
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Hi Kevin there is a post on this thread where the ERO talked a guy through the problem of saving images with IE it was a bit long winded but it worked for him,without doubt the best way is to install either Google Chrome which is much faster than IE or Opera or Firefox to name a few,the problem seems to have started with IE7,it only takes a short time to download Chrome and I use it just for the ERO site,another guy on here uses Firefox with no problem and I used Opera before I used Chrome only changing because it was so much faster ,the posting was november 10th the ERO said to right click and then click copy and then into word,but he put it into photoshop to edit and it worked,best of luck
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Hi Geno
Thanks for that, i did try copying to word however on images showing both pages it would not show both of them completely, i even tried changing my page to landscape before but it still wouldn't show the complete image. Looks like i'll have to download google then.
Thanks again
Kevin
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I would think you could change the page size in Word to, say, A3. Then it should fit, but you wouldn't be able to print it out on an A4 printer without re-sizing.
Mike.
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I would think you could change the page size in Word to, say, A3. Then it should fit, but you wouldn't be able to print it out on an A4 printer without re-sizing.
Mike.
Hi
Thanks for that Mike, didn't even cross my mind to try that.
Kevin
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Just a suggestion, if you use Irfanview you could paste it into that, crop it if you want, save it as a jpeg and print it out any size you want from the print menu.
If you don't have Irfanview it is free to download a copy for personal use. I got mine from Tucows. I find it invaluable for cropping the black bits off from around the census images which saves ink when printing them out.
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I use IrfanView as well. Use it a lot for cropping images.
I have downloaded about 20 images from Seax. Including the burial in Foulness of an ancestor in 1893 which I last looked at in the record office but ran out of time to get a copy now I have downloaded a copy with these new records.
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Now that it's been up and running for over a month, how's everybody getting on with Essex Ancestors?
I go in for a browse nearly every day and love having the freedom to dart from one parish to another. :D
I've managed to find lots of useful baptisms, marriages and burials that have enabled me to fill in lots of loose bits on my tree.
It will be even better when more recent registers are put on. Well worth the annual sub. I took out already!!!!
;)
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I had a few days of intensive searching, having already exhausted most of the free stuff previously, and certainly found a lot more information in the newly digitised registers.
I'll keep checking back to see what's been added.
Definitely worth the money. :)
Mike.
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I'll only be happy when they add the wills.
Carole
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Hi,
I haven't used it since it became Pay to View, been too busy Xmas shopping, card writing and putting up all the Xmas lights, after Xmas is over I'll be giving the system a flogging though.
I'm especially looking forward to the Non Com registers going online, there's a 1758 IGI baptism I'm itching to verify in the Coggeshall Ind register. Also looking forward to the Wills, not sure what I'll find, if anything, a search would be interesting though.
Regards and a happy Xmas to you all :)
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I bought a one day pass and trawled many parishes and came up with nothing,so my Essex lot are on the very back burner for a while,or forever!It was less than $10 so no great loss.
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I took out a months sub and thankful that ai did not take out a year .I found a lot of useful stuff but many of the mid 1800s records have not been done in my areas of Halstead Purleigh and Woodham Walters.Colchester
I've just had a note from ERO asking how I'd got on and replied to say I was disappointed that there were so any records not there for me.They did reply by saying that they were hoping to add more as the months go by .I will leave it now for another few months before looking again.
I thinknI have enough paper work to sort through to keep me busy.
For anyone with records to research in Essex take a look first to see what is available .If your research is only partly covered I suggest amonth sub would be sufficient.
Ringrise
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Hi all,
I did just that Ringrose, but was miffed to find two of the Registers (one at Shoebury and one Southminster) that were supposed to have been digitised had the wrong images! I found this out on the very first day it went online, and I'd bought my subscription.
ERO have apologised for the errors, and say they have been added to their list of "corrections to be done" but can't say when.
I'm a bit irritated, having taken out a 6 month subscription. Now I'm stuck with one branch (but have done well with another)
Yorkslass
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I paid for another day yesterday, it ends at 11am this morning, but while searching registers I keep getting sent back to page one! This is very annoying when I have gone from page to page using the forward and back buttons and don't remember which page I was on! And no my curser was not near that double arrow at top left, it was actually somewhere at the bottom right of the page - can't figure out if I am doing something wrong or if it times out (I have got kicked off completely a couple of times yesterday too)
Must get back to searching for these Appletons, am glued to my seat until 11am...
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I paid for another day yesterday, it ends at 11am this morning, but while searching registers I keep getting sent back to page one! This is very annoying when I have gone from page to page using the forward and back buttons and don't remember which page I was on! And no my curser was not near that double arrow at top left, it was actually somewhere at the bottom right of the page - can't figure out if I am doing something wrong or if it times out (I have got kicked off completely a couple of times yesterday too)
Must get back to searching for these Appletons, am glued to my seat until 11am...
No that happened to me too. I ended up having to make a note of which page I was on as I worked my way through the registers.
Carole
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Yes, I must admit that happens to me too. Like you Siamese Girl, I now know I've got to keep an eye on what page I'm up to so that I can go straight back to it!
::)
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I was thrilled when this came on-line. There were already many pre 1837 records and the promise from SEAX "So far, the coverage of registers that were started in 1837 or later is limited to parishes beginning with the letters A-F; we will add the rest as soon as we can." That was in November. One of the staff told me they were working on the remainder and would add it when they could - but they sounded positive about it so I took the plunge and bought an annual subscription so that I could pick up the new records when they came on line - anticipating some of the letter G parishes by about January and so on.
Nothing has been added, so I asked again and was told that it is unlikely they will be adding any more until they have digitised all the registers and they are hoping it will be before the end of the year! I would hope that, when it comes to renewal of the subscriptions, they take account of the fact we paid for less than half what we expected to receive?
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I would hope that, when it comes to renewal of the subscriptions, they take account of the fact we paid for less than half what we expected to receive?
Don't like your chances but you can always try. The official website did state what was available at launch and I expect they would point this out. I doubt you could hold them to a statement that they would upload as soon as possible, the original launch date was pushed back a few months as it was. However, you never know ... ;D
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Hi,
I think the decision to go Pay to View before all the later year PRs were added to the online database was a bad decision. I suspect that actions of the current UK government is to blame for the ERO's need to go Pay to View, probably the government in it's search for services and budgets to slash has caused the haste for Pay to View.
I have a very high regard for the ERO, the staff and their professionalism, I suspect had they been given the choice one of two things would have happened, there would have been either no Pay to View, or failing that not until the Essex PRs in their entirety were digitised, up and running, followed by a sufficiently long enough trial period to find and fix the glitches.
I wonder if Libraries will be next with a Pay to Borrow :o ;D
Regards.
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I suspect they had to go pay per view to be able to digitise the remaining registers, what with budget constraints etc. They had a notice on the site for some time saying they were exploring ways of making the remaining registers available online but apart from a large grant from somewhere, this was probably the only way they could continue to digitise. It's not that dis-similar to other pay per view sites who don't upload everything in one go. I doubt we would have seen any of the post 1600s/1700s registers available online for free as they could have done this prior to making it all available pay per view.
While I can feel for anyone who has subscribed requiring post-1837 material, perhaps, as others have mentioned they were going to do earlier in the topic, it may have been better to have waited for the material to appear in light of the delays in making the site pay per view in the first place.
Not all post-1837 registers appear in the catalogue against individual parishes anyway and could well still be with the incumbant, which will mean they won't be available digitised until deposited with the RO. Sadly one or two that I would like to see do not seem available.
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Hi smudwhisk,
I know for sure that Hatfield Broad Oak are still with the incumbent or at least they were last time I checked, at one time Sandon and Gt Leighs were but luckily they have been deposited with the ERO for some while now.
What puzzles me is what the Non Com Prs for Coggeshall and the early Stebbing Congregational Prs are doing in the National Archives without at least a copy in the ERO. According to the IGI one of my Coggeshall Anthony ancestors is in the Coggeshall Independent Register.
Regards.
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Thankfully I only took out a months sub and did find a fair number of records.I was disappointed though when I found Quite a few of my places had nothing to offer or werent completely done.....Halstead,Purleigh etv.
I suggest anyone thinking of subscribing looks at the SEAX site and checks what is available by looking at each place of interest.You can tell then what is on offer.
I wrote to SEAX and told them I would keep checking through the year and would do nothing till I saw my records were there.They replied hoping that kas it was an ongoing job more and more records would be appearing.
Ringrise
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I am sure all the records will be online soon,I should tell you that all the money that was spent on getting the records that are now online was recovered in the first six weeks the site was open,so as money speaks ERO and its partner will be looking for more of it.
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I'm really glad the whole project's proved to be worthwhile for the ERO and I'm sure it will give them the incentive to push ahead sooner than later.
Despite all records not being complete at the start (which I was fully aware of) I still don't regret my annual subscription as I've already unearthed so much valuable information.
There are lots of gaps still in my tree but I know they'll be filled in sometime soon from the comfort of my own home!!!
:D
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Hi All,
Just received the following info from the ERO regarding Time Outs
Essex Ancestors: Issue of Timing-Out
Some subscribers have reported that after about 20 minutes browsing the images of a single parish register, they have been thrown back to the first image in the set. For the protection of its customers, the County Council's online systems cut out after 20 minutes of inactivity and unfortunately browsing within a single register does not count as 'activity'. For Essex Ancestors customers the limit has now been raised to 60 minutes. Beyond this you may need either to re-select your image or to log-in again. If anyone has further problems of this kind, please let us know at essex.ancestors@essex.gov.uk .
Regards.
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Cant wait for them to release more recent registers for parishes up to say the 1950s. Some are already done such as Barling. I did hear they were doing it alphabetically by parish.
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I asked why they seemed to have stopped and they replied that it was unlikely more registers would be going on until they had completed the digitisation work, hopefully before the end of the year.
The reason I took out a subscription was because it promised that more would coming on line - naively I assumed it would be a gradual process during the year. I am happy to have been able to find many of the records for pre 1837 but extremely frustrated that the ones I really want are post 1837 in parishes beginning with G, and they have only got as far as F.
I was told that there is only one person doing the job. Even so, you would think they would be able to update as and when more records became available - perhaps quarterly. Their response implies that they are happy to have taken the subscriptions, and will then add a lot more records just at the point when the subscriptions are due to be renewed.
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Some parishes do not have say for example marriages for the 1800s but 1770s and 1900s they do have. Quite frustrating if the 1800s is the years you really want.
Amazing how I have found some ancestors in Essex originated from Hertfordshire, Cambs and Suffolk.
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Hi,
This is of course guesswork on my part but I suspect that Pay to View and the time digitising is taking is a matter of a lack of sufficient funds. My dealings with the ERO staff over a good many years leads me to believe the organisation is a very dedicated one, therefore I believe that had they sufficient funding we would see most if not all PRs online now.
It would be interesting to know if the funding the Essex County Council and therefore the ERO have under the current UK government is the same, or less, than with the previous government.
Regards.
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I'm just grateful they're not cutting corners and are digitising the original records rather than the microfilm copies. ;D I just wish ancestry had done this more with the London and Dorset records 'cos so many of them are still virtually unreadable in places. From various comments on here, it looks like Essex RO have recouped their startup costs at least but I suspect they can't dedicate too many resources to digitising the remainder. Much that I would love to see the remaining Wills online sooner than later, I suspect we'll have a bit of a wait. However as I've got plenty to plough through still anyway, will just have to concentrate on those sides. ;)
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I hope one day they digitise the Essex registers on Ancestry to save us trawling through each parish page by page as Essex is not very well covered by the IGI. They have done a lot of London, Dorset and Warwickshire and Yorks so Essex may soon come.
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Don't hold your breath.
If Essex have taken the decision to do what they have done, they are highly unlikely to then move the project elsewhere and have it hosted by another party.
Dawn
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Hi Coombs,
Whilst as you mention it would be easier to search Essex PRs if they were on Ancestry, unless you have other reasons to need Ancestry it would be a costly exercise. I have just been quoted an Ancestry renewal figure of 170 (plus) UK pounds for the type of subscription which gives access to the various PRs, whereas a one year sub to Essex Ancestors is only 75 pounds.
Regards.
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Hi Coombs,
Whilst as you mention it would be easier to search Essex PRs if they were on Ancestry, unless you have other reasons to need Ancestry it would be a costly exercise. I have just been quoted an Ancestry renewal figure of 170 (plus) UK pounds for the type of subscription which gives access to the various PRs, whereas a one year sub to Essex Ancestors is only 75 pounds.
Regards.
That seems a bit expensive since a worldwide sub paid in one go is only £155, unless they've just put it up?? Were you quoted paying monthly?
The only problem with ancestry's PRs is that most are scans of the microfilms/fiche and if these aren't very good, the problems are replicated. At least ERO redigitised the originals, although I've had a moan at them recently regarding the really low resolution images for Dovercourt. The response wasn't very helpful, they couldn't see an issue would I be more specific. Personally, since the size of each file is about a 3rd of most other parishes, it's self evident what the issue is. They're not magnified as much and if you increase the magnification within IE they go very blurry .... Other than that I'm quite happy with the service, indexes are all OK but only as good as the person transcribing them ... and I have a lot of ancestors floating around the county and not necessarily where you'd expect them. ::) I have the same issue in London and still can't find a lot of people with the help of the indexes.
I'd agree with Dawn, I don't think you'll find Essex PRs ending up on ancestry or FindMyPast.
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Hi Coombs,
Whilst as you mention it would be easier to search Essex PRs if they were on Ancestry, unless you have other reasons to need Ancestry it would be a costly exercise. I have just been quoted an Ancestry renewal figure of 170 (plus) UK pounds for the type of subscription which gives access to the various PRs, whereas a one year sub to Essex Ancestors is only 75 pounds.
Regards.
You will find the best option is to subscribe through Ancestry.co.uk and not through Ancestry.au This is to do with the exchange rate between the Australian Dollar and British Pound. If you want access to Australian records as well as UK then take out a worldwide subscription through Ancestry UK for 155.40 GBP which is about 230.00 Australian Dollars. In fact when I last renewed it was even cheaper as they then deducted VAT that is charged in the UK.
You may need to take out a new subscription with different Login etc and cancel the old one. This may present a problem if you have a tree on Ancestry.
Andy
Andy
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I agree findem.
Why on earth should the ERO fund and do all the hard work only to have a huge company like ancestry steal it all away?
Keep it "in house" and at £75 a year I still think it's very good value.
:)
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Freereg is indexing some Essex PRs anyway and some parishes my ancestors lived in.
Ancestry do like to take shortcuts I agree.
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Hi andycand,
Thanks for tip I'll look into that option, at the moment I'm trying to assess whether I really need Ancestry any more.
If Ancestry had the later years PRs for West Ham and other Essex parishes which are now part of Greater London I might be tempted for the sake of my wife's tree.
Hi Diblet,
You've hit the nail square on the head, the ERO would be mad to let Ancestry share the fruits of their labours, also those people of limited means can afford to research Essex Ancestors whilst it's under ERO control, whereas they might baulk at paying the cost of Ancestry subs for the type of service which gives access to PRs.
Regards.
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Hi
if you register to Top Cashback,you get 25% cash back on a subscription for ancestry. Topcashback gives discounts for other Genealogy sites too.
Ps I,m nothing to do with Top cashback I just use it alot for subscriptons.
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Hi andreabro,
Thanks for the tip, looks very interesting, haven't heard of Top cashback before so I'll have a look at it.
Regards.
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I got £300 back last year, Dont buy online without checking the site first.
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Don't know if anyone else has flagged this but if you buy Family Tree Maker you get 6 months Ancestry included -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Family-Tree-Maker-2011-Platinum/dp/B003S3RLLW/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1330377124&sr=8-6
I think the edition above is the cheapest available, £24, there are others. You have to register with your card which they will start to bill normally after 6 months.
Don't know why ancestry do it, maybe they're hoping we forget to cancel the subscription. I dont even bother using FTM, prefer rootsmagic.
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Hi andreabro
Could you explain how Top Cashback works with Ancestry, I pay the monthly subscription for the worldwide option. What would I have to do to get the 25% cashback?
Kevin
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Cancel your membership and rejoin through Topcashback.
Gives good discounts for other family history sites too. search Family history on Topcash back and it will bring them up.
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This topic is starting to veer away from the original subject ;D
As it's now 20 pages long, I think the time has come to close it.
If you have any new points of view, please start a new topic.
Dawn