Wonder if there will be any changes :)
Dorrie
Wonder if there will be any changes :)
Dorrie
Wonder if there will be any changes :)The option of a subscription, please ;)
I much prefer Register House in Edinburgh .... They have longer opening hours 9-5 where Glasgow is 9.30-4.pmRegister House is open 09.00 to 16.30. Not 9 - 5
Edinburgh has a facility to save docs to a USBNot any more. They reckon that last year's system crash (or was it earlier this year?) was caused by a virus getting in via someone's USB stick so they don't allow that any longer.
Plans for wider online accesshttp://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/church-court-records-online
We plan to begin making church court records available online in 2017, following the re-launch of the ScotlandsPeople website in 2016. We anticipate that it will take a significant time to upload the full range of kirk session, presbytery, synod and General Assembly records for the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, which amount to more than 20,000 volumes. Researchers will have the choice of accessing the records free of charge in various Scottish archives, or using the subscription service.
I may be the last person with Scots ancestors to read the piece I quote below but it seems that the new site (post 12th September) might well include a subs option and 'praise be' the kirk sessions records online for all of us who live outwith Scotland:QuotePlans for wider online accesshttp://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/church-court-records-online
We plan to begin making church court records available online in 2017, following the re-launch of the ScotlandsPeople website in 2016. We anticipate that it will take a significant time to upload the full range of kirk session, presbytery, synod and General Assembly records for the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, which amount to more than 20,000 volumes. Researchers will have the choice of accessing the records free of charge in various Scottish archives, or using the subscription service.
Much that a subscription option would be great depending on the prices, I hope its not going to be a complete change to that and remove PAYGO credits. :-\
Much that a subscription option would be great depending on the prices, I hope its not going to be a complete change to that and remove PAYGO credits. :-\
I suspect that the subscription option will apply only to the new material and not to BMDs and census. But I live in hope of being wrong!
Last month we contacted you to let you know that our website would be unavailable from Wednesday 7 September 2016 until Monday 12 September 2016. We are writing to let you know that this site downtime has now been postponed to a future date. We will confirm the new dates as soon as possible
Just wondering as I am a regular user of SP why I have had no such email??
Annette
I didn't receive the original email nor the one for yesterday and I'm not set to opt out of announcements either. :-\ I'm also an intermittent user of the site.
I didn't receive the original email nor the one for yesterday and I'm not set to opt out of announcements either. :-\ I'm also an intermittent user of the site.
Two possibilities that I can think of ~
* Old e-mail address - I originally registered with an e-mail address that I gave up on ages ago. When I realised I wasn't getting any messages, I checked it and then changed it to a current one.
* Might be worth checking the spam folder.
please tell me if there is an easier way to go over old searches... and that I am just not getting it.
Credits cost £0.25 each and are available in batches of 30 (£7.50) or 40 (£10) from the buy credits page. The number of credits and costs of digital images for the different record types are as follows:
Statutory registers of births (older than 100 years), marriages (older than 75 years) and deaths (older than 50 years) cost 6 credits (£1.50)
Census returns and church registers of births and baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials and other events cost 6 credits (£1.50)
Valuation rolls cost 2 credits (£0.50)
Wills and testaments (including soldiers' and airmen's wills) cost 10 credits (£2.50) - this is the cost of the entire document, which is usually two or three pages, but can be more than 100 pages long
Military Service Appeals Tribunal records cost 20 credits (£5.00) - this is the cost of the entire document which is usually about three or four pages long but can be much longer.
Coats of Arms (entries from the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland) costs 40 credits (£10.00)
All credits are valid for two years and will expire at the end of two years unless further credits are purchased in that time.
Sorry, there have been too many failed login attempts from your IP address. This IP address is now temporarily blocked.
New price;
£7.50 = 30 credits - (1 credit = 25p) - 1 per Index & 6 for Image - Total £1.75
Or (No reduction for larger amount) but maybe looks good ??? ::)
£10 = 40 credits - (1 credit = 25p) - 1 per Index & 6 for Image - Total £1.75
Annie
Sorry, there have been too many failed login attempts from your IP address. This IP address is now temporarily blocked.
please tell me if there is an easier way to go over old searches... and that I am just not getting it.
Xin,
You can save your viewed images to your Timeline but for me, whenever I do an Index search for years, no matter what name/where, I always expand until I have enough to fill the pages of 25 per index.
I then "copy & paste" to word & each time I have actually downloaded a cert. from that particular search, I highlight it so I know I have it.
I always save the "word doc" with surname & dates "from-to" e.g. (1855-1875) so I remember which dates I've searched.
I head them in a folder under "SP SEARCHED" by Surname & then Area.
If only 1 area I put name of area in "save as" e.g. Cumming - Boisdale - Inverness - 1855-1875 (M) male or (F) Female or (M&F) Male & Female.
ADDED, I also add (B) or (D) or (M) so I know if it's Birth/Death/Marriage.
If I want to search that name I just go to my "SP SEARCHED" & check out my lists.
Sounds time consuming but it's not.
Annie
Looking forward to seeing what has been done to the site although little change is good too!
You do lose out if you want to look up more than one certificate from a page of 25 index entries. If you looked up every one of a page of 25 results it will now cost 25 x 6 x £0.25 = £37.50 for 25 certificates. Previously it would have cost you £29.40 (£7/30 for the index plus 25 x 5 x £7/30 for the images), which is an increase of over 27%. For me, this is far outweighed by the indexes being free of charge.
And it's still bargain basement compared with the GRO for England and Wales, where 25 certificates would cost you £231.25 (and give you less information), or some other countries where 25 certificates could set you back £500 or more.
I live in hope that they will add subscription options today ::)
We will provide a further update in relation to the new ScotlandsPeople website shortly - thank you.
From their Facebook page, an hour agoThanks :DQuoteWe will provide a further update in relation to the new ScotlandsPeople website shortly - thank you.
Latest from SP
Just waiting for the 'Unexpected issues had delayed the launch of the new Scotland's People website' announcement ::)
Update on new ScotlandsPeople website
As most of you will be aware, the new ScotlandsPeople website was scheduled to launch today (Monday 26 September).
While every effort has been made to meet this deadline, it has become apparent that we need a bit more time to test the new site and satisfy ourselves that it is completely ready for launch.
We now expect the new ScotlandsPeople website to go live within the next few days.
Remember, once you log-in to the new site for the first time you will see that your credits, saved images and searches are all be available.
Thank you all for your continued patience and support. We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused and look forward to welcoming you to the new site soon.
"Remember, once you log-in to the new site for the first time you will see that your credits, saved images and searches are all be available."
Dear, oh dear, oh dear :(
Just waiting for the 'Unexpected issues had delayed the launch of the new Scotland's People website' announcement ::)
Sancti, just for you, here it is: (from Facebook)QuoteUpdate on new ScotlandsPeople website
We now expect the new ScotlandsPeople website to go live within the next few days.
>:( >:(
Surely better that they fix everything before going "live" rather than having to close it again after a few hours or be inundated by complaints?Surely the only way to discover if everything has been 'fixed' is to open it up to the rest of us?
Surely better that they fix everything before going "live" rather than having to close it again after a few hours or be inundated by complaints?Surely the only way to discover if everything has been 'fixed' is to open it up to the rest of us?
I'm just waiting for all the moans about how it was better the old way!
But that's my point.Surely better that they fix everything before going "live" rather than having to close it again after a few hours or be inundated by complaints?Surely the only way to discover if everything has been 'fixed' is to open it up to the rest of us?
Not until it has been fully tested by their team and any major faults been resolved. They are really in a no win situation - they have people complaining that the site isn't up and running when they said, but if they put it up complete with faults, they would have people complaining that they should have sorted things out first.
I'm just waiting for all the moans about how it was better the old way!
Does anyone know if they will have any new records on there ?I think someone said the Kirk session records as for any other records not sure will just need to wait and see :D
Does anyone know if they will have any new records on there ?I think someone said the Kirk session records as for any other records not sure will just need to wait and see :D
Rosie
Hope there is a free index search initially when the Kirk sessions do get added.
Over the next few months more types of records held by National Records of Scotland (NRS), including records of kirk sessions and other church courts will be added.
Logged on ok, changed password, bought credits, started a search, but service now down.
Well that was easier than expected, just logged in with old user name and password, was asked to choose a new password and that was it.
My user name has now been changed to my email address too
Annie
not a good site if you don't know the names of the folks you are searching for >:(
not a good site if you don't know the names of the folks you are searching for >:(
I doubt ANY site would help if you don't know who you're looking for?
Annie
My user name has now been changed to my email address too
Annie
So has mine.
Carol, there is a saved images button right at the top of the page. All the images I have looked at over the years are there -just haven't worked out how to use the filter!
William
I am taking the easy option --- sitting back and letting you all do the work, and appreciate all your comments...
It will help me to understand how to tackle it - when I dare :)
xin
I am taking the easy option --- sitting back and letting you all do the work, and appreciate all your comments...I have just tackled it not too bad xin thought I had lost all my saved images in timeline but managed to work that one out ...Having your e-mail address as user name suits me fine also changing my password ...Go on I dare you :D
It will help me to understand how to tackle it - when I dare :)
xin
not a good site if you don't know the names of the folks you are searching for >:(
Tried logging in with my old details. ...Impossible! Somehow, they don't have the details, even though I've had an account for 8 years. Had to Re-Register, give all my details again, then pay for credits that I shouldn't have needed to pay for. I had credits left on the site when they closed down for these "improvements".
I would send them an e-mail then and find out what happens to your credits they must be able to check as they would have had your e-mail address ???
Rosie
not a good site if you don't know the names of the folks you are searching for >:(
Are there any sites that are good for searching for people whose names you don't know? It's a sort of rather basic piece of information, really.
:) I have had a peep...and didn't like the format uhm... !!! but am now going to wait until my mind is totally awake... maybe the middle of the night.. ;) cos it is quiet and no distractions..Think we will all get used to it eventually
xin
I noticed that the surnames are in capitals (as expected) but the forenames are as well. This looks odd, and is not the standard way to write names - can anyone remember how they were written on the old site?
Have you posted on the Scotland Board "Looking for ANYONE/ ANY SURNAME with Occupation (whatever it is)?
I am loving the new website and the free searches.
However I got a surprise extra result. As you can see I already have the marriage record for Ogilvy Taylor and Jane Turnbull. Might the other record have slightly different information?
Thank you Douglas P, both records say 'proclaimed in order to be married' no mention of Banns.
I already have the marriage record for Ogilvy Taylor and Jane Turnbull(1840 Dunnichen / Montrose). Might the other record have slightly different information?Possibly.
Thank you Douglas P, both records say 'proclaimed in order to be married' no mention of Banns.It is the same thing. The church terminology was that their intention to marry was proclaimed, but the proclamation involved the reading of what is popularly known as the banns.
Not sure if I've missed a save selection but the Save to PDF seems to be missing from the Wills section and it appears that we have to save each page as a jpg - like the olden days :-\
I wonder which parish they married in! Both are dated 14th June 1840 one is in Dunnichen and the other Montrose
it's the bloke who bought up all the land and lived in the South (Derbyshire and Isle of Wight!)
I thought the new site might make it easier to find elusive deaths but it now only has options for year range and age range. The old way let you set the year range along with a birth date range which determined the age at death for you, but now you're stuck with two options that are basically the same if you don't know when someone died.
I thought the new site might make it easier to find elusive deaths but it now only has options for year range and age range. The old way let you set the year range along with a birth date range which determined the age at death for you, but now you're stuck with two options that are basically the same if you don't know when someone died.
Fab,
Can you not just leave those options blank?
I haven't searched for a death which I didn't know the year.
The 1 I downloaded, I knew the year which was on the Index but I'm sure I only put the County (Lanark) & place name (Cambusnethan) because I already knew it but was allowing for any mistake with the info. I was given.
Annie
What years were they born & when were they last seen on census'?
The other thing is, you could leave the surname blank for females (incase married) & insert their maiden name in "Other name" option?
I need to look at SP tomorrow to find out what you mean as I haven't tried what you're explaining so I'm still thinking in "old site" terms.
You could open a thread with your queries for help though.
I'm off to bed for now.
Annie
I don't know her death year, death age or death parish, but at least I know her birth year. So before I could include that in the search and get deaths for Mary Murrays of the right age, but now without that I'm left with results of 100s of different ages. I've contacted them about it so hopefully it can be returned at some stage.
Having same problem as larkspur " not recognizing password", tried twice resetting password, still no joy, have sent them an email. ???
Tried logging in with my old details. ...Impossible! Somehow, they don't have the details, even though I've had an account for 8 years. Had to Re-Register, give all my details again, then pay for credits that I shouldn't have needed to pay for. I had credits left on the site when they closed down for these "improvements".
I then tried to find a baptism for 1835. But when I look for a place to give this specific date, there is none there. ...Am I right in saying that there is no place to give the birth date or have I missed something?
Has anyone else found issues with the marriage search?
I had an exact date and place of marriage from a birth record.
I tried using the male name plus surname of the spouse but, there was no match
I tried entering the details vice/versa but still no match.
I then searched using the male name only ( no surname for spouse) and found the potential marriage
I clicked on "spouse details"
His spouse's surname was exactly as I had entered it but, SP doesn't recognise it using the actual search field options?
That's not good!
I hate to see genealogy becoming a profit centre for government. All records should be released to the public (at no charge to government) at a certain time to an organization that would offer them free to the public. i.e. famillysearch.org.
Getting page 404 has the site gone down again
it just seems totally illogical!
This is daft if this is the way it is going to work. Blank surname for spouse, you have to click on the spouse detail link to see the surname. Really :-\
'WorldPay Error: 2, The entity name must immediately follow the '&' in the entity reference.'
It does show spouse surname for marriages after the date when spouse's surname was added to the original indexing, but you still have to click on the extra button to get the full spouse name.
It does show spouse surname for marriages after the date when spouse's surname was added to the original indexing, but you still have to click on the extra button to get the full spouse name.
[/quote
Yes just discovered this ..today think I preferred the old way ::)
Rosie
What year would this be, Forfarian? The search I was doing was late 1800s to early 1900From 1929 onwards. This is also when they started putting mothers' maiden surnames in the births index, though as that's after the 100-year cut-off they don't come up on the online index.
Has anyone contacted SP re the pre 1929 marriage/spouse issue?Yes. I don't see any point in posting comments here without feeding them back to SP.
I posted my gripe about it on one of the other threads but, I wonder if it's an SP error or a deliberate omission ?I have asked them whether the reduction in capability of the search is an intended consequence of the new system.
It seems odd that the field for a spouse surname exists but is redundant on pre 1929 marriages.It is historical. The original indexes, in the handwritten and then printed books, did not include the spouse's surname until 1929, so the old computerised version of the indexes (DIGROS) did not include this either, and the in-house search does not.
I was searching for an 1879 marriage that I found on a child's birth cert.Yes, that was also my experience.
By entering the male details with the spouse surname for the year and county, it resulted in no matches. The reverse input also resulted in no matches.
Yet, when I removed the spouse name from the field, I too had to click on each of the 7 results in turn to find the right one.
Tried logging in with my old details. ...Impossible! Somehow, they don't have the details, even though I've had an account for 8 years. Had to Re-Register, give all my details again, then pay for credits that I shouldn't have needed to pay for. I had credits left on the site when they closed down for these "improvements".
I then tried to find a baptism for 1835. But when I look for a place to give this specific date, there is none there. ...Am I right in saying that there is no place to give the birth date or have I missed something?
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=756732.new#new
I have just had a very nice reply back from them. I have 2 old accounts that I could not access, so opened a new one with my new E Mail and they are now going to put them all together in my new account so I can view previous searches. One happy Larkspur :D
ScotlandsPeople
1 hr ·
Hello everyone. We've made several changes to saved searches and saved images. In saved searches you can now sort by search title and search date (by clicking on the column header in each case). You can also edit the search title. The search filter searches the search title field.
In saved images you can sort by year, record header, description and date viewed (again by clicking on the column headers). The filter works on the description field, so, once you've added descriptions to your images the filter should work. We are also looking into making the filter work on the image header, as well as the description.
https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/t…/known-technical-issues
I don't recall them using World Pay before the new look site was launched.Yes, it used Worldpay but it was a much simpler and quicker procedure.
Very nice, Rosie. I think I've kept them afloat for years ;D
I remember when you had to order OPR images and wait for a few weeks to get them. They were all certified so were expensive.
Yes ordered a few myself and thought they would never arrived and also a few wrong ones ::)
Rosie
This was probably the most contested and debated issue in discussion and testing with users of the website (a mixture of existing site users and new users) over the last year. It was decided, by a very slight margin, to exclude it. Our technical support are currently working to solve issues with search fields on the site as it stands, but afterwards we will be looking at enhancements to the site. I think the reinstatement of the 'birth year' field in statutory deaths will be high on the agenda for enhancements, as many people have reported that they found it a helpful addition.
Many thanks for letting us know that you would like the 'birth year' field reinstated; I hope that its omission does not cause too much inconvenience while we look into having it added to the new site. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any assistance in the meantime.
I agree that SP has to pay its way. However, despite its usefulness, does anyone agree that SP is in danger of becoming a rip off? (I know you can minimise the cost by researching commercial sites beforehand, but this does not make economic sense because it drives researchers away from SP.)
I emailed SP to ask if I could merge my account with another one I had and could not access.
Today I had an email saying that they had merged my accounts and all my saved images were there! :D
Excellent response!
Kooky
I have tried all the combo's I can think of to enter and just keep getting "You have no viewed image records that match your search."I think what has happened is that your saved searches were conducted using criteria that are no longer available in the search on the new site, for example spouse's name before 1928 for marriages, and year of birth for deaths. So when you pull up a saved search, the system searches again as if you had just put in that search, using the new criteria, and finds nothing so returns a zero result.
I have tried all the combo's I can think of to enter and just keep getting "You have no viewed image records that match your search."I think what has happened is that your saved searches were conducted using criteria that are no longer available in the search on the new site, for example spouse's name before 1928 for marriages, and year of birth for deaths. So when you pull up a saved search, the system searches again as if you had just put in that search, using the new criteria, and finds nothing so returns a zero result.
You need to contact SP, tell them what the problem is, and ask them to sort it out.
Decided to try again using my email address together with my password and up popped a notice to say that my complicated password wasn't complicated enough.
Decided to try again using my email address together with my password and up popped a notice to say that my complicated password wasn't complicated enough.
Haggis with a couple of digits at the end didn't cut it? ;)
How about Brexit2016?
Does anyone understand the significance of of age at death: 131yrs?Either an error or a bug or a glitsch. Nothing of any significance. I came across one of those as well.
Does anyone understand the significance of of age at death: 131yrs?
Hmmm... I think some the search results are not being presented as usefully as they once did.Yes, that is true.
You certainly can't narrow things down to a particular day as you once couldIt has never been possible to narrow down to a day on SP, because the exact date of an event has never been included in the indexes. Right from the word go (the old handwritten index books) they have only ever been indexed by year of registration.
Looking forward to seeing what has been done to the site although little change is good too!
Monica
Not sure if it has been mentioned so far but the 1881 LDS Census transcriptions are free to view.
ev
Not sure if it has been mentioned so far but the 1881 LDS Census transcriptions are free to view.
ev
Were they not free before EV ?
Rosie
SP never responded to my email Re Worldpay but I figured it out for myself.
3d secure means that the name on the billing page MUST now match to the exact name on the Credit Card.
My billing page defaulted to as it has aways been.... Anne XXX
My CC shows Mrs A XXX
It was never flagged before but... I'll know in future !
Jenny, I read yesterday (on one of the links from SP that you posted Gadget) that it is not currently possible to search for married women's deaths with the additional surname.
Monica
Jenny, I read yesterday (on one of the links from SP that you posted Gadget) that it is not currently possible to search for married women's deaths with the additional surname.
Monica
SP never responded to my email Re Worldpay but I figured it out for myself.
3d secure means that the name on the billing page MUST now match to the exact name on the Credit Card.
My billing page defaulted to as it has aways been.... Anne XXX
My CC shows Mrs A XXX
It was never flagged before but... I'll know in future !
Thanks Monica it was the transcript that I viewed but that was a long time age probably round about 2002 /3 ..Not sure if it has been mentioned so far but the 1881 LDS Census transcriptions are free to view.
ev
Were they not free before EV ?
Rosie
No, they weren't free to view but were reduced to 2 units I believe. They were a transcript not an original image.
Monica
I wonder if that has been flagged up to them?I have a long letter lying here waiting to be posted to them, flagging up this and several other issues.
Very true.I wonder if that has been flagged up to them?I have a long letter lying here waiting to be posted to them, flagging up this and several other issues.
Of course we should all write to them. The more feedback they get the more chance of them doing something about it.
If you search for a death of Smith, other surname Brown, you get all deaths of people surnamed Smith and all deaths of people surnamed Brown for whatever period you select. From 1855 to 1865 this amounts to 21,327 results. Not clever.No, it is not.
Hopefully it's something simple enough to fix, like changing a value in the backend somewhere from true to false.Yes, it could be as simple as that. But what they seem to have done is gone back to the in-house search, which always did this, but without the button to move to the previous year or following year that was never a feature of the online search.
Aaarrgh!! I really hope they get it sorted, as even searching within one year depending on the names involved gives too many results.Hopefully it's something simple enough to fix, like changing a value in the backend somewhere from true to false.Yes, it could be as simple as that. But what they seem to have done is gone back to the in-house search, which always did this, but without the button to move to the previous year or following year that was never a feature of the online search.
...It did bring up Barra but no mention of County which is Inverness?
Not much help to anyone who doesn’t know which County Barra was actually in?
From your comments and experience, is searching in person at one of the centres' terminals different to what is available online.
They duly deducted 6 credits for me to view an already purchased image.That's not so good then Gadget :o
I am curious, Fordyce....
From your comments and experience, is searching in person at one of the centres' terminals different to what is available online.
Never made it to 'bottom on seat' at any of the centres so all my research is remote. So, have no concept of what the screens and search options are like at one of the centres.
Monica
Until recently the capabilities were broadly comparable although not identical - I can't say the differences stood out (except of course the unlimited access to the images at no extra cost, which boon totally overwhelmed any trivial niggles there might have been!).The principal capabilities of the old online system that were better than the in-house system included
Statutory and church registers of marriages - spouse's name
There is a defect with the spouse's name field and this is under investigation. Please do not use this field in searching or filtering for the time being.
Has anyone else noticed that the only name on the marriage heading is the Male?Same reason that the search no longer works with spouse's name before 1929. That is, the original indexes as used in-house don't list the spouse's name until 1929. Evidently BrightSolid were able to program the search to find marriages using the spouse's name before 1929, but CACI were not. Or were they told not to?
I don't understand why they have omitted the Female?
I'm wondering, as a once upon a time database person, how much thorough testing of the new system was carried out. In particular, the way that most of us do the searches.
I'm wondering, as a once upon a time database person, how much thorough testing of the new system was carried out. In particular, the way that most of us do the searches.
Indeed. Why could they not have copied the code already written by Brightsolid for the searches instead of getting CACI to reinvent the wheel as a square?
Probably some contractual copyright reason they couldn't.I can see that if they had been outbid for the contract, they might have wanted to keep it to themselves. If, however, as I am led to believe, Brightsolid didn't want to continue with it, surely they would not have refused to hand over the code, especially if lubricated by a payment? They would have had nothing to gain by withholding it, and could suffer a lot of adverse PR by doing so.
Hello everyone. Richard here with an update. Our ScotlandsPeople search rooms will remain closed on Tuesday 11 October following technical difficulties.
The SFHS (Scottish Family History Service) network and some other users are also affected.
We’re working hard to resolve the problems and restore services and will continue to provide updates here and at our Twitter account,
Our online services and the historical and legal search rooms remain unaffected.
We will update customers further tomorrow but please check back here before travelling.
We're sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
I'm wondering, as a once upon a time database person, how much thorough testing of the new system was carried out. In particular, the way that most of us do the searches.
Gadget
As long as it's just not SO BAD that it's unusable they will bump along fixing the bugs as they get reported. It's called Permanent Beta....... :P
As long as it's just not SO BAD that it's unusable they will bump along fixing the bugs as they get reported. It's called Permanent Beta....... :P
;D I think they BETA fix it soon before we're all on BETA BLOCKERS with HPB ::)
Annie
I wrote to SP expressing my disappointment with their decision not to offer subscription options. I stated that some researchers wished to browse their records, which was prohibitively expensive using pay-per-view. I suggested that SP was not getting full use from it's records.
The answer came back this afternoon ...
<i>"The website was initially intended for those who wished to undertake their own personal family history however since its launch in 2002, we have seen the site evolve and with that evolvement, there has also been a difference in the reasons why customers use the site.
However, there are no immediate plans to include subscriptions but this is an area which is always open to review and should that change, we will advise our customers."</i>
This is the main reason why I don't use Scotland's People - even though a large portion of my family is from Scotland... I don't want to end up paying to look at 50 records that are wrong just to find one which is maybe the one I need. SP is great if you already know names and dates, and you know which record you need. If you are searching, it is useless (or, better, usefull but way to expensive).You cannot research a Scottish family history without using SP. It is, quite simply, impossible because there is nowhere else you can get access to all the necessary certificates. Sure, you may be lucky and pick up the odd one somewhere online, but without going back to the actual sources you run the risk of duplicating sloppy research by others.
I hope they change their minds one day...Don't we all. But none of the official government web sites anywhere in the world offers a subscription option for viewing original certificates as far as I know - and if I am wrong I'll be delighted to know which they are.
SP is great if you already know names and dates,
You cannot research a Scottish family history without using SP.
But none of the official government web sites anywhere in the world offers a subscription option for viewing original certificates
But none of the official government web sites anywhere in the world offers a subscription option for viewing original certificates as far as I know - and if I am wrong I'll be delighted to know which they are.
If SP would just restore the search options their old site had, that would be a great first step. Using the old search it was usually possible to home in on most certificates without wasting too many credits unless you are researching a very common surname.
There are many genuine, enthusiastic root hunters who can't afford subs to commercial sites to even look at the indexes i.e. I don't have too much of a gripe with SP's set-up as it is accessible to everyone at minimal cost.
There's no need for Ancestry style subs. Look at SEAX who offer 24hrs for £10, 7 days for £20, 30 days for £30, with no auto-renewal.
I'm unsure what you mean by "no name" search, sorry?
I can see you have missed my point on SP being affordable for all.
"30 days for £30"
Multiply that by 12 for people who can't afford a sub upfront = £360 per year, NO THANKS!
ADDED, with no cert. to show for your £'s, unlike SP where you can download the cert.
'No name, no search' ...Valuation rolls, available in the National Library of Scotland and many local libraries, will provide names of heads of household. You could then use one of those to get to the 1911 census page for the street, and page forward or back from there.
Mr A needs to look at all the folks who lived in his street in 1911.
Mrs B can't find an ancestor 1780-1800 in the indexes, so wishes to browse the church registers for the five local parishes looking for mis-spellings.Microfilm of the relevant parish register, widely available free of charge in local libraries and family history societies, and available to rent for a few pounds or dollars at LDS Church Family History Centres anywhere in the world.
Miss C is collecting the names of all the distillery workers in the XX valley 1841-1861 - three censuses to be searched, occupations not indexed.Microfilm of those three censuses, available as for registers above.
Mr D wishes to find all the sugar workers in Greenock by browsing the church registers.As for Mrs B above.
Mrs E needs to know who lived at 14 School Lane, XX, in 1891 for research into a building.Valuation rolls as for Mr A above.
... these are all 'no name' searches that can only be accomplished by browsing the original records held solely by SP, and that can only be done economically with a subscription, but not necessarily an annual subscription.With the exception of the second part of Mr A's quest, all of these searches can be accomplished entirely free of charge in local libraries or family history centres.
You won't find microfilm copies of Scottish registers in libraries outside of Scotland itself and I doubt many have copies of registers that aren't from their local area. LDS FHC's charge £7.50 per film for 2 months now in the UK. Unless you are lucky and all required parishes appear on the same film, it is more expensive than using SP's credits. So again we are back to the fact that SP could quite easily provide a subscription option of some sort (not necessarily only per year) for items such as Parish Registers and Census and they would probably find they would make just as much money as they do with credit based payments since people are more likely to subscribe than risk spending a lot of money on incorrect parish register entries. While some may expect them to include Certificates in a subscription option, I suspect most would be quite happy if it included just church registers and Census.QuoteMrs B can't find an ancestor 1780-1800 in the indexes, so wishes to browse the church registers for the five local parishes looking for mis-spellings.Microfilm of the relevant parish register, widely available free of charge in local libraries and family history societies, and available to rent for a few pounds or dollars at LDS Church Family History Centres anywhere in the world.
Hi Stuart,
I know it's not ideal but if you sort the results (I've found by place the best) then look for two reference numbers the same you can usually work out if you've got the correct person. Like I say not ideal but at least free!
Jen
Add me to the "not impressed by the searches" list please.If you go to FamilySearch.org and plug in George Imrie and Margaret Green as parents, you see that they have their children at Crail in Fife. Search ScP for deaths of Margaret Imrie in Fife and the one that looks closest died in 1902 aged 86. Change the search - just Margaret [no surname] dying in Carnbee aged 86. Result - Margaret Imrie and Margaret Green both as the 3rd death of the year. Use this search technique in ScP to find the full list of surnames for any individual - the maximum I have seen is five separate surnames.
Margaret Green - b. 11.05.1915, but other than her parents and siblings I know nothing about her. Ancestry (yes, I know) has a Margaret Green on record as marrying a George Imrie in 1845 so I thought it might be an idea to look for the death of a Margaret Imrie with Green as the other surname on SP. In the past that may have worked to my advantage, though it might have taken a few credits to find the correct death. Now? It's all speculation and probably a lot more expensive.
Obviously they didn't think about those of us who live nowhere near Scotland!
You will always know when there is an entry in the RCE because there will be an oval stamp in the first column of the certificate. So if for some reason you can't access the RCE entry online, you can always ask SP for a copy.
RCEs still not working :( !
Emailed again!