1911 census Beta on Find My Past

[Gadget]

I've just used 30 credits on my Wiltshire in laws 

My OH was really pleased to see his granddad's handwriting and find that the family were living 'above the shop', so 'twas worth it.

I just hope that the Welsh counties will come online soon for mine.

Easy to use but I think that 30 credits is overpriced compared with their previous pricing policy.


Gadget

[ShaunJ]

I got the email eventually but I have not been able to find a single one of the London families I am researching !

The search functionality is quite limited:
 
 - completion of the surname field is mandatory so it's not possible to search by given names and birthplace only

 - it's not possible to use wildcards;

 - the search results don't show addresses or birthplaces or occupations or spouse names.

All very unsatisfactory in my view.

[carol8353]

 - the search results don't show addresses or birthplaces or occupations or spouse names.

Yes they do Shaun, you have to click on Show advanced fields underneath the main search box.Then you can enter another person in the household.
I've usually gone by one of the kids names and then put one of the parents as another link in the household.

Good luck 

Carol

[bishenbertie]

I'm also one of the great unwashed

Do you already have to subscribe to FindMyPast to get the email?  I'm only registered for 1911 updates.

[Tewin]

They have explained about the search restrictions on the site on the blog (http://blog.1911census.co.uk:

'Wildcards and other fuzzy search features
December 20th, 2008

A lot of people have fed back that searching the census is not as flexible as it could be! There’s a good reason for that - at the moment some search functions are deliberately restricted. This is to allow the site to deal with more queries immediately after it goes online in 2009, when it is expected that there will be huge demand from people trying to access the service.

The majority of people will be able to find at least some of their ancestors with the current search options. However, as soon as the demand has  stabilised, we will release updates to the site to turn on searching with wildcards (including an initial wildcard), provide NameThesaurus variants, and will also lift the restriction that requires users  to use a surname for a person search or a street name for the address search. When these restrictions are relaxed it will be *much* easier to find the more elusive ancestors.

Sorry we can’t open these up to you for the moment - however, we need to test the site as it will be at launch. We will email everybody who is registered on the site the moment new features become available after launch, so make sure you register.'

So it looks as though we'll have to wait a while for more complex searching.

Cheers,

Tewin

[Abiam2]

Has anyone had success with Berkshire?  I have spent ages putting in both sets of Grand parent with lots of info, a little info and half as much info, Surname alone, surname plus town etc etc etc
Nada!

[ShaunJ]

Found someone!

The address was not findable from the address search, and one of the names wasn't findable in person search, presumably mistranscribed. The other person in the household just used her initials, to make it even more difficult.

However, as soon as the demand has  stabilised, we will release updates to the site to turn on searching with wildcards (including an initial wildcard), provide NameThesaurus variants, and will also lift the restriction that requires users  to use a surname for a person search or a street name for the address search. When these restrictions are relaxed it will be *much* easier to find the more elusive ancestors

Thanks for that Tewin - all is explained

[lookingforold]

Having waited all this time I found the road with ALL the addresses, 2 through 51, except No: 41, the one I am looking for. It appears on Birth Certificates and in Kellys. Not a very good start for me I am afraid.

[rosie99]

I'm also one of the great unwashed

Do you already have to subscribe to FindMyPast to get the email?  I'm only registered for 1911 updates.

I just registered for updates - my email from them was in my spam box

Rosie