Author Topic: Any tips for researching cheaply?  (Read 2617 times)

Offline ElaineG1971

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Any tips for researching cheaply?
« on: Saturday 03 July 10 22:03 BST (UK) »
Hi there
i am just starting out on researching my mother in laws family (from North Uist) but I have very little info to go on as unfortunately her father died when she was 3 and her mother only a few years later.  i found Scotlandspeople but at £10 an extract it is just too expensive to research. Can anyone give me any pointers for finding information without having to pay a fortune.

Thanks
Elaine

Offline lisamc10

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Re: Any tips for researching cheaply?
« Reply #1 on: Saturday 03 July 10 22:07 BST (UK) »
try free mbds im up against the same problem but found people on ere are verry helpfull
murtaghs and byrne from dublin
airey and atkinson from lancaster

Offline RJ_Paton

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Re: Any tips for researching cheaply?
« Reply #2 on: Saturday 03 July 10 22:11 BST (UK) »
Scotlands people is the primary site for all Scottish records ..... unlike the English system you do not need to order an extract if the image is available to view online unless you need a certified copy for some specific purpose.

Offline millymcb

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Re: Any tips for researching cheaply?
« Reply #3 on: Saturday 03 July 10 22:12 BST (UK) »
I don't think Scotland's People is £10 an extract. Do you mean £1?   it should be 30 credits for £6 and a certificate/image is 5 credits.  that is very cheap compared to English certificates - and they contain a lot more information.

Milly ;D
McBride (Monaghan, Manchester), Derbyshire (Bollington,Cheshire), Knight (Newcastle,Staffs), Smith (Chorley, Lancs & Ireland), Tipladay (Manchester & Yorkshire) ,Steadman (Madeley,Shropshire), Steele (Manchester,Glasgow), Parkinson (Wigan, Lancashire), Lovatt, Cornes & Turner (Staffs) Stott (Oldham, Lancs). All ended up Ardwick, Manchester
Census info is Crown Copyright http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk


Offline millymcb

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Re: Any tips for researching cheaply?
« Reply #4 on: Saturday 03 July 10 22:15 BST (UK) »
Family search is free and has lots of info...not so good for Scotland but still worth a look

www.familysearch.org

Milly ;D
McBride (Monaghan, Manchester), Derbyshire (Bollington,Cheshire), Knight (Newcastle,Staffs), Smith (Chorley, Lancs & Ireland), Tipladay (Manchester & Yorkshire) ,Steadman (Madeley,Shropshire), Steele (Manchester,Glasgow), Parkinson (Wigan, Lancashire), Lovatt, Cornes & Turner (Staffs) Stott (Oldham, Lancs). All ended up Ardwick, Manchester
Census info is Crown Copyright http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline ElaineG1971

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Re: Any tips for researching cheaply?
« Reply #5 on: Saturday 03 July 10 22:25 BST (UK) »
Unfortunately none of my searches have had an image to view.  Maybe i'm doing something wrong?!?!?!?  ???

E

Offline millymcb

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Re: Any tips for researching cheaply?
« Reply #6 on: Saturday 03 July 10 22:26 BST (UK) »
On Scotland's People or Family Search?

Milly
McBride (Monaghan, Manchester), Derbyshire (Bollington,Cheshire), Knight (Newcastle,Staffs), Smith (Chorley, Lancs & Ireland), Tipladay (Manchester & Yorkshire) ,Steadman (Madeley,Shropshire), Steele (Manchester,Glasgow), Parkinson (Wigan, Lancashire), Lovatt, Cornes & Turner (Staffs) Stott (Oldham, Lancs). All ended up Ardwick, Manchester
Census info is Crown Copyright http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline Piglet01

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Re: Any tips for researching cheaply?
« Reply #7 on: Saturday 03 July 10 22:30 BST (UK) »
Hello Elaine,

Unfortunately until you get back beyond the limits set within Scotlands People for bmds - you have as you said to order extracts.  Once you're looking for births before I think 1909, marriages before abt 1934 and deaths before 1958 ish you can download the entries for £1.20 - assuming a first time hit.

I don't know where you live.  However the cheapest way if I were you would be to get as much info as you can chronically arranged, then contact the Search Room at the address below.  It should be the best £15.00 ever spent on research.  They should be able to work you back from 2006 and in an hour should get you back to 1855.  I've visited their facility in person for an hour (a couple of years ago and they were very professional and helpful

http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/Births/bir/bir_searchroom.asp

If you have any queries - please get in touch.

Regards,   Steve  :)

www.familysearch.org is only of value once you get as far back as 1875 when it's really good, depending on what religion your ancestors were (Ideally the established church), and whether theyy bothered to record their marriages or births.

If you're on the mainland or in a largish town your local library will often have access to online services which can access census records for free - currently from 1901 back to 1841.  Next year it'll be from 1911 back to 1841.

Quite often people on here will kindly do census look ups for you.

Is there a Family History Society local to where you live.

The following Rootschat link gives useful tips.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,24468.0.html

Offline hume

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Re: Any tips for researching cheaply?
« Reply #8 on: Saturday 03 July 10 22:54 BST (UK) »
Hi Elaine,

I echo the suggestions above. It's pretty annoying when the certificate you need is one of the dreaded ones that are not available online, but there are ways around it to still find the information you are looking for.

For instance, say you have found the death of someone. From their death entry, this gives an approximate age and will (hopefully) allow you to find their birth too. You then go on to search for marriages in the town (or even county if it's not too common) around the time of birth and note down the maiden names of the brides. You can go back to the deaths now and enter known relatives details and go through the "mother's" maiden names one by one until you get a match.

Obviously this is not guaranteed and unfortunately it only applies to deaths after a certain point (early 1970s, I think) but this has saved me a lot of money and credits in the past. I always make sure to confirm though if the link is rather sketchy. In most cases though, I have been able to find online certificates - therefore no need to order at all - that have confirmed finds.

And obviously there is RC here too ... post what you have and someone will be able to give ideas.

Hope this helps. :)

hume