Free Ancestry UK Access this weekend

[smudwhisk]

Same for me coombs and groom. I spent hours in the SRO looking for parish records with very little return for the time invested. Just knowing that the records will be online 'soon' has made me reluctant to go back when there is so much else I can be doing in the meantime.

On the other hand, the Ipswich office being moved to a new site which probably won't have any parking (and lets not mention the flood risk  ) is an incentive to go before it is too late.

Well the last time I could find any mention about the parish records digitisation project in the Council minutes was from last May just before the cabinet member responsible resigned the job.  I understand that the role covering Archives is now the responsibility of the County Council Cabinet Member for Finance (along with everything else that entails) and so far nothing else has appeared in the council minutes on the subject as far as I can see.  I'm starting to wonder if they are concentrating everything on the new Ipswich Record Office and little on the digitisation project so I wouldn't hold your breath to see anything any time soon (which is rather disappointing as I too am waiting for them to go online).   I'd be quite happy to be proved wrong.

[Gan Yam]

Well it's not long past 2pm eastern time, and (as I predicted!) ancestry's UK records are now free

They may be on the US site but Ancestry UK Facebook have told a poster that they won't be available to view for free on the UK site until tomorrow and they've also not posted anything officially on their UK Facebook page about it yet as far as I can see.

Just checked UK site and the records  are available now.

[Nick_Ips]

I've not used Ancestry (at home) for a while - when I click on "Save" when viewing an image, and then click on "Save Image" I get a new browser tab open which loads the image again but gives the ability to "save image as" from the right-click menu.

I'm sure clicking on "Save Image" from the viewer used to simply download the image without having extra tabs opening.

Is this a new feature of Ancestry, or have I got a setting wrong? I'm using the latest version of Firefox.

[coombs]

So we all share the same eagerness smudwhisk, Nick and groom. When FindMyPast Fridays release "exciting" (oxymoron) new records they are already available on other sites or they are a fraction of what is out there. Today when I saw Norfolk BT's on FindMyPast Fridays I thought deja vu as they are on FamilySearch. If I did not have a UK sub to Anc I would be using these free weekends like a shot. I only tend to use FindMyPast now when they have a free weekend as I feel I have exhausted all their records so far.

[clairec666]

I too am annoyed by FindMyPast Fridays. When they released the Leicestershire parish records recently, they didn't make a big a announcement on the home page, it was mentioned in FindMyPast Fridays along with lots of other tiny obscure record sets that had been added that week. Surely adding a WHOLE COUNTY deserves more of a fanfare? I keep reading it every week in case I miss another county appearing.... talking of which, I'm eagerly anticipating the Suffolk records too.

[3sillydogs]

I've not used Ancestry (at home) for a while - when I click on "Save" when viewing an image, and then click on "Save Image" I get a new browser tab open which loads the image again but gives the ability to "save image as" from the right-click menu.

I'm sure clicking on "Save Image" from the viewer used to simply download the image without having extra tabs opening.

Is this a new feature of Ancestry, or have I got a setting wrong? I'm using the latest version of Firefox.

I use latest version of Firefox as well and don't get tabs opening. I just click on the image and it opens in the same tab.   I use the tools on the side of the image to download or the "Save" button that appears on the top right of the page where the image opens.  Gives 3 options, Shoebox, Tree or Computer. 

I always download to my pc because I can't access the images saved to my tree outside of the Freebies. From there I save them to files on my Google Drive.

 Takes me the whole free access to sift through all the hints to keep the useful ones

[clairec666]

Takes me the whole free access to sift through all the hints to keep the useful ones

Ignore the hints! Sometimes they can throw up something interesting, but you end up spending so long discarding the wrong ones.... I use the card catalogue to find the record sets I want, then search them one by one.

[rosie99]

Takes me the whole free access to sift through all the hints to keep the useful ones

Ignore the hints! Sometimes they can throw up something interesting, but you end up spending so long discarding the wrong ones.... I use the card catalogue to find the record sets I want, then search them one by one.

I have mine set up to ignore the Ancestry member hints so it only brings up the online records I may have missed (Comes under Site Preferences)

[clairec666]

I have mine set up to ignore the Ancestry member hints so it only brings up the online records I may have missed (Comes under Site Preferences)

Thanks Rosie, that's a helpful tip