OneGuyFromBarlick

I don't think it's any cheaper at local register offices. The pdf versions are fine at £7.00, hopefully they will add marriages soon.
If you are thinking of getting a birth cert just to find a mother's maiden name you don't need to anymore, that information is available on the GRO website.

Thanks for that information. looks like I'm well off the pace on genealogy.


GRO has been piloting a service providing PDF copies of historical birth and death records. From the 16th February 2019 PDF’s have become a permanent service.

Hot off the press - that's today!

I just had a quick look, and I'm surprised Ancestry are still in business - so much available for no charge. Perhaps it explains why they are pushing the DNA testing side of things?

I still use both Ancestry and Find My Past on a regular basis, there are new records being added all the time. It still gives me a thrill to be able to see the original parish registers! I also have a subscription to the Forces War Records website which is occasionally useful when the other sites have failed.

Wendyf wrote: ↑16 Feb 2019, 09:06 I don't think it's any cheaper at local register offices. The pdf versions are fine at £7.00, hopefully they will add marriages soon.
If you are thinking of getting a birth cert just to find a mother's maiden name you don't need to anymore, that information is available on the GRO website.

Thanks, thats useful. It was always more from the GRO if items were posted rather than collected (I had the advantage of being in London doing the main research and travelling on a child-rate train ticket and walking accross waterloo bridge !) ( correction I didnt walk- going off peak I could take my bicycle ).

I found building trees- after finding the correct editing of persons - fairly straightforward on Ancestry. I will probably do some more when I get to lancashire libraries ( as they have some newspaper records too ), or there are more free (often just uk records or miliary records ) days. I probably correct ancestry on some spellings, but even with good scan and screen resolutions I find the cursive writing and name abbreviations confusing as to what was actually intended - along with some obscure trades, professions and similar. - for example one person was described in a census as a 'Toy Maker' in Sheffield - (problem enough as some trade was in silver objects other in silver- or sheffield- plate). At the time a 'Toy' was a miniature representation of a larger - normal sized - object, often used to advertise a firms wares to the retail trade or as scale designs for new shapes or designs anything from spoons to claret jugs , trinket boxes and similar.

Free access to ancestry for UK, Irish and Commonwealth records over this weekend, 19th to 22nd April.

I've just had the latest magazine from the Lancashire Family History (and Heraldry) Society. It contains a short article by the Archives Service Manager at Lancashire Archives. She says that visits to the archives over the last ten years have 'declined dramatically'. She says. "Archivist are worried. Is this the end of family history research?" Archives have to compete for scarce funds with other services. This is probably a result of the internet - meaning personal visits are no longer necessary, but points out that only about 2% of all records have actually been digitised. "Use it or lose it."

Are the archives at the Record Office or separate?

It can be helpful if someone is around to explain and interpret the writing, and the job descriptions and locations - even say on Facebook groups if the document picture is not clear enough it is unreasonable to expect a totally correct answer.

If by digitised I wonder what is exactly meant - On census things where relationship to 'household' head is unclear if it has been transcribed to a digital typed result - and additionally not every line item has been transcribed from the census books - likewise the opening preambles and so on of the returned books - which are of importance for local historians as much as family ones (and for some of us that is the same thing !)

One of my local libraries has printed pages of the census microfilms and they are still unclear - as are parish registers!

Likewise I newspaper OCR has not worked - close typed victorian broadsheets and larger have not got split and strange words done properly on the commercial web sites.

The other problem with the likes of lancashire- and other record centres - is the changes in local goverment and adminstration - borders and city/unitary authorities so some stuff just is physically where one would not expect it.

Ancestry free until Monday.

Can't find where I usually add this to, perhaps someone could put it in the right place.


Free access to Ancestry UK and Ireland records until Monday

Free access ends Monday. Access to the records in the featured collections will be free until 13 Apr 2020 23:59 GMT. To view these records you will need to register for free with Ancestry.co.uk with your name and email address. We will then send you a user name and password to access the records. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using an Ancestry.co.uk paid membership.

Thank you, don't know why I couldn't find this page.

No problem Gloria. Topic blindness gets us all from time to time.

They've done it again - Ancestry is free until Monday 10 May.

Fill your boots. . . .

Ancestry is offering free access to over 1 billion Military Records from 2nd to 8th November 2020

Ancestry offering 4 month Premium membership for £20

Thanks for the tip Gloria. I signed up for the deal last night. I think I've had my money's worth already.

It's better than I remembered it, but it is very 'person centred' rather than 'place centred'. I like to look at particular addresses. I think that's why I fell out with Findmypast.

Still it's good value.

I'm tempted.....

Has anyone paid to have their Ancestry DNA done?

Not I Cathy, the reports I have heard about the accuracy of these tests doesn't inspire me with a lot of confidence.

I have Cathy. It was interesting and surprising and gets updated occasionally as the database grows. I was almost all Northern English at first but now I have some Scottish and Norwegian creeping in which I like the sound of!

Oh I love that Wendy
Did any of your Family Tree search, match those countries?
Anyone else?

I’ve had mine done, very similar to Wendy’s with some Irish thrown in.