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Ancestry

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Michael

Michael Report 4 Mar 2006 03:22

Dear all, Wondering if you could advise me... I'm thinking of joining Ancestry but not quite sure whether that would be the best move. I get the general impression that the majority of what people use it for is census look-ups; thanks to some visits to the FRC and the help of fellow GR members, I've now traced almost all branches of my tree back to at least 1861 and in most cases 1841, and so probably wouldn't get a lot out of the census records that I haven't already. How much use is Ancestry for other records? Might I be better off investing the same amount in train tickets to get to record offices? Thanks, Michael

Suzanne

Suzanne Report 4 Mar 2006 03:39

Hi Michael Ive been a member of Ancestry for a few years now and its true I mainly use it for Census lookups. They do have a few other worthwhile things on there such as historical directories (but these can also be found free on other sites). They have records for the 1600's but Ive yet to get to that era!!!! There are many people on GR who are willing to do census lookups for you (At present from 1851 but they do say they will have 1841 in the future). They do offer a 14 day free trial but Im not sure what sort of access you get. I also use it for the BMD index but you can search that on Ancestry for free now. If ever you wanted to 'sideways' in your tree to aunts/uncles and the like then it would be worthwhile but if you are keen to go backwards then I would recommend spending your money on record office visits or asking record offices to do lookups for you. Suzanne

Michael

Michael Report 4 Mar 2006 22:12

Thanks Suzanne, that's very helpful.

Jeans Reunited

Jeans Reunited Report 4 Mar 2006 22:18

Sign up at Lost cousins*com (it's free) and go to Ancestry through that site. It will save you 20% Claire

Anne

Anne Report 4 Mar 2006 22:21

Michael, I would not have believed what fun you can have with Ancestry. For example I have spent a lot of time recently tracing the (many!) children of one of my sets of ggg grandparents. The children were all born in a small Yorkshire mining village but they ended up all over the place. I would NEVER have know where they had all gone without Ancestry. Can't wait to start on another branch! Anne

Michael

Michael Report 5 Mar 2006 01:35

Hmm, divided opinions... I'd better start saving up the pennies until I can afford Ancestry AND the train fares!