Genealogy Chat

Valerie Don't worry, I've got plenty of brickwalls still. All those ancestors with common names inconsiderate enough to die in the 1840s. Heather I know that there are lots of very kind people prepared to do look ups. I just like the anticipation of waiting to prove my theories. Quite right, Susan, but I've already got all that. If there is a second cousin twice removed that I need to find, then I'll check on the indexes, but save it for a visit to London, where I can see the images for free and even with travelling it still works out cheaper than a subscription. There is no doubt that Ancestry is useful for those who are starting out. My first five years research could have been achieved in a couple of months today. But census isn't the be all and end all of research. The entries can be misleading or downright inaccurate. Using the Ancestry approach it is much easier to miss the significance of entries because the descriptions of enumeration districts are filed separately. I would love to be told that there is a new and exciting research tool pre 1837. About all they could offer, if they thought about it, is the Land Tax Assessments held in TNA, but most people did not pay this. Everything else is pretty piecemeal until the 1600s.

Susan, Having looked at the census index, you can then call up an individual and add an extra detail e.g wife/daughter or a residence/place of birth. Of course, you will only get a hit if it has been transcribed correctly and if the information was entered accurately in the first place. This is quite useful if you are searching for people in villages with more uncommon names - you can enter surname and place of residence and get all the people of that name living there. I do this for my local area, before going to the library to use census film. It cuts out some of the aimless searching at the library. Jay

Brenda, if you dont need the censuses, I think you could probably teach ancestry a thing or two. If you did need census, anyone on here could look it up for you.

are you saying you have no more rellies to find ?? if so , blimey, I have probably thousands still, have long have you been researching ???

No, I wouldn't if I were you. There isn't £70 worth on there apart from censuses. Kate.

The census indexes are available free via the National Archives site for all but 1901. Okay, you don't get the images and it's not viable for John Smith born and living in Manchester, but even for London you can do a heck of a lot without subscribing.

1841 is coming on there soon and had email about more historical papers coming on there soon Ancestry are going to email me when the do like they did for 1851. Even though I have got most of my cenesus sorted I enjoy looking up for people so wouldn't be with out it. Jeanette

My simple answer would be 'You don't' LOL If you feel you have everything you need you have no need for it anymore! Zoe

Most of the pre 1837 that Ancestry has seems to be stuff I've been aware of for years and have already used if necessary. So come on, somebody, tell me why I really need to fork out £70 per year?

The last piece in the census puzzle snapped into place yesterday, so I have all the ancestors, all the censuses, plus the direct line GRO certificates.