Genealogy Chat

I am seriously considering Ancestry UK package. What exactly do you get for for your money? Which census and BMD dates etc...? Viv

BMD lags behind FreeBMD slightly but is much quicker response so I usually search first. It also includes the more recent BMD i.e. post 1984 I quite often pass a bit of time by following a family through the various censuses and add to my database. It has the advantage over the CD-ROM version that you can save the image of the page and add to the source information. There are transcription errors obviously but about the same as other transcribed censuses. It is very useful being able to search the whole of England and Wales etc, people often pop up in unexpected places. MB

If you put ancestry into the search box you can bring up dozens of threads on this. But basically I and the others on here can not imagine how anyone could follow this hobby without the resources it offers.

Thank you all for your input.....I think I really must do it in the new year! Happy New Year to one and all. Viv

Viv I think its worth it for the sheer convenience of being able to do blanket census searches for England/Wales 1851-1901 and also the GRO indexes 1837-1910ish. The bmds are quicker to search than Freebmd, only disadvantage is that you can't search for couples in a marriage, just one partner at a time. But its great for doing whizzy lists of everyone called Bloggs who had an event registered in Blankton, or all Grott deaths between a certain time frame. There's also Pallots baptisms and marriages - useful for those elusive London relatives pre 1837 and other parish bits and bobs. Plus it has bmds 1985-2000 as well - so I can find my marriage and my children's births!!! nell

The most useful things are the censuses 1851-1901 and BMDs after 1984 (available on 1837online but for a price). If you're back to pre-1837 on most of your lines, forget it! Basically, work out how many census returns you need and if it's worth it. I haven't used Ancestry for my own research for months and won't be renewing my subscription. I already have the 1841 returns I need and they'll have to add a lot to the UK subscription to tempt me!

When I started off it wasnt that much use, but now I would say its the best site....!!

You could always try their 2 week trial especially good if you're organised enough to know what you are looking for, and can blitz it all in 2 weeks! (there are links to it from all over the place - last one I found was at the top of the FreeBMD page) You have to give your CC details but as long as you remember to cancel, I had no probs with them.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and comments. I have just signed on the dotted line for a years subscription to Ancestry UK . Regards Viv