Census Websites

[sammyjane2011]

Hi,

I am wanting to join one of the anchestry websites that are out there and subscribe to an unlimited account. I'm currently registered on findmypast.co.uk, But only have a pay has you go account and running out of credits. I'm finding out a lot of information now about my family history and so decided I want to go for an unlimted account so I don't have to watch my credits! :)

Just wondering if anyone could give me any advise on what the best websites are to join?

Thanks
Sam
xx

[kiterunner]

It depends what you want really, Sam. At the moment findmypast is the only one with a full index to the 1911 census - ancestry only has the householders' index so far although it does have all the images, but it's not very easy to find the actual page that you want on there. I don't know exactly when they will have the full 1911 index.

Also if you have any Scottish ancestors, ancestry has indexes to the Scottish censuses (though not the actual images) and findmypast doesn't, but I think they are meant to be getting them some time.

Both sites have all the England and Wales censuses from 1841 to 1901 and BMD indexes for England and Wales but findmypast also has indexes covering BMD's of British citizens which took place abroad or at sea.

Findmypast has passenger lists for people leaving the UK and ancestry has them for people coming to the UK.

Ancestry has military records for people who served during WW1 (though a lot of the records haven't survived) and findmypast has them for people who served before that time.

Also ancestry has indexed images of parish registers for London, West Yorkshire and Dorset and some for Liverpool, but findmypast has a lot of transcriptions or indexes of parish registers for lots of counties, but not the actual images.

If you want military records, parish registers etc then you would need findmypast's "Full subscription" rather than their "Foundation" one which only covers the censuses and national BMD indexes. On ancestry it is much the same - Premium membership includes parish registers etc while "Essentials" is just censuses and BMD's.

At the moment the prices look to be
findmypast Foundation - £58.95 for 6 months or £91.95 for a year
ancestry Essentials - it says on their FAQ's £10.95 per month or £83.40 for a year but I think this may be out of date?

findmypast Full - £82.95 for 6 months or £129.95 for a year
ancestry Premium - again, says on their FAQ's £12.95 per month or £107.40 for a year but may cost more now?

Ancestry also have a world membership if you want to look at records from the USA, Australia, etc. £18.95 per month or £155.40 for a year, according to their FAQ's but I don't know if this is still correct.

I would say that findmypast's indexing is more accurate than ancestry's but ancestry's search facilities are more flexible. I personally prefer having an ancestry sub but I need to look at records from all over the world so I'm not sure which I would choose if I just wanted England and Wales.

[Elderflower]

I think Kiterunner has given a very good synopsis of what each website has to offer. If you live in the UK, most libraries have free access to Ancestry worldwide and some also have free access to Find My Past. It might be an idea to see what your local branch has first. I have a sub to Ancestry Essentials and then when I need info on the Probate Calendar or LMA, I pop along to the library just for those things. I am fortunate to belong to another library in a nearby County that has access to FMP, so I can get all the 1911 census info with just my travelling costs (I actually combine this with a visit to the hairdresser!)

As far as Parish records go, don't overlook Familysearch. These are free and have a great many transcriptions on there. In fact, some of the transcriptions on paid websites are ones that have been extracted from the ones on Familysearch. I am not saying they have "taken them" but they are the same and I suppose the LDS (Familysearch) have some agreement with the sites.

If it is Parish records you will be needing, have a look first to see which website have what. They are all different and may not have the ones covering the areas you are currently interested in.

In all this, have a look at The Genealogist too. That site also has census info and a slightly different search mechanism.

Good luck.

Pat

[kiterunner]

Oh, and also you can take out a free trial of each site to see how you like it - but make sure to cancel in time if you don't want to subscribe!

[Merry]

Everything that everyone else has said plus........

Another option would be to have a full sub one one site and keep your pay as you go going on the other one.

Personally I couldn't be without Ancestry and though FMP has more accurate transcripts of the census I still find I am better able to find things on Ancestry, at least in part because FMP tends to time out the searches if you ask it for something to complex! lol

[Nell]

You might find your local library has a sub. Lots of records offices have free access to both Ancestry and FMP so you might want to have a play with both and see which you think might be most useful to you.

[sammyjane2011]

Hi,

Thank you all for your great advice :D I didn't realise I could get access to ancestry and FMP from the library, so I will surely be having a trip there to see if I can :D

I think I might do the free 14 day trial on ancestry to, see how I find it. Are they easy to cancel after the 14 days if I don't want to use it? I've been a bit worried about signing up and then finding it difficult to cancel! lol

Thank you again for all your help! :) xx

[kiterunner]

It's a long time since I took the free trial; I can't really remember what I had to do to cancel it but I would say make sure you check the cancellation instructions when you start, and make a note in your diary for when you need to cancel. I do know that you will need to cancel before the 14 days are up, not after, if you don't want to subscribe.

[Kit]

Cancelling a sub with ancestry is easy although I have to say I can't remember how to do it. lol

Just checked there is a cancel subscription link in the My Account section on ancestry.

Just adding my 2 cents worth - I prefer ancestry over FMP. I find it easier to use and it has a lot more information that FMP. I find it easier to find people on ancestry as ancestry's search results give more info than FMP's.

However I have used FMP at times and would only ever have it on a subscription as it is too costly to pay as you go.

[tenterfieldjulie]

Sammyjane, Can you list which UK counties your ancestors came from? There are some absoutely free sites. Some counties have OPC (Online Parish Clerk) I use the one in Cornwall all the time. It is also worthwhile if you know the town that your ancestors came from, to google parish records and the town name. I have ancestors in Somerset and a lot of their records have been transcribed and are free online. There is also FreeCen, Free BDM and Free Reg - these don't cover all areas, but they have a lot of records free online. Correct me if I'm wrong anyone. Cheers Julie

[Rachel]

Just to add that if you buy Family Tree Maker you get 3 or 6 months of Ancestry free.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=familytreemaker&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=5445872336&ref=pd_sl_64p7msxk6r_b

[sammyjane2011]

My ancesters are from, Lancaster, Bolton, Ulverston, Gloustershire and Co.Durham. Do you know which websites are best for those areas? :)

Thanks for the tip on Family Tree Maker, could be worth buying :D

Sam
xx

[Elderflower]

Try this free one for Gloucestershire:
http://ww3.gloucestershire.gov.uk/bmd/

Pat

[kiterunner]

I don't think that either ancestry or findmypast has particularly much for those areas at the moment though you never know what will appear online next! But they both have the censuses and BMD's anyway.

[sammyjane2011]

Thanks! :) you've all been very helpful xx

[brenmac]

sam here is where our family came from
http://www.taynton.btinternet.co.uk/roots.htm

[brenmac]

http://www.genealogytoday.com/surname/finder.mv?Surname=Holder

[brenmac]

http://home.earthlink.net/~bgholder/HoldBook.html

[Mary from Italy]

Have a look at these two for Lancashire:

http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/

http://www.lancashirebmd.org.uk/

[Mary from Italy]

This is another useful site, and I seem to remember that they have a lot of stuff for Co. Durham:

https://www.familysearch.org/