Military records - ancestry

[kiterunner]

UK Military Deserters 1812-1927 (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=60961) - over 300,000 records
RAF Muster Roll 1918 (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=60999)
British Jewry Roll of Honour 1914-1918 (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61082)
UK Naval and Military Courts Martial Registers 1806-1930 (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=60780) - over 800,000 records
British Army Lists 1882-1962 (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=60721) (does not cover all years in that range) - over 2.4 million records.

Glad to see some records relating to deserters and courts martial rather than the usual "learn about the heroes in your family" stuff, since my great-uncle is much more likely to turn up in this lot! Though the army lists look pretty useful too as it is such a big database. Edit - I think the Army Lists only cover officers.

[kiterunner]

I am disappointed to see that the images of the Courts Martial Registers are hosted on "Fold3" and you have to subscribe to that site to view them (although there is a free trial available). I think this is the first UK database which they have used Fold3 for, isn't it? (Though I know there is quite a lot of US stuff on there.) I bet there will be people complaining about this to ancestry on Facebook.
Edit - the same is true for all the databases listed in post #1. :(

[ElizabethHerts]

Effectively you have to pay twice to view the same record. What a rip-off! Not impressed.

They have the RAF WWI records of my grandfather and two of his brothers, but I can't see them.

[kiterunner]

Well, I've posted a moan to ancestry on Facebook!

[kiterunner]

Got a reply on FB to say they are looking into it. A few other people have complained on there too.

[kiterunner]

From googling around, it looks to me as though some libraries in the USA provide free access to Fold3 for members as there is a Fold3 Library Edition, but of course UK libraries don't have this as there has not been significant UK content on the site up till now. I don't suppose many UK libraries could afford it just now anyway.

[kiterunner]

This is their reply, but I can't say I like it:

As part of Ancestry's network of websites, Fold3 is a valuable resource for military-focused family history research. We appreciate that not all customers are interested in our All Access Membership that provides access to Fold3, which is why we have provided access to the indexes of these collections on Ancestry. We hope this helps customers in researching their ancestors who have military backgrounds.

[James18]

Eurghh, great, so now we're expected to have multiple subscriptions?

[kiterunner]

Apparently there is an ancestry "All Access" subscription which includes Fold3 and newspapers.com and currently costs £224.99 for a year (or £24.99 for a month). But if I click to "Compare the memberships" from the "My Account Options" page, it doesn't even show what is included in the All Access sub! I have another world sub due to start soon so not considering an All Access myself.

But I would have thought that if they wanted people to upgrade to the "All Access" membership to view images on Fold3, it should say so when you click to view the image. When I tried before, it said I needed a Fold3 sub, there was nothing about upgrading my ancestry sub, and now it just says "Oops! An unexpected error seems to have occurred." :rolleyes:

[Kit]

In the past a world sub used to give you "all access".

This feels like a con.

[James18]

This feels like a con.
It is.

[kiterunner]

I've just seen that the Fold3 military records (not including the US records, as far as I can see) are free this weekend in honour of Remembrance Day.