ancestry/find my past

[benrymnd]

I have a membership to my heritage and have noticed a lot of the information I am getting is from family search which I can access for free also other information is from free BMD but I am still not getting all the information I need from my searches, would ancestry or find my past be a better option.

[ElizabethHerts]

It depends to some extent on the geographical area you are researching. FindMyPast is better for some counties in the UK and Ancestry is better for others.

Which areas are you most interested in?

[benrymnd]

Lancashire and bristol

[kiterunner]

Ancestry is better for those. What kind of information are you looking for, though?

[benrymnd]

Ideally, I would like to find BMD employment war records and any other relevant information

[kiterunner]

Civil BMD indexes are (mostly) available for free and you have to order certificates from the GRO or register office, so you would only use Ancestry or Findmypast for parish registers as far as BMD's go, though of course they do also have the BMD indexes on both sites. I think Findmypast has more employment records than Ancestry, but I don't think either of them have very many. If you are looking for First World War records, they are (mostly) on both sites; if you are looking for Second World War they won't (generally) be on either site.

If you haven't already had a free trial with either site, they will usually offer you one, but make sure to cancel before they charge you. With Ancestry you might be best to phone them to make sure the cancellation goes through. Otherwise, have a look at their lists of databases to see whether they have the kind of thing you are looking for.

[benrymnd]

Thank you for all your help/advice it is very helpful

[Elderflower]

If you live in the UK most libraries have free access at home to Ancestry and some to FMP whilst the pandemic is ongoing. You should be able to access one of them from home and see how you get on. Certainly Ancestry is the worldwide version as i have used this over and above my UK sub.

Pat

[benrymnd]

Thanks for the information Elderflower