Scotlands People.

[HarrysMum]

Can someone explain (very slowly) how to use this site.

I gave up long ago trying to find my Grants and Gordons, but a very kind man then did the entire parish so I didn't need SP.

Now I've been over there trying to do OH's side (thanks to the gg grandparents thread..lol)

I've found one birth that might be the one I'm after. The site tells me I can pay 6GBP and get 30 pages for 90 days.

Does that mean I can see the birth entry I'm after or the actual cert image???
Then, is that one page......so I can then view others as well such as this one's parent's marriage???

Thanks.

[Just Gillian]

Libby - Credits are "live" for 90 days. After that time, any left remain dormant in your account until re-activated by the purchase of a further minimum of 30 credits.

It costs one credit to view each page of search results and a further 5 credits to view each cert image. Viewed result pages and images remain permanently accessible in your SP account so it's therefore worth widening your search terms to make up a full page of results wherever possible (offhand I think it's about 20 results per page) to save on the odd single credits in future searches.

[HarrysMum]

Thanks Gillian....

So I look at the page (there was only one for my name and year) and if I think it's who I want, I cane thne look at the image for a further 5 credits????????

That seems very cheap....

When you say 'widening your search terms' ................... I'm looking for the birth of Mary Ann Walker Morris in 1860. Her parents are Robert Morris and Catherine Walker Clarke.

There were no results for Mary Ann Walker Morris so I put Mary Ann Morris 1859-1861 and got one birth. Is that what you are saying????

I need to go to the 'slow learner's section'......lol

[Just Gillian]

Sorry Libby - I should have explained better.

The wider search is more useful when you get back to the Old Parish Registers eg my 2x gt grandfather was William Laird 1817 parents John Laird and Jean Brown. Instead of searching specifically for William Laird, I would put surname Laird parents as above and get all the children born to parents of that name. So if I want the image for one of the siblings later, I don't have to pay a credit for another search.

If you already know where Mary Ann Morris was born, it could be worth putting surname Morris and a wider range of years and perhaps scoop up a few possible siblings. Obviously though, with the statutory registers which don't allow the input of parents' names, the wider search works better with the less common surnames and smaller districts.

Yes, it is wonderfully cheap, especially as the Scottish certs contain so much information.

[HarrysMum]

Thanks Gillian................I'll give it a go.

[kiterunner]

Don't forget to search on FamilySearch or the new pilot site before spending credits on Scotland's People.