Genealogy Chat

"No where on the family search part of their site is religion referanced. ."

Thats quite true, and neither do they 'force' their religious beliefs on anyone who visits one of their centres, they are in fact expressly forbidden to.

"Preserving family history is part of their religion which they share freely"

Well sort of..though slightly misleading, rather than a selfless gift to genealogists, its a fact their database is and was primarily created to aid and facilitate the religious duties of LDS church members, part of which involves baptising dead relatives into their creed. I don't think they seek to hide this, but it isn't a fact overtly publicised either, due to obvious objections.

I personally find it bizarre, but ultimately harmeless, that some of my dead relatives have been baptised beyond the grave, but can understand why others could and do find this upsetting or offensive.

I wonder whether the ambitious LMA digitisation project might really be the source of the recent price hike? Surely they must have paid a pretty price to get the rights to sell acess to such an extensive collection, which will obviously be well in demand and undoubtedly bring in many new users and revenue eventually. In the meantime though I wonder whether the price hike is to cover these expenses? Seems more feasible to me than UK members doing 'look ups', something I'm sure happens just as much in other countries.

In addition to Sylvia list of Ancestry's contents, there is a mountain of other resources (via the See All Databases) link. This is an eclectic bunch of stuff most of which, agreed, wouldn't be of use to everyone, but contains some gems none-the-less.
Also, Ancestry has teamed up with the London Metroplitain Archive to digitise a lot of their stuff (parish records are one of the first on their list) which will start coming on line in the new year. Certainly useful if you have ancestors from the capital or Middlesex.

I have found the LDS's (www.familysearch.org) site one of the most resourceful sites on the internet. No where on the family search part of their site is religion referanced. Preserving family history is part of their religion which they share freely. The new section of their site under WHAT'S NEW even offers copies of actual documents both US and UK based....well worth a look as new stuff is being posted all the time.

Judy

I visited my local mormon church (church of the Latter day saints) having found the telephone number in my local telephone directory I had to make an appointment and went along feeling rather nervous. I was put at my ease and given some information on the church which wasnt pushed onto me. The gentleman concerned asked me the name I was researching and I was lead to a PC he entered the surname and out came reams of information taking my family tree back to the 1600's he printed all this information for me and I left feeling elated.
Hope this is of help I wouldnt hesitate in going back. Helen

This is what is coverd in membership to ancestry.co.uk

UK CENSUS RECORDS
1901 England
1901 Wales
1891 England
1891 Wales
1881 England*
1881 Wales*
1871 England
1871 Wales
1861 England
1861 Wales
1851 England
1851 Wales
1841 England
1841 Wales
1901 Scotland *Free database
1891 Scotland
1881 Scotland
1871 Scotland
1861 Scotland
1851 Scotland
1841 Scotland

MORE COLLECTIONS
National Roll of the Great War 1914-1918-New
UK Incoming Passenger Lists-New
Royal Aero Club Aviators’ Certificates
British Army WWI Medal Rolls
British Army WWI Pension Records
British Army WWI Service Records-Updated
Royal Naval Casualties
Pallot's Marriage Index
Pallot's Baptism Index
UK Census Collection
British Phone Books
Photos
Stories




Much much more than on GR!!!!



and there are also family trees


sylvia

Have always used ancestry and it has a huge amount of records, Without the mormons we would all still be travelling around the country visiting churches and records offices as my aunt did in the 70's.

My aunt was a mormon and she wasn't a child abuser , didnt have more than one husband and didnt marry as a child.

Quidco

Don't forget you can get a reduced membership for ancestry or genes if you join through some of the discounting websites (Can not for the life of me remember which one offers a discount. How annoying!)

Well I admit I had to search for this but it's covered in the FAQ's

" Do you have SCOTTISH and IRISH records?



We currently only have BMD and census records for England and Wales on the site. We do not have any Scottish or Irish records at the moment. The census records for Scotland and Northern Ireland were recorded separately and currently do not form part of the census records on Genes Reunited."



Looking at the T&C's this is not made at all clear

As Claire said, to prevent people spending money that they need not do.

GR Gold does NOT cover the Scottish census but Ancestry does

As opposed to GR DOES.....cover UK censuses etc, etc

And I would say that the Ancestry parish records, at least as far as my research is concerned, can be found on Family Search or Free Reg for free.

Rob, you are quite correct but I have found that the additional Ancestry records are quite limited, and of littler use to most people, who only want to see the census and BMD records.

Unless you have a particular reason to want to see specialist Ancestry records, don't be tempted to pay their inflated prices.

Island you may not have Scottish Ancestors however this is Jay's thread & I don't want her to sign up for something that doesn't provide her with all she needs

Ah ha, that puts another slant on things,a bit ironic though after all I have said as I use "familysearch". I find it fantastic for finding Ancesters in the17th. and 18th Centuries.
I have to go now as we have an Annual Market in our village with big celebrations lasting two days and nights. There will be lots of headaches on Friday morning I can tell you.
So long and thanks to you all for the input.
jay

Any comparison between GR Gold and Ancestry shouldn't just be about cost. Ancestry has many more records available which, if useful to you, should be factored in to the sums.
For example they have a number of Parish Record transcriptions.

Take a free trial with ancestry and see how you like it wait until you have time to concentrate and bear in mind they presently have problems with the Full Bmd.

GR Gold does NOT cover the Scottish census but Ancestry does

Your welcome,glad I rolled my thoughts out,
Jay

The gold would quite suit me as I`d love having all Census on tap. mymain argument has been: Is the GR. Website a good place to be a member of as I got the impression people were feeling a bit dissatisfied but,...only since I have started reading the boards?.If I hadn`t seen the comment(s) I wouldn`t have wondered?What always has bugged me is the tree building and not being able to delete my mistakes.Thankee kindly for your all the advice I have had.Jay