Genealogy Chat

see below

The National Archives advised us last Friday evening that FriendsReunited had bought the contract for the 1901 census service from QinetiQ (though we would comment that the service may be provided via the sister site GenesReunited, since this seems more appropriate). The Message from TNA was as follows: <quote> This is to advise you that QinetiQ (operators of our popular 1901 census service) have sold the contract this afternoon to FriendsReunited. We were not party to the negotiations but our approval was necessary. We sought and obtained assurances about the standard of customer service FriendsReunited will offer and believe that it is a positive development for 1901 customers. Customers will not notice any difference in the way the service operates. A press release will be issued by the two parties on Monday and we will publish further details on our website then. Should members of the public have any questions about the sale, they should address them to QinetiQ or FriendsReunited. <unquote> And GR STILL shows an out of date URL for the National Archives.

Oh dear! Jean x.

Ha! I wonder if we'll get free access, being GR members? I won't hold my breath tho... And will GR try to bar people from doing look-ups on Ancestry, seeing as they will be in direct competition with them?

Nice to know on what GR spends its money. Joy

My response is short and sweet......... FFS

PS May I have a slight chuckle?! :-) Joy

All I can say is: Thank goodness QinetiQ were around to sort out the errors drawn to their attention, such as the mistranscribed Tuck families...

oh, Brenda, reminds me of a certain thread ..... ! :-) Joy

As far as I can tell this just means FR will be managing this badly transcribed, inadequately indexed census instead of Qinetiq. But it will probably be a picnic compared with the 1911! nell

Press release: ''QinetiQ has sold its successful 1901 Census online business - which it developed from scratch and operated for The National Archives - to Friends Reunited for £3.3m. The website, launched on 2 January 2002, has played a key role in the burgeoning popularity of family tree research. The business has been bought by Friends Reunited's genealogy website Genes Reunited. QinetiQ will oversee the migration of the website from QinetiQ's Malvern site to Friends Reunited's head office in Oxted, once appropriate systems are in place to ensure an uninterrupted service to users. 'The success and phenomenal popularity of the 1901 Census site over the past couple of years speaks for itself,' explained James Kirby, Director of Census Business at QinetiQ. 'We have developed and delivered one of the largest and most sophisticated database systems, via a web interface, ever seen but while QinetiQ is skilled at delivering managed businesses we don't have a broad consumer base, so it makes sense for Friends Reunited to now take this successful business on to the next level.' Since its launch, the 1901 Census for England and Wales website has successfully handled over 120 million hits, processed over 12 million paid downloads and helped millions to research their family trees. The site provides free search access to the data with low cost 'pay-per-view' downloads for the actual documents. Ongoing research has shown that almost 90% of users would recommend the 1901 site to others and over 75% of them rate the site as good to excellent. Having done the free searches around one in four visitors also download an average of 30 paid for images and a similar number of all users are first time visitors. The recent growth in history and genealogy related programmes like 'Time Team' on Channel 4, through to the BBC2 series 'Who Do You Think You Are?' and the Radio 4 series, 'What Did Your Ancestors Do For A Living?' have all contributed to the increasing popularity of family tree research. Internet technology has created millions of 'cyber detectives' who are harnessing the web’s incredible resources and unlocking the secrets in their family tree. Genes Reunited has grown dramatically since its launch in 2003 and now has over 3.3 million members and 39 million names listed, with one name being added every second of every day. Michael Murphy, Chief Executive of Friends Reunited, said: 'We found that as the site grew our members were discovering more and more links in their family trees and so their thirst for more detail on their ancestors grew too. Responding to their requests for official government records, we looked at ways that we could add this service to effectively create a one-stop-shop for anyone wanting to research their family tree.' The huge task of digitising the original Census images and creating an index to over 32 million names, spanning almost 1.5 million pages with some 20 to 30 fields per name, was the result of a Public Finance Initiative contract between QinetiQ and The National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office). The result is a unique 'snapshot' summary of people in England and Wales in 1901 and is an invaluable and easily accessible resource to people searching their family roots or interested in social history. Users only pay when they download images of the original census return or census transcripts. The costs are 75p (images) or 50p (transcripts) and users pay by credit card or with vouchers available from most public libraries. Any ongoing activities or outstanding vouchers will continue to be honoured by the new operators. 'QinetiQ has developed a great resource which, under the new management of Friends Reunited and Genes Reunited, will continue to deliver a first class service,' concluded Sarah Tyacke, Chief Executive of The National Archives. 'The National Archives' online services are available to people around the globe and the partnership with Genes Reunited will highlight this international accessibility.' Genes Reunited becomes a Licensed Internet Associate partner of The National Archives for the 1901 Census and immediately assumes the management of the 1901 census website at www.1901census.nationalarchives.gov.uk and www.1901censusonline*.*com.''

the mind boggles especially when one remembers all the hiccups we've had on this site in recent times. Hope they manage the 1901 better

Just a thought - it won't actually be FREE to access anymore, as presumably you will have to be a member of GR. (Meaning, anyone who is NOT, and doesnt want to be, a member of GR, will have to pay a sub to join in order to access the 1901). Or, will they be putting it on a separate Website? Hope so, cos this one is having a job coping with those 'one new names added every second', let alone millions of people coming on here to access the 1901. Sorry, but I just feel there is something wrong with this, can't put my finger on WHY I think its wrong....Empire Building, perhaps? Olde Crone

''nudging'' :-) Joy

Just think what they could have done with this site using the £3.3million mentioned by Joy, above!! They could have made this site WORK lol I wonder what QinetiQ will do with the money? (who exactly are they anyway?) Merry

Taken from the 1901 census website: 'The National Archives' official 1901 census is now managed by Genes Reunited. This will not affect or alter the services provided by the 1901 census site.' So no, people won't have to join GR and there won't be noticeable changes to the 1901. Members have often asked GR to acquire proper genealogical records. Now they have the 1901 census. Perhaps the moral is 'be careful what you wish for'.

Oh Twinkle!!!............ I didn't wish for that! :-) Joy

Today the 1901 census ... tomorrow, the world! Watch out for HappyGenes errors - coming to a website near you.

I wonder - Will they have a Happy Errors Page? Rose

What was the recent error message?.... something like 'keep your fingers crossed and try again later!!!!!'