Genealogy Chat

Oink oink

................. pigs flying by .............................

I'm in agreement that this site should be a priority to get sorted and working to the capacity needed. As for the 1901 wouldn't it be nice if Genes members were offered a discount on it. The pigs are flying.......

Yes, of course, GR have bought the 1901 census because it is an up and running site, guaranteed to give a high income return on their investment - of our money. We gain nothing - the 1901 was already available on line. Wouldnt it have been much nicer if they had thrown their 3.3 million in the direction of the 1911 census - also guaranteed to be a high money earner when its available. But no - that would have involved some extremely hard work.(OK, I know the 1911 isnt up for sale, however, everything has a price.....) I have nothing against any company making a profit and investing wisely - but please don't present it to US as a benefit. Olde Crone

No doubt they are hoping that the census will pay for itself, what with their recent new coverage and the second 'Who Do You Think You Are?' series on in a few months. It probably will. The costs of maintaining the website pale into insignificance compared to starting the whole process from scratch.

So, if they have spent £3.3 million on the 1901 census thingy, that is 347368.42 new members who have contributed to the purchase......... (how big is the membership, anyway??) Pity they don't seem to be spending anything on this site to make it work better! Suppose they don't have any money left? Merry

Debbie, it is £7.50 for renewal of membership, and £9.50 to join the site. :-) Joy

Hi I know this hasnt got to do with the 1901, but did anyone see see the small print at the bottom of the press release? It said Genes reunited was £9.50 a year I thought it was only £7.50. Or am I wrong?

I shall not laugh, Brenda. :-) Joy

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

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

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

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

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'.

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

''nudging'' :-) Joy

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

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

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.''

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