Genealogy Chat

nudged for Dianne

Clare, the thing is that freebmd is free because it is transcribed by volunteers. So it isnt complete. Its ongoing and may be years before all the entries are on there. You could try 1837online pay to view or the new familyrelatives site which is brilliant when its working. (teething probs). With 1837 you have to be pretty sure of a year otherwise you could end up trawling many quarters, paying for each one. The familyrelatives site is only complete from 1866-1920 but if you have a pretty rare name like I have I printed off 9 pages of people of that name for births, marriages and deaths in London for just 18 credits. Dont forget the UKBMD site and also familyhistoryonline. And of course National Archives!

now then, i'm more than likely doing something wrong, but everytime i got a do a search on freebmd, the search always comes back with no records, even when i've found them on my local bmd site! is it just me, or is it really a useful site??? confused claire!

Thanks again everyone, be pleased to know you are helping many more people than just me. xx Dave

Kathy Thanks for your tip on visiting libraries for free info rather than paying on the net. I only use the net because I live in a semi-rural area and it's a fair distance to a large library; also I have ME and because I work part-time, I'm unable to do much more outside the home. This is why I'm really enjoying my new hobby so much and the GC site - I can do my research and chat to friends all at the pc!! But thanks again, I do appreciate what you're saying. Mandy :)

http://www.curiousfox.*com/ (remove *)

Hi Julie, What is the website for CuriousFox? Kathy

I also use CuriousFox.com. Have had a few people contact me through this site. One chap sent me all that he'd found on the family right back to the 1700's, which was a great help to me. Julie

As well as the familysearch(.)org, 1901 census, free bmd, free census, cyndistlist, GENUKI are essential and you can spend days/weeks/months investigating them! rootsweb - message boards and mailing lists. No time to go to work really! Joy

Hi Dave, there's a page of useful links in the reource centre, left hand side of this page, which has FreeBMD and some other links which I have found most useful - and convenient. Good browsing! Michael (in Dundas)

Mandy, Instead of using the 1837online site, which can cost a fortune before you find the right page, go to your local library (the one in your nearest big town) where you can look up all the births, marriages and deaths indexes and its all for free, and you'll be given helpful advice to boot!! Regards, Kathy x

try ancestry.[com] for 1871,1891, 1901 cenus,u do have to pay but its brill site,loads of resources

Thanks for those from another 'nearly newbie', it also took me ages to find freebmd! Dave, I also use 1837online; although you have to pay, it's worth it if you need a 'backup' when you can't find something on freebmd, and also for more recent records. Mandy :)

In addition to the above, there's also www(.)gro(.)gov(.)uk - remove brackets first. This has lots of info about birth/marriage/death certs and you can order certs online too - very easy process. Also, a wealth of info on Genuki (type into your search engine for address). Additionally, I've found useful sites by typing phrases into a search engine - "Whichford 1861" for example found me some free census transcriptions for my relatives in a Warwickshire village. Also check the message boards - people regularly give addresses for websites they've found. Helen

Thanks Kathy, that's exactly the sort of resource list that a new starter needs. xxDave

Hi Dave, The most essential websites to start with are: www.census.pro.gov.uk - for the 1901 Census; www.familysearch.org - for the 1881 census and IGI; http://freebmd.rootsweb(.)com - remove the brackets - for free births, marriages and deaths indexes. You can then send off for the Certificates with the index information. You can also click on Resource Centre on the left hand side of this page, and then click on Useful Links for more useful sites. Hope this helps all newcomers as well as yourself, Regards, Kathy

I've only just found freebmd after months of stumbling around, what other sites are essential to ancestry researchers? It would be nice if maybe half a dozen or so could be passed on to new starters. I know this list can get very heavy and there are pages of links elsewhere so keep it to the bare necessities. xxDave