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Ancestry.com -- is there a better site forworldwide research?

judith allport

judith allport

master brummie
I put all relevant details into Ancestry yet they keep on coming up with irrelevant dates and persons. Am I doing something wrong or is there a better website? eg Henry Alexander Meredith from Dublin dob 1880 traveled to NZ in early 1900's?
 
I have seen your Allport Family tree Judith, , I see it has Henry leaving England on 2 occasions 1901/1903. , once to Canada and 3 years later to NZ, if he travelled back it was between census.I see you have 2 citations so have record of this.
Did he travel from Ireland to get the boat in Liverpool?
He is not on the 1901 UK census and the only Henry Alexander Meredith I could find on the 1901 Ireland census is age 20 at Mount Pleasant Square in Dublin.
He is listed by a Meredith family member on Ancestry,but with birthdate 1870? you could try to contact the owner by PM as he is listed as having the same parents as yours.

1901 Mount Pleasanr Street.
Meredith family, index only , sorry no idea of relationship.
Lillias Ann age 66
Henry 54
Elizabeth 39
William Rice 31 ( he is found on 1911 West Ham , a surgeon, he had married Ellinor Deacon in Brighton 1905.)
Henry Alex 20
Frank age 18
Olive 13

1911 Leeson Park Avenue
Henry age 64
Francis Ormsby age 26 (this is probably Frank)
Olive Frances 23.
 
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I have just returned to Ancestry after a break of a couple of years whilst I have been using Find my Past, in my opinion a better site for the UK. However Ancestry does have more worldwide records.
You can restrict the searches by using the ticks in boxes or the green underlined bits. The difficulty here is that it depends on how accurately the record has been transcribed. More often than not it shows up as zero returns!

Clarkie
 
Up until now I have had no interest in finding my family tree (though I love "Who do you think you are").

But my mother died about a year ago and all of a sudden I have the urge to find out more about my family history.

Where is the best place to start?

Do I have to pay for one of these sites, or is there any free ones just to get me going?

What is the best site to pay for?

Most of my family are UK based, mostly from London. My wife's family are Midlands based, mostly around South East Birmingham (and Solihull).
 
Family is the best place to start if they're willing.

You don't have to pay for any sites (I haven't and I've done ok) but it's more tricky if you don't. There are a few free sites, freebmd, freecen, freereg and the 1881 census is free on most of the sites though I think you have to register on most to use it. There's familysearch as well and of course there are records kept at certain libraries and you can buy certificates.

I don' know the best site to pay for but some do free trials but are limited. Others will be able to give a better recommendation.
 
I have been researching now for myself and others including members of BHF for over 10 years and I am only satisfied when I see a record
in the 'original' whether it be birth, marriage ,death or census entry.
So many indexed or transcribed records are often incorrect.
Family search is full of submitted entries that I can prove are incorrect because in some cases I have certificates for events that others have submitted.
The best place to start is ,as someone else says, with your family, mother and father and work backwards.
Don't assume that someone with an unusual name is easy to find there will be dozens out there.

If you are unsure of a record the only solution is the certificate.
when buying certificates do so from the local register office and lay down criteria e.g must have fathers christian name ****, this way
you will not be collecting and paying for the wrong certificates.Often the staff will ring and discuss your request and any problem that has occured

Before I used the computer I used the County Records office at Staffordshire to search through Church registers and found this to be the most satisfying way of searching.
Often the vicar at a marriage or christening would put in the church register little snippets like. 'It was a lovely sunny day' or the baby behaved very well'

Oh yes ! and the only site I have ever subscribed to is Ancestry.
 
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If you have London ancestors, Ancestry is good. It's saved me countless trips the London Metropolitan Archives.

Judith, as someone who has recently had to dabble with NZ records, you might find the following useful:
https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Home/ (if necessary, you can order copy certs and they are delivered by email (not cheap though as $26NZ)
https://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~shipstonz/ships_uk&i.html (useful if you get lucky!)

If you know they landed in Auckland, use the Auckland library site: https://www.aucklandcitylibraries.com/DigitalLibrary.aspx
For other locations, Google (location and passenger lists) - they is pretty good coverage, particularly later records (I was looking at late 1840s, which are patch!)

Newspapers: https://www.aucklandcitylibraries.c...DigitalLibrary/topicpages/Family-history.aspx
 
Thanks Alberta, That is him on both Irish and NZ entries. I put both entries on Ancestry as I wasn't sure which date he travelled.
Alberta said:
I have seen your Allport Family tree Judith, , I see it has Henry leaving England on 2 occasions 1901/1903. , once to Canada and 3 years later to NZ, if he travelled back it was between census.I see you have 2 citations so have record of this.
Did he travel from Ireland to get the boat in Liverpool?
He is not on the 1901 UK census and the only Henry Alexander Meredith I could find on the 1901 Ireland census is age 20 at Mount Pleasant Square in Dublin.
He is listed by a Meredith family member on Ancestry,but with birthdate 1870? you could try to contact the owner by PM as he is listed as having the same parents as yours.

1901 Mount Pleasanr Street.
Meredith family, index only , sorry no idea of relationship.
Lillias Ann age 66
Henry 54
Elizabeth 39
William Rice 31 ( he is found on 1911 West Ham , a surgeon, he had married Ellinor Deacon in Brighton 1905.)
Henry Alex 20
Frank age 18
Olive 13

1911 Leeson Park Avenue
Henry age 64
Francis Ormsby age 26 (this is probably Frank)
Olive Frances 23.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the hints Leslam. They will have landed at wellington or Lyttelton but whether it was direct from the UK or they went via Canada or NY I don't know.

leslam said:
If you have London ancestors, Ancestry is good. It's saved me countless trips the London Metropolitan Archives.

Judith, as someone who has recently had to dabble with NZ records, you might find the following useful:
https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Home/ (if necessary, you can order copy certs and they are delivered by email (not cheap though as $26NZ)
https://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~shipstonz/ships_uk&i.html (useful if you get lucky!)

If you know they landed in Auckland, use the Auckland library site: https://www.aucklandcitylibraries.com/DigitalLibrary.aspx
For other locations, Google (location and passenger lists) - they is pretty good coverage, particularly later records (I was looking at late 1840s, which are patch!)

Newspapers: https://www.aucklandcitylibraries.c...DigitalLibrary/topicpages/Family-history.aspx
Click to expand...
 
I found out that it was easier for emmigrants to get to Canada and then pass through to USA. Rather than going straight into USA.
 
Judith, I don't know if the same applies down there in West Sussex but here in Brum if you are a member of the Libaray you can use their computers with access to Ancestry for free, for up to 2hours, three times a week. I am using this service myself to gain a little knowledge (with the help of a friend) before commiting myself. The Staff are also very helpful.
jimbo
 
Have to agree with the other posts, Ancestry is better for worldwide records, but even when you put very precise details, you get lots of irrelevant returns that seem to have no bearing on the info you have put in. Have jsut had a two week free trial on FMP and found it much more accurate, however, you can't have monthly subscriptions with them unlike Ancestry, so its a bit swings and roundabouts.
I use familysearch.org the Mormon run free site quite a bit, they sent me a copy of my great nan and grandads wedding certificate.
Good luck with your research.
Sue
 
On the subject of Certificates, some can be obtained from Family Search free of charge, via their Photoduplication service. However, it is somewhat cumbersome and something of a 'Black Art', as I have discovered.:05.18-flustered:

Points to note:

If the record has been digitised, then the Service is not available. It needs to be viewed at a FHC (Family History Centre).

They DON'T DO SEARCHES. Hence, what you request is what will be returned by email.

WHAT YOU ASK FOR IS WHAT YOU GET! Where there are multiple entries on Family Search, taking the example of Marriages, whilst one might be the original ceremony entry, others might be the Banns or the Bishop's Transcripts. When quoting a Film Number (which is a requirement) it is essential to research the 'Catalog' pertaining to the various Film Numbers to avoid disappointment.

Be patient. One can request up to 5 images per request per month. And they take about a month before they are returned but, at zero cost, I can be very, very, patient.:smug:

GRO/LRO Birth and Death Certificates, 1837+, as the saying goes, are a 'different kettle of fish'. In the case of Births, they will show the Mother's Maiden Name and, in the case of Deaths, the name of the Informant. However, in the case of Births, if there is an active 'County' BMD then the MMN may also be shown. Similarly, in a County with an active OPC, the Church Registers may have been fully transcribed.

It is a hobby that can be expensive, but doesn't have to be.:pirate:
 
I have been researching my family tree for the past 7 / 8 years. I use a number of different websites for my info. I have a worldwide membership to Ancestry.com, full membership to genesreunited and I also have my own backup family tree. I always verify the information that has been entered on other peoples family trees, never take it as gospel. I also use familysearch but again verify the information.
If you are just starting to put your family tree together I can email you a list of questions to ask family members and a couple of standard forms that I use to put all the information down before entering it into the family tree.
A word of warning, don't order BMD certificates from ancestry.com, they charge over GBP20. I have registered with www.gro.gov.uk for certificates, do your homework first and then enter as much detail as you know. They only charge me GBP9.25 which is the same as if I was living in the UK.
If you are searching family from Scotland, register with www.scotlandspeople.gov.au they are on a credit system, 30 credits for GBP7 a search is usually 6 credits but you can obtain some of the certificates for the 6 credits you've been charged.
I have over 1200 people in my family tree from all the way around the world and now the next generation are interested in what I have found out, with a bit of luck they will want to carry on the good work.

Happy searching.

Margaret
 
A really helpful response Margaret. Thank you.
<
Maggie D said:
I have been researching my family tree for the past 7 / 8 years. I use a number of different websites for my info. I have a worldwide membership to Ancestry.com, full membership to genesreunited and I also have my own backup family tree. I always verify the information that has been entered on other peoples family trees, never take it as gospel. I also use familysearch but again verify the information.
If you are just starting to put your family tree together I can email you a list of questions to ask family members and a couple of standard forms that I use to put all the information down before entering it into the family tree.
A word of warning, don't order BMD certificates from ancestry.com, they charge over GBP20. I have registered with www.gro.gov.uk for certificates, do your homework first and then enter as much detail as you know. They only charge me GBP9.25 which is the same as if I was living in the UK.
If you are searching family from Scotland, register with www.scotlandspeople.gov.au they are on a credit system, 30 credits for GBP7 a search is usually 6 credits but you can obtain some of the certificates for the 6 credits you've been charged.
I have over 1200 people in my family tree from all the way around the world and now the next generation are interested in what I have found out, with a bit of luck they will want to carry on the good work.

Happy searching.

Margaret
Click to expand...
 
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