Find Ancestors

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Anything after that HAS , in the main to be looked up on pay to view sites, and requests that people meet for you is costing them money! Please be aware of this and that peoples generosity can easily be abused. Bear this in mind. Each year has 4 quaters, and each quarter 'costs' to view. if your search covers 20 odd years no one will be prepared to help you . narrow down as much as you can and be prepared to spensd a little money yourself. There seems to be a lot of it going on at the moment- people must be spending a fortune for others please do not abuse other peoples generosity

Well said Jess. Georgina.

Please think about what you actually want. It's not helpful to post 'looking for death after 1901' and then saying later on after people have checked 'I know X was alive when his wife died in 1957'. Be specific - ie 'I am looking for death of Joe Bloggs, last mention on wife's death cert Feb 1957 in Stinktown. Daughter's wedding cert 1963 states father is deceased'. This way people know that you want a search between 1957-63. It will also help you to decide where is the best place to look. If you know wife was buried in Stinktown Cemetery, you could check to see if husband is buried there too, for example. nell

although it is said often on individual threads there still seems to be people who dont realise - or the do and ....

Jess Its exactly the same doing lookups at the Records Offices.. Time is very precious... and people dont realise to search over four or five years for a baptism can take you an hour... especially if it is a large parish... and then when you have looked they have changed their minds about when the person was born.... Maureen

Here here Jess ......... There has been toooo many people asking for look ups after 1910 ... expecting it to be FREE ... but not realising that it does cost. Elaine :-)

Jess, I feel I must agree 100% with what you have said ( and how well you have said it ! ) I just wish people would do a little research on what is available and where. I accept that some poeple don't realise the cost of things but some do !!...... Esta

When all said and done, doing your family tree is a hobby. If you collected stamps or anything else you would expect to pay for the stamps etc. So, why do people think they can do their family tree for free? If I can't afford to send for a cert or cannot afford credits on 1837 online etc. or Ancestry to look up the census (which is so cheap over the year), then I wont ask others to use their money for me. I will wait until I can afford it. After all, these people are long dead, they aint going nowhere. Margaret

I quite agree, Jess. I am surprised how many people post up a request for this kind of thing, and how many people do the lookups instead of just telling them how to use 1837 online etc. Though I did a few the other day to use up some credits that were about to expire.... Kate.

nudged

I do agree with you. I must admit that I've done some look ups for people who are very grateful and as others had done look ups for me I wanted to give something back. I've made one or two friends along the way and that's been good as well. I've also got a very bored (retired )Dad who likes to spend his time in the PRO on wet days and he has been briliant. He even got some fan mail from one delighted lady. There is unfortunately a very small element that does abuse peoples kindness - I thought they perhaps didn't know how long it can take to do a search in the PRO or what is can cost on 1837. I've spotted one or two people who seem to take advantage of others good nature and now I don't respond to their requests. Sad I know but I think if you know of a serial offender this is probably the best way to deal without causing any embarrasment. Trish :)

I quite agree with regards to your comments on people either not realising that certain lookups are not for free or they do not want to dig deep into their own pockets. I will put my hand up as a person that has on occasions asked for a lookup that I know is not free, bearing in mind that if no one wants to help there will be zero replies. I do make sure that my request which I have researched extensively requires limit rummaging. The only reason I ask for help is when I have run out of credit and the last snippet of imformation would required just one credit - bearing in mind I sometimes run out of units whilst looking for others - always give back what sks has made available to me - to them I am very grateful. Lin

I have a family member who we are having trouble finding details as no body can remeber Philip Le Couture Kicke born 1866 Newport ,Gwent(monmouthshire) married? had children we know of 1 another philip le couture kicke born 1918. Any details would be helpful.Amanda

Hear,hear Jess . There are now so many freeloaders on this site expecting to get all their lookups done for nothing whilst providing only scanty info to go on. Eg can you look for XXXXX on 1901 in XXXXX ,her son was born in 1930s!!!!! Obviously expects a Christmas miracle!!!!! Had this yesterday in a PM. Mary

A good point raised Jess, I would just like to add my thanks to the people (Including Mary) who have so very kindly helped me in my search. I do hope I haven't over abused anyone's generosity, I do at least try all avenues first, which is the least any of us can do. Christine

It does make sense to look at all the resources you can, but so many do not they exist, especially if your just starting your family tree.Please look and learn through the numerous threads on here, they are so helpful. I have helped a few with request help, but recently not as much, there are freeloaders that want you to do there research for them, can I just say, it's so much more personal and fun to do it yourself. Good luck! Heather

Looks as though somebody didn't get the message... Kate.

The only annoying thing I've found on here is when someone says they have searched all the censuses online and cannot find so-and-so - they give the name, place and birth year etc - and you think you are in for a hard slog trying to help trace the person down, but when you enter the details on Ancestry they pop up straight away and you think to yourself 'hold on...did this person actually look this up or was it a ploy to get someone else to do it for them..?' Even worse is when they don't even come back to thank you! Still, on the whole the people I've helped have been genuine and I've made some friends through it and really don't mind helping out as I've got a full subscription to Ancestry and various other sites. In return, some people have helped me with a few 1837 searches, for which I was very grateful and I try to be as precise as possible with dates. I would say to those with 1837 credits - if someone is asking on the boards for a look-up with a very wide year range - just don't do it - unless you're happy to use up lots of leftover credits. After all, none of us on here is obligated to search for anyone if we don't want to. Leah

Jess, Well said! I am amazed how people are sooooo helpful on here when you can obviously see that many people are total freeloaders (by this I mean they have no intention of helping anyone else). Looking up on Ancestry is one thing if you have a subscription (I have and have been happy to help) but anyone requesting 1837 online look ups very rarely gets a response from me. I have an enormous family tree and I need every one of those credits. Besides, I feel if people are TOO helpful these people will never learn how to research these things themselves. I LOVE the concept of helping people in genealogy; but there are too many parasites on GR and they are starting to pollute the place and annoy! I had to change my user name because someone PM'd me asking for free help (what a bloomin' cheek). Genealogy seems to bring out the BEST and WORST in people. Cheers, Horatia