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Alternatives to Ancestry

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ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

webwiz

webwiz Report 30 Dec 2007 20:48

Does anyone have any experience of http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk or
http://www.familyrelatives.com/
both cheaper than Ancestry but are they any good?

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 30 Dec 2007 20:55

Check out their home pages, to find out exactly what resources they offer.

Do they have all England/Wales censuses?

Do they have transcribed Scottish censuses?

Do they have all England/Wales bmd's 1837 to 2005?

Ancestry have all the above..........plus WW1 Pension records, and more.

It depends where your area of research lies as to which site is best for your needs

Reg

webwiz

webwiz Report 30 Dec 2007 23:30

They say that census data is under beta test and will be available shortly at no extra cost.

MaryfromItaly

MaryfromItaly Report 31 Dec 2007 00:00

They've been saying that for ages.

I wouldn't consider subscribing until the census data's actually online and you've had a chance to check it out.

webwiz

webwiz Report 31 Dec 2007 09:22

Has anyone seen a comparative review of all the subscription sites in a magazine?

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 31 Dec 2007 10:58

Try googling.............

Tiger Lil

Tiger Lil Report 31 Dec 2007 14:45

Michael,

I use both The Genealogist and Ancestry. I wouldn't be without Ancestry, but I have found that sometimes I have been able to find relatives easier on The Genealogist as there seem to be fewer transcription errors. You can search census data by counties on The Genealogist (which is great unless you don't know the county you want).

The other thing I particularly like about The Genealogist is that the display of results from census searches lists the address, which makes finding the right people much easier - especially if they have common surnames.

The genealogist also has some parish records.

One of the drawbacks is that whereas Ancestry have indexed some of the BMDs, The genealogist hasn't, which is why I wouldn't be without Ancestry.

Reggie is right - it depends on what you want.

webwiz

webwiz Report 31 Dec 2007 15:46

Thanks all that responded. If you can afford it then it seems best to suscribe to all of them as each has its strengths and weaknesses. Since posting this I found that I could get a free trial on The Genealogist. This lasts for 30 days but only 10 credits which I blew in no time without actually finding anything. It uses a credit for a search even if it finds nothing and several of the items I knew should be there. So do not under any circumstances buy credits on this site - take out a subscription (credit free) if you want to try it.

Alison

Alison Report 31 Dec 2007 15:53

Have you tried FreeCen.org.uk. They are part of the organisation trying to get free access to family history information by using people willing to offer their time free of charge to transcribe information. FreeCen is the Census information.