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Ancestry Birth Records/FreeBMD

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PriscillaEmilywasMoonbeam

PriscillaEmilywasMoonbeam Report 6 Aug 2008 21:26

I'm wondering if anyone else who is transcribing for FreeBMD have come across this problem that I find with Ancestry.

As I have a subscription to Ancestry I have sometimes checked their birth images if I am having trouble reading the page I am working on. What I have found on several occasions is that when an entry is typewritten at the bottom of the page this entry is often listed as the last on the page when you do searches. But this handwritten entry has to be put in alphabetical order when transcribing the page. Quite often (not always) all the names below where this name is when put in alphabetical order do not show when you search for those names.

I've written to Ancestry several times about this. I was just about to start transcribing a page to-day and decided to do a search for someone at the end of the page and the same thing happened - that is they couldn't find the name but I know it is there as I have it in front of me. I first wrote to Ancestry on 24th June and that page still has not been corrected, which means nearly all the entries on the second side of the page will not show up in searches.

I've found at least half a dozen pages like this, the first one I found inadvertently, now I sometimes check when there are handwritten entries at the bottom of the page. I wonder how many more there are like this.

Researching:
Ash, Bassett, Godwin, Elsley, Jackson, Webster, Gisbey, Arnold, Bowles, Vockenson

Chris in Sussex

Chris in Sussex Report 6 Aug 2008 21:43

Moonbeam

Yes it is a common problem with Ancestry.

'Trawling' years to find BMDs I am sometimes told the quarters for a name do not exist...But using 'creative' searching finds the missing quarters.....Luckily I have the experience, but what about those who don't?

Like you I have found the mising pages are mainly due to the additional entries added at the bottom of the page.

Corrections notified to Ancestry seem to have no effect.

Chris

Researching:
Avatar...My darling Dad. 1931-2019 'Take nothing on its looks, take everything on evidence. There is no better rule' Charles Dickens, Great Expectations. 'A brickwall is a problem that you haven't solved yet' Dave Annal http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/brick-walls-and-lost-ancestors/

KeithInFujairah

KeithInFujairah Report 7 Aug 2008 04:17

Missing quarters are a big problem, FreeBMD is far better indexed than the full index on Ancestry.

When I find one missing, I either look for names close to the one I am searching for, or take note of the page number of one I can view, then click on the year in the link at the top of the page, then quarter, then surname letter, then go to a page guess close to viewable quarter page and work back or forwards from there.