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ancestry has changed again

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ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

judy

judy Report 24 Dec 2008 21:44

I am trying to look up a birth in 1950 but have been thrown where to look. Any help most appreciated. Jay

Click ADD REPLY button - not this link!

Click ADD REPLY button - not this link! Report 24 Dec 2008 22:38

Should be on the right sid eof the page under Record Collections:

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/rectype/vital/freebmd/bmd.aspx

Rose

Researching:
I am not related to you and I'm not your husband's first wife!

Kathlyn

Kathlyn Report 26 Dec 2008 09:43

I do not like change for changes sake and am having difficulty navigating the new Ancestry set up. I am sure that given time it will all become familiar, but the frustration of going via High Street China to find what used to take me no time at all, is a pain.

Kathlyn

Thelma

Thelma Report 26 Dec 2008 12:25

Click on "search"
Using "the New Ancestry Search"
Look at left of screen under "featured"
But really you should look at the yellow bar and click:-
"switch back to old search"
You will find bmd on the right under "browse records"

Kate

Kate Report 26 Dec 2008 13:43

You know, Kathlyn, I have to agree with that. I am really trying to get used to the new changes but I'm finding it hard. It also annoys me that you can't seem to find the "revert to old version" option until after you have done at least one search.

What I would like on there is an intelligent feature so that when I search for, say, John Hurst born 1846 Melling, Lancashire, I can quickly and easily find the six relevent English census records (he isn't mistranscribed on any) without having to sort through the full list of census records, which invariably means going through pages and pages listing various American censuses.

He wasn't American, he never went to America and he didn't die in America, yet I am always getting these options.

InspectorGreenPen

InspectorGreenPen Report 27 Dec 2008 17:38

To get the best out of Ancestry you need to be more selective in what you are looking for. There is little use putting a name in a general search then complaining that you have too many entries.

E.G. On the general search box, tick the box for 'Only Records form the UK and Ireland' Using Kate's example this brings up just one entry for each of the censuses 51, 61, 81, 91, 01 plus one public member tree.

Better still, if it the UK census that you are after, select UK Census records first, then enter the details, again with the above example, just the census records returned.

Tick the 'exact' boxes. If necessary widen the year span or use wild cards if you dont' find what you want. For example Bag*t* will give you variations such as bagot, baget, baggott Only use the 'fuzzy' search as a last resort and expect to have to wade through several pages manually.

Always start with a narrow search, rather than the other way round, and widen the criteria bit by bit if you don't find what you are looking for.