Genealogy Chat

I am wondering whether to subscribe to Find My Past. Is this an invaluable resource even if one already subscribes to Ancestry?

Any thoughts gratefully received :-)

Only if they have the records you want.

I often find they announce they have particular records and when you take a look it is only the index or they actually only have one year.

I used to subscribe to Ancestry but changed to Findmypast a good few years ago when Genes offered me a free subscription to Findmypast. At the time I liked Findmypast so continued to subscribe but these days they both have some records that the other doesn't so as already said, it depends on which will be most useful to you.

Why not try the 14 day free trial (if it is still being offered) and see for yourself.

Kath. x

I subscribe to Ancestry but as FMP has some records I find useful, I occasionally take out a month's subscription.

I have full subscriptions to both because, as said, each has something that the other doesn't. It really does depend what areas you're researching.

Two plusses for FindMyPast are the British Newspaper Archives and the forthcoming 1939 Register.

Thank you for your input. They are doing a free 14 day trial so I will give it a try before deciding. I won't give up on Ancestry as I do like it.

Many thanks, all x :-)

If you decide you don't want to subscribe after your free trial make sure you let them know in plenty of time so that they don't just take your money for a subscription.

Kath. x

I'm lucky as my brother is also into genealogy and so I subscribe to Ancestry, he does the same to FMP and we can do look ups for each other.

Lavender, have you looked to see if your county library service gives you access to newspapers etc? If I go to the Suffolk Libraries site I can use my library card number and a personal pin to get into quite a lot of newspaper archives, including British 19th century newspapers, and a lot of local papers, plus other stuff useful to a family historian. There's no charge for this - all I need is to have a library card.

(Just realised I haven't used this service for ages so I might be looking this afternoon to see if I can still get into it.)

They have an offer on at the moment
http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/general_chat/thread/1355764

I hope you haven't splashed out on the assumption you'll get the 1939 records.

Todays announcement quotes the price - £6.95 per household or £24.95 for 5.

Grrrrrrr :-P

I still think the cost for the 1939 Register is very reasonable when you compare it with the cost of £9.25 for a birth, marriage, or death certificate.

Those of us who signed up in advance get a 10% discount on the 5 household bundle which equates to £4.50 per household. I think that's a bargain to find out about the family at that time. Even without the 10% discount £4.99 per household is a fair price.

I know where my parents, grandparents, Aunts & Uncles were but I would have really liked to see if I could find any trace of a half great uncle. But he has a fairly common name - so these charges will be too much.

I wonder if it will be free to view at the National Archives in Kew?

Many thanks for all taking the trouble to reply. All very interesting and helpful advice.

Many thanks again.

:-) :-) :-)

I took a month subscription to FMP for £1, nearly coming to the end now. Apart from getting actual census images to download and see who was in the household with the person(s) I am researching, I have yet to find anything useful on FMP that I cannot find for free on familysearch.org.
I was considering doing another month but found out that 1939 register will cost extra, which is okay for those who may be researching a few households BUT for me to fill the gaps in my husbands tree I would need to search many households to find the right people to gain the information needed PLUS add to that they will redact the document for those who are not 100 years of age and/or dead. So of little use to me.
Now considering an ancestry subscription or the genealogists. Just need to decide.

DavShaz: "I have yet to find anything useful on FMP that I cannot find for free on familysearch.org"

What about the parish records with images, the military records, workhouse records, the british newspaper archives, etc etc?

Of course, it always depends on which parts of the country (or world) that you're researching as to whether or not Ancestry or FindMyPast is the better for you.

I know countless family historians and yet have never encountered any who use the Genealogist .......

I use The Genealogist but I also have FMP and Ancestry using each for specific areas of research.

I initially had The Genealogist when it was on a special offer and I needed access to the non conformist registers and PCC wills that were not part of a subscription package elsewhere at the time. My sub with them has never changed in cost and as it is 'cheap' I have kept it going.

It does have records not found elsewhere and I do like the search engine as it doesn't change every 5 minutes like FMP or Ancestry ;-)

Chris

Thank you all :-)

I might add that I have just taken a month's subscription at the British Newspaper Archive and have been thrilled to find so many articles relating to my family.