Genealogy Chat

BMD's are free on Ancestry........no need to subscribe. Have you viewed the images of the indices? The process involves accessing every one, quarter by quarter........... If you are seeking births pre-1875, you must bear in mind that registration wasn't compulsory. Reg

Many births were not registered between 1837 to 1895 and some after that. People thought baptism counted so you may find them om parish records. The GRO indexes are transcriptions of original local indexes. Many exist at local registrars only. The indexes are a mess some re-indexing and re-typing produced even more errors. When they say complete indexes tey mean complete images it does not mean the RECORDS themselves are complete ! There are even different 'sets' of films and differences between them ! (Taken at differnt times ?) Go local and original if possible Bob

You have to bear in mind that no database is 100% complete. There are varied reasons why you may not be able to find a certain event in the index, although you don't give dates the following reasons are just some explanations for 'missing' entries; Not every event was registered, births before 1875 are the least complete as the enforcement of civil reigistration was not tightly enforced. Marriages should be the most complete. When the index was compiled there could be a number of reasons for an entry being lost or omitted, the local registrar had to copy all the bmd entries and forward them for inclusion in the master index, the master index was compiled from hundreds of these paper entries and some inevitably were lost or entered incorrectly. The local registrars will have the most complete set of registers available as they retain the originals. You may find that in certain cases it is better to apply to the local register office (local to the event) for a copy of a certificate.

Paul are you searching the full indexes on Ancestry which cover BMD's from 1837-1984 searchable quarter by quarter, or have you been searching the transcribed records which are far from complete? Georgina.

I could be wrong but I think I have heard that the records on Ancestry aren`t complete. Others may be able to give you more info. I get all my BMD`s from findmypast(.)com but use Ancestry for eveything else. Nana

Thanks for the offer but i thought ancestry.com was complete that is why I subscribed to it, i am just wondering how complete it is and where else i can go if i cannot find my ancestors BMD on ancestry

If you give some names,places etc, I will have a look on findmypast for you. Nana

I have been looking for my ancestors BMDs on Ancestry.com and cannot find some of them, how complete is their index? and where else can I go to find them? Any help would be appreciated Thank you