Genealogy Chat

Have got a birthday coming up soon. Am thinking of asking for either subscrition to one of the look up sites or a cd package instead of the usual smellies and bits and bobs. Which one is best and which site or cd should i wish for. thanks amanda

First happy b/day. mines on its way as well (4th march) and have done the same request. I can only surgest you go with your gut feelings as what I or any one eles likes migh not be to your taste. I have arsked for A year with Family Tree (Mag) and sevrale CDs from the lists on the info page on this site but they all relate to my needs Why not have a look your self to get ideas.

Amanda If you do not already have it, ask for a subscription to Ancestry. I don't think I could live without mine, you get the 71, 81, 91 and 1901 census, all now pretty well complete I think. You get to see the hand written forms, not just someone's idea of what they say transcribed for the computer, and there is talk of the 1861 census starting to come on line this year. This is totally money well spent. Yes, I know there are masses of kind people on GR who will do look-ups for you, but you can't beat doing it yourself, especially as you can also then see who lives 3 doors down (as in, good grief, that must be my great great great grandmother, did not even know her name before). Peter. We share a birthday. It's a rare one, you are only the second person I have ever met in my (rather too long) life before with the same birthday as me. I will try to remember to send you a happy birthday message on the big day! Tina

Thanks Tina and I will for you, What year (if you do not mind me asking) mines 1953

Hi Peter Mine is 1949, and in accordance with what we are all doing on this site, I am now allowed to crow as I go back further than you! LOL. Tina PS Apologies for hijacking your thread, Amanda. Enjoy the birthday.

actually my best friends birthday when i was at school is on the 4th march too. Happy Birthday Paula if you peek at this site.and to you peter and tina too. best wishes amanda

Thanks for that advice tina and peter. i looked at the ancestory site would it be best for quarterly or annual. how much would i use it in your experence. Is that how everyone just looks up the info straight away? It must make tracing alot less stressful and time consuming i suppose its like having the proper tools to do the job. bestwishes amandax

I'd go with the annual subscription for Ancestry. Just started my second annual subscription and I wouldn't be without it. Also this year was cheaper than last (don't know if this is just because I renewed the subscription, or if it's cheaper this year for everyone). There is also a lot more on it now than there was last year. Kath. x p.s. I use Ancestry almost every day, even if it's just look-ups for other people.

Hi all just wanted to wish you all a happy birthday (a little early i know) but also my daughter Kayleigh will be sweet sixteen on the 4th March so another one to share with Tina and Peter. Shaz

Hello again Amanda Thanks for the birthday wishes! Re Ancestry. If you can afford it, go for the annual sub as it saves a lot (I never seem to have saved up enough - keep spending it all on certificates - and keep renewing my quarterly sub which is really, really stupid of me, I know). Once you have Ancestry, you will use it all the time, because once the sub is paid there is no further cost (unless you want to look at USA records, but I am assuming you will mainly be looking at UK, I might be wrong there of course). I think a full year for UK and Ireland is about $99 - something between £60 and £70 I believe. Not only are the censuses there, but also BMD, taken from FreeBMD. Now, I know they only have the same info as FreeBMD, but the speed it comes up on your screen is dramatically faster, especially if you are working at a busy time when lots of other people are online. Also, given that I can browse around without any extra cost, I tend to look at who was living up and down the road from my ancestors, I can go to the next page and look there, and just generally trawl around. It throws up all sorts of interesting information. Any then there is Pallot's Marriage Index which covers bits of England (particularly London) from 1780 to 1837. I can just spend hours wandering around, putting in names and seeing what comes up. How many Brigham families were there in Cheshire in 1871 (answer: only 3 and they are all mine!!) But you get my drift - you can widen your searches on the offchance of finding something, without any extra cost. So go for as long as you can afford, is my advice. (And before you ask, no, I do not have shares in Ancestry - worse luck!) Tina

Hi Peter and Tina AND Im a birthday girl on 4 MARCH TOO! (1950 - gawd it cant be!). Tina, definitely go for the ancestry sub.

What you have actually paid for a sub? Then you should just be able to log in. What happens when you go to the site, where do you enter your name and password? When you subscribed you would have received an email confirmation from them, that should give you the details of your password I think and also a contact email addy if you have problems.