Genealogy Chat

Hi I have just strated tracing my family tree and was wondering if it is worth buying a Census CD? My relatives come from Durham and Northumberland and i was thinking about getting a CD but thought I would ask if you thought it necessary? If so, which one should I go for? I am interested in the 1891 or 1881 one -can I get one which covers both areas? Many thanks for your help Christina

1881 census is free to search online at www.familysearch.org and both the 1891 and 1881 are available on Ancestry if you want the images. A quarterly or half year subscription o Ancestry would be cheaper than buying the CD's. Personally I would purchase earlier census CD's, such as the 1841 1851 or 1861 as these are the ones that are not usually available online. Hope this helps Sam

You can see 1881 free at familysearch.org I think it is well worth getting a cd for a specific area. Searching through it is time consuming but fascinating. You will find loads of family you didn't know you were looking for. An alternative to buying CDs is to join Ancestry where a subscription allows viewing of some censuses - supposedly all of them eventually. However it does involve being online to view them. I prefer to do it offline, personally. Its quicker for one thing! anne

In my opinion you're better off with an Ancestry subscription. For around £70 per year, you get unlimited access to the 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 - fully indexed and the images are available to download or print. The 1871 & 1901 are not quite complete yet, but should be finished in the first half of this year. Then they will start on the 1861, with the 1851 & 1841 to follow. You do really need a fast internet connection though to use it to its full advantage. Also, Scotland censuses aren't covered, only England/Wales. Richard

Thanks very much - I think I will just use ANcestry - although I thought it was incomplete for Northumberland. Can anyone confirm this? Christina

Northumberland 1871/81/91 is on, but 1901 is not on yet. No doubt someone will post a message on these boards once it comes along, which hopefully should be in the next few months...

How much do these census CDs cost please? and where do you buy them? Gerri

Annabelle, www.familysearch.org IS a US site but records are free to view so I'm not sureb what prices come up in dollars as unless you are purchsing a CD from them, you shouldn't need to pay. Gerri, You can bu census CD's from lots of places, try googling S&N Genealogy, Stepping Stones or GENfair. Depending on the county and the year you want, they can cost anything from £15 to about £50. Sam

Hi S&N website is www(.)geneology(.)demon(.)co(.)uk. Andrea Obviously, don't forget to remove brackets

if you go on www.nationalarchivist site the have opened an on line shop with discs for sale you should have a look

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