Genealogy Chat

As somebody just starting out, what would you say is the best site to start with? Ancestry seems to crop up a lot in these discussions but apart from that one? I've used 1837 but even when I put in full surnames/first names, it still brings up far too many hits (and hits that don't even contain the relevant name) so I feel I'm just wasting money there. I guess different sites are good for different things but any help would be appreciated as so many of them seem to be doing exactly the same thing and I don't want to keep throwing my money away. ~Sharon J

Hi there, 1837 on line is really only useful if you have some idea of the date of birth, marriage or death. Ancestry is brilliant - you can do the 2 weeks free trial and check it out. I have subscribed for a year because I have found so much on there and I can fiddle about changing names around etc to my hearts content. The LDS Mormon site is free and you can check the 1881 census on there and the IGI. There is a big list of sites that are useful on a thread on here and also on the homepage of GR.

Go to your home page on the left .Scroll down to getting started this gives you advise and places to search

Hmm.... Even when I know the year a person was born, 1837 still brings up each period of that year, even though the person is only listed in one of them. What's the point in having a name search facility? I was absolutely certain that I must've been doing something wrong because it wasn't bringing up anything different with the full name entered than if I just entered 3 letters of the surname and no first name. What is IGI? I've signed up for the UK part of Ancestry as I don't believe I have any ancestors in the US, although obviously, if it turns out that I have (or appear to) I'll have to re-consider. It was the expense that worried me! $199 or somewhere close is a lot of money! That's the reason I wouldn't try the 14 days free trial - too worried I'd forget to let them know that I didn't want to continue with it, especially as you have to phone them to cancel. I'll have a look at the lists mentioned but y'know... personal recommendation always seems to be the best :-) ~Sharon J

Sharon, I agree that Ancestry is a brilliant site. I'm not sure where you have had that price from though. The UK site (www.ancestry(.)co(.)uk) costs about £70 for a year but they also do 6 monthly, quarterly or monthly subscriptons if you can't afford to shell out £70 in one go. I think you can also use it by paying something like £7 for 20 searches (or something like that). And you can email them to cancel the trial. Sam

Free BMD is a great site