General Chat

Last night on FMP I found my gt gt grandparents by going through the address pages. Luckily I already had a copy of the page from the film I viewed at the LDS many years ago, so knew the folio and page number. On FMP their name was given as BURKHOUSE rather than BACKHOUSE, which is why I could not find them by name. Admittedly the page is very faint. I have sent a correction of their transcript.

Huia.

I doubt if I would ever found my family on GR as every census the name was spelt incorrectly. In one census only the last 3 letters were correct out of 7 had to find them by christian names in the end.

jax

They don't have a wild card option. The system, I accept, is not as good as some but what I have found quite recently, when looking for a name on a census, it didn't seem to be there, but by a fluke I scrolled down and the second ( overleaf) page was displayed at the same time showing the required name. It does seem to need more grey cells to work out some information...... its a bit like the curate's egg I guess. - jl

I was a gold member when I first joined last january and I found the BMDs difficult to navigate but it looks like they have improved them for the paying customers.
I'm not sure if it was me but found searching for someone on the census was difficult if you did'nt spell the name correctly. Do GR have a wild card option? if they did I never found it

jax

Imply--to express or indicate by a hint-
Infer-to conclude by reasoning from evidence

I still don't understand why anyone would give 20 potential searches as an example( or evidence) when all you have to do is enter the detail, the same as freebmd and come up with the same answer, without having to go onto another site. It seems an unreasonable example as this doesn't happen if you have full membership.-j

I don't think Sylvia "inferred" anything -- you meant "implied", of corse, when she pretty much stated plainly.

She inferred from her experience with GR searches that they are useless and bad value for money. I have inferred the same thing.

FreeBMD and Ancestry have the *transcribed* birth, marriage and death index, in a searchable database. What GR gives you for the same search is a link to a page of an index where the name *would* appear if it were there, and you get to view the image yourself to determine that.

That was fine before transcriptions were done, but what is the point of paying for that now, when the searchable transcription database is available free at FreeBMD???

During the 3 minutes I managed to access records at GR when it was offered free of charge on New Year's Eve, I was offered an *exact match* for my grx2 grfather born 1825 +/- 5 years in Nottingham. I was presented with a link to an image, which I viewed, to discover that he died in 1945, a WWII casualty. I'll let you do the math. Imagine how thrilled I would have been to pay for that.

Ah I understand-using a Free Birth Record search and using a Birth Record Search when you take out gold/platinum are two different things.
Whilst I know many people seem to knock genes for the value for money, it does seem a little unfair suggesting that their records are next to useless, when in reality, they might not be the best but they are not altogether as bad as many people on these boards seem to suggest.
I have just given up with Ancestry because it doesn't suit me. Other people at the family history where I go will only use findmy past.
I think it is up to each to accept the positives but not to infer something is inadequate because not in possession of a full membership.-j

Janet

I went to Free Birth Records, and entered a surname and 1904 +/- 2 years


I did know the forename and actual year of birth, but I wanted to see what would happen if I wasn't sure when registration happened.



sylvia

Sylvia- what did you click to find all those names? I don't understand.As an example I entered my mum's name and place of birth and her name appeared in 1907. No other names, just hers.-j

And unless you have a gold or platinum subscription or have bought credits you wont be able to view the image.

I always used www.freebmd.org.

Huia in New Zealand.

I've just tried entering a relation's name here on GR, and this is what I got

From - To Year Quarter
Byatt Emily Maud - Cain Sidney Richard 1906 Jan-Feb-Mar View
Button Albert James - Caddick Thomas Henry 1906 Apr-May-Jun View
Cable Herbert William - Callaghan Robert Thomas 1906 Jul-Aug-Sep View
Bywater Florence - Caley George Edgar 1906 Oct-Nov-Dec View
Buttery Ellan - Caddick Harry 1905 Jan-Feb-Mar View
Byford Herbert Victor - Caine Anne 1905 Apr-May-Jun View
Byott Kathleen Rachel - Caisley Isabel 1905 Jul-Aug-Sep View
Byrne John Francis - Caldwell Annie 1905 Oct-Nov-Dec View
Cable Alfred James - Call David 1904 Jan-Feb-Mar View
Cadby Gwendoline Grace - Calland Margaret 1904 Apr-May-Jun View
Buttle Florence Beatrice - Cadman Ivy 1904 Jul-Aug-Sep View
Buttrey Leonard Albert - Cahill Bridget 1904 Oct-Nov-Dec View
Byng William Edgar - Caisley Ellen 1903 Jan-Feb-Mar View
Byrom Arnold - Caldwell William Gregson 1903 Apr-May-Jun View
Byrom Mary - Cale Alfred 1903 Jul-Aug-Sep View
Button Leonard Vernon - Cadwallader Fredrick William 1903 Oct-Nov-Dec View
Cabble Ida Margaret P - Callaghan Emily 1902 Jan-Feb-Mar View
Bythell Margaret Jane - Callaghan Charles 1902 Apr-May-Jun View
Byner Elsie Winifred - Cairns John Herbert 1902 Jul-Aug-Sep View
Byart Edward - Cain Poter 1902 Oct-Nov-Dec




Is this what you mean????


Then I gather you have to click on each one, until you find the name you are looking for

...................... and, if you do, you are taken to the image of the actual record book from GRO

which is all well and good when you know exactly when someone was born!



Most confusing!!



Much much better to do as Jax suggested ........ use www.freebmd.org!



sylvia

GR is actually the most useless of the sites for accessing records!



sorry to say that, but it is true!


However, you should be aware that what you see in any English or Welsh bmd is just the few lines of the record, THEN you ahve to buy the actual certificate to get the full information ...... which is not as much as you get on an Austrlaian certificate.



sylvia

Just use freebmd its easier

http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl

good for records 1837 - 1940/50s

then order any certs here

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/


jax

Does anyone have a problem viewing the various records.

I have been a member of the Genes site since its early beginnings, but this is the first time that I decided to have access to the various census and BDM records.

I am trying to find details of my grandfather so that I can order a copy of his birth certificate.

I am only getting a few lines of a record page. Has anyone else noticed this problem.

As I live in Australia it is not possible for me to visit the record offices to search for the necessary details of my family, so have to rely on accessing these details from sites like Genes reunited, or from Ancestry.

If there is a possible that I may be doing something wrong I would appreciated any input.

regards
Sheila
South Australia