Genealogy Chat

I have a colleague who is just starting out on this fascinating road of family research. I haven't be doing it all that long so I don't really feel qualified to give advice to a novice. What would people recommend as the best sites to join/pay for when you are just beginning the task? All suggestions gratefully recieved which I will pass on to him (I have told him that this one for people's helpfulness/knowledge is a must -as long as you remember to thank you lol!) KR Harriet

The one I couldn't have done without and still use now is www.ancestry(.)co(.)uk We have a subscription to findmypast as well, but don't use that as much... As for the freebies: Familysearch, IGI and FreeBMD are always handy

Hi, I agree ,if you have family in England or originating from England Ancestry is a must. Cheers Sue

Definately ancestry, I was with out mine for a couple of weeks but couldn't stand not having it and re subscribed

... and I noticed the other day that someon said there is one that has a properly searchable complete index to BMD around 1900 to 1920s? Or did I just dream that?

thats familyrelatives.org - pay to view, name and time frame searchable 1866-1920 - always try on freebmd first though. Ancestry is the most important site to have a sub to. And get a decent family tree program - NOT the GR site one.

Ivy - some of the BMDs go up to 1920 (FreeBMD). However, I entered a thread in the last couple of days: BMDs after 1900 - possible avenues If you go onto BMDs for individual counties (e.g. Cheshire, Staffordshire) some go up to quite recently. You can order the certificates through the local records offices. http://www(.)ukbmd(.)org(.)uk/ It's useful for people searching for recent family members.

Heather, many thanks, that's the one - and I think it may have been you who mentioned it - I should have nudged it at the time! Elizabeth, I tried googling earlier for Heather's site, and couldn't find it, but yes, I see what you mean about local county sites - Cambridgeshire offered a 20 year span search within the 1837-2004 parameters and came straight up with my g-g-gmother.

I have to agree that the best site is Ancestry. Tell your friend that if they are not sure, they can start off with just a months subscription. They also need a decent family tree programme. The Family Tree Maker is the one that is linked to Ancestry.

Many thanks to everybody who has given advice here. I'll print off and pass it on to him next week. I've also learnt of sites that I didn't know about so many thanks. KR Harriet

I didn't find the pay per view very helpful on what's now findmyfamily or whatever it's called. Ancestry on the other hand has been invaluable. Even when dealing with those entries not yet indexed you can still search image by image. I started off paying month by month but really should have gone for the year membership straight away as it's the cheapest option i think. I would say that you should always check freeBMD for as much as you can, it's not complete but it's adding all the time (I'm a transcriber for them) And some Local Records are online (eg Hartlepool areas BMD stuff is really good and offer a checking service before you buy the certs.)

Tell him you can get the family tree maker 'who do you think you are program' from TWR computing on line for only about £12 AND that gives a free months sub to ancestry.

Tribal Pages is excellent for actually entering your tree, you only need to register not join,the tree programme is really user friendly, plenty of space for all your information and your pictures, and really easy to change or delete info unlike the GR tree!!!!. Ive been slowly re-doing my tree on Tribal Pages for a while now and dont even add to my GR one anymore. Nicky