Genealogy Chat

I have been working on my tree for a few days now, have got from present day back to very early 1800. Not 100% it's all correct but best I can do at this moment in time. I keep coming across these sites that ask for credits, if I was to get some from a library what information would that grant me access to. Would I for instance be able to see full birth certs, or marriage....what extra info would I get using credits, also what is the best place to use them at, is there a BEST site?

What site/sites have you used so far to get back to 1800?

familysearch.org and ancestry.com, I kind of flew thru the 1800's because of the free census, but getting to the 1700's and 1900's is more tricky, keeps asking for payment or credits

I wasn´t aware of any free census on Ancestry?

Hi The credits system you refer to allows you access to various records,most of which you can access for free somewhere on the internet. For instance Birth Marriage and Death index are available for free on the ancestry website. You can't download the actual certificates from any site,you would have to buy any certificates that you feel you need to get. The census records are usually chargeable,either by a pay per view basis or by taking out a subscription to Ancestry. The only way you can view census details otherwise are via the IGI website (for 1881 only and IF oyur rellies have been entered) and some local counties have information available. If you are researching Scottish ancestors you are best using Scotlands People,again pay per view but not very expensive,and you can view/download images of the registers which are very informative. If you need any help just shout on here and someone will be able to help/advise you. Glen

Slightly concerned about your comment that you are not sure it is all 100% correct. Presume you are just starting your research - a little bit of advice - you must make sure it is correct, otherwise you could end up spending time and money researching the wrong ancestors.

You will, at some time (assuming you haven't already, of course) need to buy some certificates to make sure you're not barking up the wrong tree. It's very easy to follow plausible lines and then find you've wasted time (and possibly money) on the wrong people. For example, I was doing a tree, recently, for some friends as a surprise prezzy to celebrate their New Arrival. I thought it would be intrusive to go buying their family's certs without reference to them. In the case of one bit of the family, I trawled the GRO index for children with the right surname (pretty unusual, though locally quite a lot) and with the right mother's maiden name (fairly common). I ended up with a plausible set of names (with gaps enough not to have killed off the mother!). It was only because I found the father's cousin-in-law on GR, who kindly helped me along a lot, that I found out that two of my set of names actually belonged to another couple altogether. Christine PS - took so long putting this together that others have already raised this concern, but the illustration should be helpful?

Have you seen any census images, or simply looked at the indexes (which are all free to view)? To confirm a family as yours, you really need to see the actual census images and buy some relevant certificates.

you really cant be 100% sure without obtaining certificates from the GRO. I thought I had the right info, and then when the certificate arrived I had the wrong family altogether. I would highly recommend a membership of Ancestry it is expensive at £69.00 but you can search the complete records without having to spend any extra money on tokens etc. when you have found your relative make a note of the vol no and page no and then you can apply for certifcate from the GRO. a birth certificate will tell you the fathers name and the mothers maiden name and a marriage certificate will tell you both the grooms and brides fathers name. The site you need for this is www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content. Let me know if you need further help karen

im 99% sure, just waiting on confirmation on 1 set of certs. so what use are these credits, can i actually use them to confirm anything at all?

Which site or sites are you using? Certificates are the only way of confirming anything with any certainty,you might find 3xWilliam Smith births in one area in the same year,but without the birth certs you wouldn't know which one belonged to which family. Glen

You can only use the credit to find information on who you think is a relative, the only way to be 100% is to cross check with both birth and marriage certs

i am using 1881 census on ancestry, familysearch.org, and rootsweb a bit

You can access the bmd records for free on ancestry,there are two databases,one partially complete and good for pre 1900,and the complete 1837/2003 list is the other one. But you will only get the ref numbers,it wouldn't tell you who the parents of a married couple are for instance,or the parents for a birth ref,for that you do need the certificates. Glen

If you put 'tips for newbies' in the thread search on the tips board main screen,there is a thread that will tell you how to find out info,and there is a getting started guide on the GR homepage. Glen

Thanks alot!!

nudged the tips for newbies thread. Glen

Ah.... that's having been in KimKat's party thread.... :-)