General Chat

Karen, since the seventies (i think) the exact date of birth of a person can be found on the GRO Index of a death for that person. Maybe they're using that aswell as a few other things. Jane

Hi Lynda if you go onto search records put in a name then a list comes up of what records are available they are on there jan

Lynda They go to 2002 jan

Hi all, Just to add to all the others, I have just found my Grans details on this site too. It came as quite a shock but after thinking about it I dont know why. She died in 1996 and as everyone has said, the info is available. It just felt a little bit weird seeing it in black and white like that from an unknown source. I am keeping an open mind for the moment. Allie.

You only need permission to add a LIVING person's details. You don't need to do so with death details. This information is free on 1837online. I see no difference. Crista

I was under the impression that the BMD data was protected under copyright by ONS and people like 1837online had paid rights to publish info online. I thought you could obtain such info for personal studies and make quotations from it, but were not allowed to publish such info without permission from ONS. Maybe if you contacted ONS someone may investigate further.

Hi everyone, Just had a message back from Fred. Its much too long to post on here but here is the gist of it. "It is'nt our policy to disclose the names of our contributers. We have asked where the data came from and the answer given was "the public library". The UK Government publishes indexes of death certificates each year. These indexes are are available at most major public libraries for free perusal by anyone. Armed with such information, anyone can order a certificate from the government ( and have to pay for a processing fee). It is against the index that we checked our contributor's uploaded data. We suspect that our contributer scanned the public index into a computer. Our new website (which you have already visited) is not ready yet to accept data input from the public. This is a major headache for us, as the programmers are now 3 months overdue. The old site was very dull and slow, but at least the public could add data! However, we have spent too much money on the new site already to abandon it now(without asking cotributors from the public users to offset this expense). As soon as the new site is ready, we will email everyone their usernames and passwords." They say that they have done spotchecks on the data against the indexes and found it to be 98% accurate. Now that i know the source of this data I feel a bit better about it being on the web like this. I think it was just the shock of seeing my mum dad's and sister's names in brilliant technicoulor like that , that has upset me the most. After all i have seen thier entries in the death indexes and i did'nt have a reaction like that. I think I will give Fred and his site a chance, you never know we could all make good use of it when it is up and runnin properly. What does everybody think? Jane

Could be useful,I agree we will have to wait and see. Sue from Perth WA

Hi all My goodness, what a can of worms I opened with my original post! Thanks Jane for giving us the gist of Fred's e-mail to you. I agree with you, it was the shock of seeing my Mum's details in 'glorious technicolour' that spooked me. When we look for long-dead relatives on Free BMD , I.G.I. or Ancestry it doesn't usually have the same impact as finding, say, your parents or grandparents details. Now I've had time to think about it, I agree it will be a useful site for us all when it's up and running properly. Thanks for all your feedback, Sue

Hi all. I got a reply from Fred this morning, here goes:- We are sad to learn of your objection, and will remove your stepmothers details from our site. May we suggest then also that you petition the uk government, to stop publishing your stepmothers death on the official public register which is, of course, freely avaliabe to all & sundry, at any major public library? Regards Fred Truter. ________________________________________________ I replied & said (amongst other things) That I did not have a problem with my stepmums death being availiable in librarys, as most people searching are using the information for their own personal use, not, I may add, to copy all the information they can, to make public on their website ! ---------------------------------------------------------- Dont get me wrong, I too think the site may be usefull, but putting in recent deaths is not only upsetting people, but the information is not always correct. --------------------------------------------------------- Maybe it would be more sensitive to put in deaths prior to say, 1960 or 70 ? The rest could be found by the individial on 1837 online. I have asked Fred to post a comment on genesconnected boards, Will he or wont he ? Elaine (sorry for talking too much !)

This is a load of rubbish,, I cant even get onto it, It asks me to register and then wont let me on,

I tried to get into this website last night, and couldn't find out how to browse through it at all. All I could get to was first a picture of a girl with what looked like a bush on her head, and then 2 men on a tractor. Gave up after a while! Strange web site!!!

Di,,,you really made me laugh....cheered me up no end,,,thanks mate,!!

Hi All I also had a reply from Fred saying sorry that i am upset re details being on the site, roughly the same as I have just read and he will take the details off if I wish---can't type it all out as have been at records office all day and my little brain is shot! He asked why was I looking for my brother's details on this site anyway and why it was a shock??? I agree that maybe only earlier deaths should be put on! Regads Ann

ive been trying to get on this site ,just to be nosey,for 2 days now.all i get is a page advertising e.bay,lending tree and a load of other rubbish!wat am i not doing rite susie

hi susie on page 2 margaret left instructions Jan :)

Ann, When will they take the details off the site? I have found my Nana on there and did not appreciate it, if they had her name right it would have been something! Kim

Message for Janet Stevens Hi Janet Thanks for the message about your discoveries on ancestry. That's what I thought! When I took a look at ancestry after Dawn's reply, I checked your uncle's full name, and his nickname, and found entries for both. I also checked some other family names, and I'm reasonably sure that the entries on both sites came from the same source. The only difference is that you pay for this info on ancestry but not on webfamily ........!! Regards Janet

Hi again Janet many many thanks for taking the time and checking for me... I am just so baffled as to why there are two entries... Jan :)

Beats me, Janet! Can't answer that one ......... no idea ......... Very strange ...... Janet