Ancestry.com

chaslib · Senior Member

Ancestry.com

Cowboy7307 · Senior Member

Is any one using this site and is it any good , my self i would want to use the Uk one ,just wanted to know if its as good and easy as thy say it is

Gerty Dancer · Guru

Yes Cowboy, I had a great success tracking down a specific Australian ancestor (possibly the "black sheep of the family" since she wasn't mentioned anywhere else) and I did it in the first 2 weeks which were free. Havent felt the need to continue any deeper though, and haven't looked at the UK lot.

Roving-Dutchy · Guru

If you have a local family history group, they more than likely use Ancestor .com and if you are a member of the group you get to use this without charge to do your research instead of paying a yearly fee.
Cheers
David

petengail · Guru

Our daughter used Ancestry.com to trace our large family. She only used the free 2 weeks. Our local library has a genealogy section and they have free access to the library edition of Ancestry.com. You could try your local library and see if you like it, or alternatively take them up on the offer of 2 weeks free. The daughter was very impressed with the results and managed to trace thousands of relatives.

Rip and Rosie · Guru

Cowboy7307 wrote:
Is any one using this site and is it any good , my self i would want to use the Uk one ,just wanted to know if its as good and easy as thy say it is

We use it Cowboy. Can do lookups for you if you want, and if we have any luck, you will see if you want to buy a subscription

spida · Guru

Be VERY careful please - so many people assume because it is on the internet it is true!!!!! There are some strange trees going around just because people get all excited to find a tree that sounds pretty good or about right, add it to their tree and the 'myth' gets perpetuated.
Advice from a serious geneologist was that if you dont have a birth, marriage, or death certificate to back up the 'facts' you have discovered then take them with a grain of salt please.

Many people publish their trees - because they can- and dont know that they need to check things properly and officially first.

Ancestry is expensive, - I use Roots Magic to make the tree and the Mormon site. https://familysearch.org/family-trees
An excellent source is the Mormon linbrary. Can get microfich of the actually documents sent to the nearest one also - eg Joondalup in Perth.

Shipping records are great also if you know what ship - or a date to AU or NZ.

Trove or Papers Past also - online newspapers.

National Acrchives

Have fun - a VERY time consuming activity but a lot of fun - especially when you start digging up the 'dirt' wink

gypsy rover · Senior Member

I have been using Ancestry.com for the past 8 years and have found it invaluable in tracking my English ancestors. They are constantly updating the site so there is always something new to check out. You can order birth, death or marriage certificates through the site, but this can work out very expensive if you need quite a few. I get most of my information from the Census Records which date back to 1837, the most recent one being 1911. The Australian one isn't quite so easy as you have to research through the electoral rolls and they are not as comprehensive as the English Census Forms. I would suggest, if you are going to join, start at the basic level which is the cheapest way to access the information. That will get you into the Census Records where you find the most accurate information, bearing in mind that those forms were filled in by a third party and some mistakes are made. However, on the whole I have find the info fairly accurate. You can always update to a higher level if you find you need access to more information. You can also check your info against other people's trees if you are unsure of something. I have found over the years that there are lots of people on the site with the same rellies as me. I have traced my tree back to the early 1700's so far and still going.

Good luck it is a fascinating hobby and can become somewhat addictive.

Chris

neilnruth · Guru

My husband has been using family search and would agree with spida - lots of mistakes in entries made because they are made by people who don't check. He is frustrated at the moment because the desktop won't accept the version of Explorer that it has so he can't get into the site. I'm then frustrated because he wants to use the laptop to search! My other frustration is that he doesn't put it onto computer. It's all handwritten and in many many folders.

cannylass · Senior Member

My daughter bought me family tree maker 16 and it does give you so many searches for free it comes with the program, and it owed by Ancestry com. All was fine until i went to look at my tree and was shocked to see names that were double up I'M sure I was careful entering detail.Any way i went to unstall it ,and start again being the quickest way to fix the problem Now i am unable to use it as I keep getting a message we have done all what was suggested in the sent to me email and still we are getting the error message critical components missing we are using window 7 makes me wonder how was it I installed it the first time with 7 so at times its very confusing.

RosieW · Guru

I did the same - got the information in the first 2 weeks and then bailed.

Helena · Guru

I have used ancestry and found that once I got past the census records it was difficult to get any more info I have been tracing the family tree for about 40 years now have managed to get back into the 1200 on one line on another managed to get back to royalty so of course it just opened everything up for me but I guess I have just been lucky. It is a vey interesting hobby and you can get caught up in it I have got heaps of certs to substantiate the info that I have got but it is very expensive to go this way. All my search was into England Good luck with your research. Helena.

Rip and Rosie · Guru

spida wrote:
Be VERY careful please - so many people assume because it is on the internet it is true!!!!! There are some strange trees going around just because people get all excited to find a tree that sounds pretty good or about right, add it to their tree and the 'myth' gets perpetuated.
Advice from a serious geneologist was that if you dont have a birth, marriage, or death certificate to back up the 'facts' you have discovered then take them with a grain of salt please.
.......................................................

Absolutely agree 100%!

Like all other sites Ancestry has to be used carefully, as contributed information is full of errors- which is why you should NEVER copy other people's work. Sites which let you post your tree - like ancestry and rootsweb- encourage people to copy other people's mistakes without checking primary documents. Even the Mormon site is full of errors.

However, if you are careful with your work, and always post the sources for information, never copying unchecked/unsourced work from others, Ancestry is a good resource, (imho).

Be very careful of the "megalomaniacs" with thousands in their tree- bet you my last $ that they are not well researched and full of copied mistakes.

villatranquilla · Guru

I also use 'genesreunited' another good site

Poppy sore eye · Senior Member

We use it often, a good but very addictive and time consuming hobby, great resource if used properly

Grams · Guru

I wish we could trace our family tree...my grandfather was found, at the age of about 2, wondering around a paddock in farming land in the UK. He was found by a farmer luckily, and taken to the local Police station, where after extensive searching, his parents were never found. He was adopted and raised by the policeman and his wife. So my grandfather has a name that is not his birth one, so no chance of ever finding out who he really was...

Our family mystery, that can never be solved.

chaslib · Senior Member

You may find if using Ancestry, when you decide to call it quits and have it all downloaded to your PC and start the reviewing process, it will be the most frustrating time as you will need to individually check all the people in the tree to make sure they are correct and there is no conflicting info in it, ie census docs that shows the wrong person or family members, this generally means the research may be wrong and you need to track back to where it happened and start again from that point. One of the most frustrating things that happen is attaching duplicated docs to your tree because you need to correct that before deciding to print the tree and that could mean back to the start. I have mine in draft form and have come across many simple errors which are easily fixed, but I have also had to restart a couple of times. I had a professional genealogist also look at it and he identified several errors ... The cost was worth it, especially if you intend having it printed. And if you are serious, i strongly recommend a professional and reputable one To authenticate your work. my research was to replace a tree that had been passed down the family for several generations but disappeared About 20 years ago With death of the custodian of the tree. I loved looking at it as a child and always remembered some of the names on it from hundreds of years back, but not those of more recent times As i considered them boring ordinary people! Once I found some of those names cropping up in my research, I knew I was on the right track.

one final warning, even though it may appear having historical figures in your tree will make tracing your family easier, that is not necessarily true - as you start researching nobility, you come to the conclusion that you just never know "who begat who, by whom!". instead of behaving a king or queen as your ancestor, it may be the groom or the chambermaid!!

regardless of the number of generations you want to trace, it is interesting and you never know where it will lead. Keeps the brain well exercised and is that not what we all want to do?

-- Edited by chaslib on Wednesday 5th of June 2013 07:57:13 AM

biggles · Senior Member

Hi Folks ..

My family has been tracked back to a Prussian heritage .. (Poven Province)..

But .. what I'd like to mention is to also be very wary about Books stating to be the family tree of certain name/names.

While my dear Mother was heavily involved with our own "book", in the years since we have been approached to buy a book of our own family tree.

Yes .. they are books that have been put together with few genuine facts and are a scam !! .. They are also being assembled and bound in a professional manner in OZ, so this scam is on our own doorstep !

If you do see a "book" that you feel may be just what you are looking for, it would be a great idea to get a second opinion from another "family" member who also follows your keen interest .. but treat its validity as "unsure" til you're satisfied its a genuine effort made on the Tree .. Even the real thing can still have small factual and typo errors ..

Questions about the books compilation should be asked .. you prepare the questions .. then you can best assess the response ..

Jon

chrisnchris · Senior Member

Hi Cowboy I too have been using Ancestry for many years and find it invaluable .
As the other posts said you must be careful when taking info from other trees
The convict records are great ( got a lot of use with our family)
it is so easy to go down the wrong track without BDM Certs so always do
the research
Cheers

kandagal · Guru

I have use the family history section of Mormon churches. (I do not belong to that religion). I found them very helpful though & the only charge I ever had to pay was $1/day to access St. Catherines records in London. So you could try the nearest church.

Cowboy7307 · Senior Member

Many thanks for all the info

Wayne Dwop · Veteran Member

spida wrote:

.....Advice from a serious geneologist was that if you dont have a birth, marriage, or death certificate to back up the 'facts' you have discovered then take them with a grain of salt please......

Have fun - a VERY time consuming activity but a lot of fun - especially when you start digging up the 'dirt'

A Death Certificate is the most unreliable document for information as the details are given by someone other than the deceased. I had one where the mother's maiden name was written as "Ratcliff OR Jones". I later found her name to be Ratcliffe, so always search with Soundex for similarly spelled names.

chaslib · Senior Member

Definitely agree with comments re death certificates ..... I had one and it listed the mother with a different maiden name to what was on her birth and marriage certificates.

To this day I have no idea what the right name was and no way of tracking it down - could have been a transcription error or just simple ignorance of facts by the family member providing the details. I was glad the branch was not the main branch that I was researching.

Rip and Rosie · Guru

Ancestry has free access this long weekend- worth a look if you are thinking of paying money for it.