An Alternative to FMP and Ancestry??

[Mbrady]

Hey what you guys think of this site?

https://familysearch.org/

Anyone knows how it compares to FMP, Ancestry etc.......?

mb

[Mbrady]

Hmmm sorry, I think this site is Find MY Past....but just looks different

[Elaine ..Spain]

Family Search is run by the Church of Latter Day Saints and contains worldwide records/resources and is free to use.
Ancestry and Findmypast are commercial enterprises and are subscription based.

There are so many different sites available nowadays and it's recommended that you look to see what they have to offer and see whether it fits your needs.
You may well end up using one or more subscription sites in conjunction with the many free sites currently available.

[luddy]

Hmmm sorry, I think this site is Find MY Past....but just looks different

It is the Family Search site run by the Mormons (Latter Day Saints). It is a great site although its not 100% accurate. On it my G.Grandfather is recorded as being married 3 times in the one day, one of them to the bridesmaid....what a day that must have been

[Anne in Carlisle]

Recent improvements have made the information on Familysearch.org much more reliable. The old "submitted" data is still there but not mixed with the proper transcriptions. I find transcriptions on Family search are as reliable (or not!!) as those on any other site. In case it helps the following are the sites I use most but remember even the vast amount of information on these sites is only a drop in the ocean compared to that which is available in the County Archive of the area your ancestors lived in.
Ancestry (paid for)
Find my past (paid for)
FreeBMD (free and excellent for the GRO index)
FreeReg (free parish register transcriptions - great if it covers what you need)
FamilySearch (free and you can try anywhere in the world - great if it covers what you need)

[clematised]

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list This is the full list of Collections that Familysearch has and you can narrow it down by selecting the area you want at the side or record type.
The date with an asterisk* is the latest updates and where there is a blue link browse images this means the actual registers have not been transcribed yet and are searchable on line by clicking the blue link.

https://familysearch.org/search/coll...nge=dateRange1 These are all the records for the UK so its better to shorten your search area by selecting the Country, followed by County if you know it and approx. date of birth to narrow it even further.

Edna

[Janet in Yorkshire]

And don't forget to look in our very own FTF reference library, which might just have a link to the very records you want.

Not just for parish register entries, but heaps of other sources to help you put flesh on the bones i.e info about where our ancestors lived, what their job was like etc etc.

Jay

[Janet]

Recent improvements have made the information on Familysearch.org much more reliable. The old "submitted" data is still there but not mixed with the proper transcriptions. I find transcriptions on Family search are as reliable (or not!!) as those on any other site. In case it helps the following are the sites I use most but remember even the vast amount of information on these sites is only a drop in the ocean compared to that which is available in the County Archive of the area your ancestors lived in.
Ancestry (paid for)
Find my past (paid for)
FreeBMD (free and excellent for the GRO index)
FreeReg (free parish register transcriptions - great if it covers what you need)
FamilySearch (free and you can try anywhere in the world - great if it covers what you need)

Very true! I also have subs for both Ancestry and FMP and use all the free sites, and many are very helpful, but all my real finds have been found at the at the Local County Record Offices!! Searching through Gamekeepers books, Tithe Maps, Poor Law Records, Land Records and many others are gems only as yet to be found in the CRO. There is something like 90% of records yet to be added to the digital scene!

Janet

[Christine in Herts]

I always make sure I have this one: http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/ - especially http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/local_bmd (make sure you scroll right down the list to pick up all the available sites).

Christine

[Durham Lady]

The great thing about FamilySearch is the amount of Bishop's Transcripts they have if like me you have family from the Durham, Northumberland or Cornwall areas. It's easy to download and print off copies of the original records.