Searching FreeREG

[maudarby]

Hi
I have just come across a strange thing while searching on FreeREG and may explain why you can't find some people that you are looking for.
This is just one example of several that I found today.

Mary Tex Riches COMAN was baptised and buried at Coltishall Norfolk in 1836. If you knew that her christian names were Mary Tex Riches and you put these in the forename box then you will find both entries but If you just put in Mary or Tex or Riches then it returns 0 results.

Can anyone explain why this is?
Moggie

[KiteRunner]

I think it is just because they haven't finished programming the search facility so it is very basic - they're concentrating on building up the database at the moment.

[Kirkdawson]

Hi
I have just come across a strange thing while searching on FreeREG and may explain why you can't find some people that you are looking for.
This is just one example of several that I found today.

Mary Tex Riches COMAN was baptised and buried at Coltishall Norfolk in 1836. If you knew that her christian names were Mary Tex Riches and you put these in the forename box then you will find both entries but If you just put in Mary or Tex or Riches then it returns 0 results.

Can anyone explain why this is?
Moggie

Moggie

Please review the tips on searching FreeREG. Its at FreeREG - FAQ - Tips for searches

The search engine does a literal search of the input from the transcriber and as there is only one forename field it has to do a complete match. Its one of the reasons we recomend care when entering a forename into the search.

For example, entering William would reject all entries with Wm Wm. Will Will. Wlm etc etc. Only entries with William would be retreived.

Kirk Dawson
FreeREG

[Christine in Herts]

Welcome, Kirk!

Your input is likely to be very useful, I can see!

Christine

[Tilly Mint]

Hello and Welcome Kirk,

Thankyou for you imput - i have learned something new today !!

[maudarby]

Hi Kirk
Thank you for explaining how the FreeReg database re forenames "works". I am sure that for myself and and other people searching it may explain why we can't find some people that we are looking for. To search on surname only if you have a very common surname may result in lots of results but if you find that one elusive ancestor it is well worth it.
Moggie

[Janet in Yorkshire]

But you can restrict a surname search by using the date facility or by adding a parish.
I think it's a fantastic resource, and the Norfolk coverage is brilliant.

[KiteRunner]

Yes, once I've done an initial search using forename and surname I would always look for just the surname restricting the search by place and date.

[Jeanie with one n.]

Does Free Reg have info that is not on ancestry?

[KiteRunner]

Yes, very much so, Jeanie. Ancestry does have some parish register transcriptions but FreeREG has lots that aren't covered by ancestry, plus of course, transcriptions of the same entry can vary as they are often difficult to read, so it's good if you can look at several transcriptions of the same entry if you don't have access to the actual PR's / BT's. So just have a look and see what they have! It's free, after all!

[Janet]

I have to say that Free Reg is particularly good for Northants Ancestors. I have found good coverage on there, so it will depend on where you are researching. Not so good on Huntingdon, Rutland, Beds at present but I suppose that is when and where we should consider offering our help when we find a place not yet transcribed or sparsely transcribed! I think it will be a long time before Ancestors will be good for the UK Parish Registers unless they filch the Free Reg and then get everybody to pay! I am all for looking to free Reg which is free and very accurate from what I have seen. I have never found any of my ancestors on Ancestry which is very poor in comparison.

Janet

[KiteRunner]

Janet, there is no chance of ancestry "filching FreeREG and then getting everybody to pay". I suppose it is possible they might agree an arrangement with FreeREG similar to the FreeBMD one where a copy of the database is sent to ancestry and ancestry provide free searching facilities for it (and take pressure off the server for the main site), but I can't see that that would be a bad thing.

The parish registers which are currently on ancestry are mostly pretty accurate because they are taken from transcriptions, indexes etc which were originally done by local historians and the like. It just depends whether they have the ones for the parishes where your ancestors came from, really, plus ironically enough the search facilities they have for the "parish and probate" section are not very good so you may have to spend a while trying different searches or looking through a lot of results to find the ones you want. But I have certainly found some good stuff on there for my family tree.

Some counties are indeed much better represented on FreeREG than others. As far as I know, some counties don't have an active coordinator at the moment, so it is difficult to offer your help if your county is one of those.

[Jeanie with one n.]

Thanks for the info.
Youngest grandchild has just been picked up so I am now free to look.
I had forgotten that free reg and free BMD were different.
This is a good reminder.

[WendyPusey]

Some counties are indeed much better represented on FreeREG than others. As far as I know, some counties don't have an active coordinator at the moment, so it is difficult to offer your help if your county is one of those.

Yes Kate, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is one of them. :(

I offered to transcribe these Parishes but didn't get a message back for ages. The they told me there was no co-ordinator. Such a shame, as the coverage of some Parishes, like Norfolk, are great.

[maggie_4_7]

Maybe then the answer is they want co-ordinators as much or even more than transcribers at the moment!

Oh and btw who is Kirk Dawson? Maybe he'll have the answers to some of our concerns! He has joined the FTF afterall maybe he'd like to expand his contribution here.

Actually reading Kirk Dawson's post did help me a bit in my searches last night. I even transcribe for FreeREG and still hadn't got to grips with the search business. Its obviously very basic unfortunately but hey ho its free what can we say.

[keb]

Kirk Dawson -- to you and everybody involved with FreeREG, my undying gratitude!

I haven't yet figured out who the heck my grx2 grfather's mother (i.e. my grx3 grmother) was (although I have just found his father kicking around Scotland circa 1840 ... I have no idea how or why ...) -- but I recently found my grx4 grandparents' marriage at FreeREG! Someone else must have a special interest in little Mere, Wiltshire, for it to have got such early attention.

Yup, after figuring out that my grx4 grandparents had to be the couple expelled from Dorset back to Mere in 1791 under the Poor Law a year or two before my grx3 grfather was born there (huge gratitude to familyhistoryonline and the county family history societies that make their databases available on line there), I was sent a copy of the record of their son's baptism in Mere, from the Wiltshire FHS.

And then found the parents' marriage at FreeREG ...

... and learned, after all this time trying to filter "Barnard Castle" out of search results everywhere I went looking for Barnards ... that my grx4 grandparents were ...

... Benjamin Barnard and Mary Castle. Argh.

Anyhow. Just a tale of success with FreeREG, and much well wishing with the project. I can't really commit time to it myself at the moment, but I will keep it in mind should I get a window. Thank you!

[maggie_4_7]

Thats the beauty of offering to help to transcribe if you've got the time and patience. You can ask to transcribe a certain county/baptism/marriage etc etc. You might find something in the process but whatever it means that there's more online available to everyone.

So yes those already transcribed means someone had an interest and would rather get on and do it themselves. I have been doing Norfolk but I'm going to go on to Northamptonshire soon

I did offer to do some London ones but apparently they aren't readily available. The LMA keep them under wraps and the only ones available are those that the local parishes can make available which are few and far between.

Some people have time some people don't but we have a common goal that's family history.

[KiteRunner]

The London ones are going to be on ancestry next year anyway, Maggie.

[maggie_4_7]

The London ones are going to be on ancestry next year anyway, Maggie.

Good

Because I spend a lot of time at the LMA and even though its just up the road from me I'd rather be sitting at my computer with a glass of wine in hand and be able to shout 'YEAH I found them/her/him oh yes' in the comfort of my own home and the rest of the family goes doooooooh its just more dead people. ;)

And then one day have a nice day out to the church to find the real bits to confirm it and take a photo or two...