What has happened to the birth index?

[Lensgirl]

Hi

now they have put up all the births, where is the searchable index? Im having to go through selecting the year, then the letter of the alphabet then searching through all the pages. Its taking absolute yonks, i thought having to look at one or two pages per quarter was tough but this is a nightmare. have they taken this facility away now?

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

Do you mean the 1916-2005 births on Ancestry?

If I can't find what I want transcribed, I just request the surname for a given year and view the pages for that surname, but I'm guessing that's not what you mean?

[Lensgirl]

thanks Merry, feel a bit thick now!!

[TrevorFranklin]

What I have noticed lately is that on FreeBMD there have suddenly been a lot of records that have disappeared.

Every update I enter any new records into my spreadsheet that I use to filter information, I have been back checking some and they now no longer appear when i do the search.
Weird!

[Claire EDe]

I emailed Ancestry a couple of days ago about the complete births index page from 1837 as it seemed to disappear. I've not had a reply yet. I don't want to use the Partial FreeBMD as I've used that in the past and I need to make sure how many other people were born with the same name in the span of a couple of years.
I'm not sure if the advertising box that appears on the Australian version of the page in the births section is covering up where the hyperlink should be for me to click on the complete births index.
Thought it was just me having a mad moment that I could not find it, but I've been repeatedly looking over the last couple of days and it has not re-appeared yet that I can see.
Is there another way I can get to the complete births index, even by surname letter and name & I'll just work through the surnames till I hit the right page?

Thanks
Claire

[Claire EDe]

I have just worked out a way to get to the index even though the old way to find it does not appear now on the England BMD index page.

I had a look at the 1916-2005 birth index, which did not cover the periods that I wanted around 1868 and 1843, BUT at the bottom of the page where is says
'If searching for births before 1916, please click here'

That then took me to what I wanted! An index where I could search for births from 1837, like we used to be able to! Why they had to change it I don't know! Hopefully they will take note of my email and realise they have made it harder for people to use and put the 1837 births searching page link back where it appears obvious it should be!

Claire

[Elaine ..Spain]

Is there another way I can get to the complete births index, even by surname letter and name & I'll just work through the surnames till I hit the right page?

Thanks
Claire

For births 1916- 1983

http://content.ancestry.co.uk/iexec/?htx=List&dbid=8782&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0

scroll down page, click on year and select first letter of name.

For births 1837 - 1915
England & Wales Birth Marriage and Death Indexes 1837-2005 - Ancestry.co.uk
Go to the Partial FreeBMD Indexes & Images 1837-1983 section, click on the Births - scroll down page, click on year and select first letter of name.

[Claire EDe]

Thanks Elaine! It was winding me up not being able to use it in the last couple of days!

claire

[Claire EDe]

Just noticed thought it is still only the Partial FreeBMD indexes 1837 onwards if you click the link

'If searching for births before 1916, please click here' after the blank search fields on the 1916-2005 births searching page.

It is still not what I wanted of the complete range of birth indexes not the partially transcribed FreeBMD images.

Where have the complete Births from 1837 onwards gone? I've not been able to do research properly for a year or so due to family illness, but I'm sure I used to be able to use it!

[Elaine ..Spain]

The images are still there you just have to search in a different way.
Go to the Partial BMD index - ignore the search boxes - scroll down the page until you come to the list of years.
You need to open each year, select the first letter of the name and scroll through the pages until you come to the right one.

[Claire EDe]

I'll try that then Elaine! Why do they have to hide how we search for things! It should be more user friendly to use!

Thanks for all your tips!
claire

[Claire EDe]

Bingo! I can see how to get there now. I'd not fully scrolled down the page to see the list of years at the bottom of the partial FreeBMD search screen prior to 1916.

Thanks
Claire