Ancestry or FMP ?

[Patti]

I know its probably been asked before but still like an update, my sub finishes soon for Ancestry,is FMP a better site or does it have less, what do you think, I have done a lot of research now into my trees so its not like I will be starting out and have gathered lots.

[KiteRunner]

Patti, it partly depends where your ancestors and rellies lived - if they were all from England and Wales then FMP has most of what you will need, though I don't think all its censuses are complete yet, but if you have some from Scotland or other countries (as well as England and Wales) then ancestry is more likely to have the info. If you have London ancestors then ancestry has lots of London stuff coming up in the next couple of years. On the other hand, FMP is going to offer a sub that includes the 1911 census later this year, which will be offered at a discount to existing subscribers, but they haven't released the details of actual price and amount of discount yet.
You could always buy a few credits on FMP to try it out and see what you think before commiting to a full sub if you're considering it but not sure.

[Glen in Tinsel Knickers]

Which to use depends on what records you might need. One site might be more suitable than the other but it isn't a case of saying one is actually better or worse.

Ancestry have more available but there are things on FMP that Ancestry don't have and vice versa. There is a difference between the census available on the two sites, overseas bmd, passenger lists etc, each site has a strength and a weakness.

You really need to look at what you might need in the future based on what you already know and then compare the contents of the two side by side.

FMP have different packages and they also offer a loyalty scheme (they won't whack a large increase on the sub for loyal customers). The top package can be either a 6 month or 12 month deal.
Ancestry don't seem to be able to decide quite what you can or can't see with the different packages at the moment.

[Patti]

Ok then thanks, yes Ancestry do seem to be mucking about abit now, thats whats putting me off renewing,as for where I will be looking, I have not yet found anyone thats gone abroad,us country bumpkins did not do that !! ha ha, as far as I know,so as you say I think I might have a short sub with FMP and see how that goes first,I dont seem to look so much at the family history in the summer months so could be a good time to change.

[LeicestershireLass]

I'm having a last minute blitz on Ancestry today as my subs runs out tomorrow ... although I have bought credits for 1911 via FMP

... I'll watch this thread with interest before I decide who to go with .... so grateful for FTF members' recommendations

[Glen in Tinsel Knickers]

There are three questions you need to ask yourself

1. What records do i need?
2. Where can i find alternative access to them away from FMP and Ancestry?
3. Will i search from home or a public pc.

The primary records such as census and bmd are slowly becoming available for free on sites like freecen and freebmd. The census will take a few years to become really useful but the bmd records for pre 1920 (via freebmd) largely make a basic subscription redundant. Freereg is rapidly becoming useful for parish records too and has records that don't always appear on the igi and other sites.


If you are able to access Ancestry via a local library then again it might make an ancestry sub a bit of a luxury you can do without. It does mean you won't have access all the time (just during library opening hours) but you may find that with a bit of planning you could have access to Ancestry at the library and subscribe to FMP at home.

[LeicestershireLass]

Thanks very much for that info Glen .... I'll check out my local library next time I'm in the area ... only expense would be printouts, from past experience I think it's 10p per page

.... although, I suppose if I do find anything at the library I could email the image to myself

... however, I have to admit I like the luxury of being able to dip in and out of Ancestry when I have time to .... so maybe subs still under consideration !

[Icenianchild]

I dithered about for ages over which site to sub to.

I have access to Ancestry at the library but the time runs out very quickly, or so it seems! Also I found that I was limited to how many images I could email to myself (don't know how many it was, not very many at all) and I now get a message that I have exceeded my limit.

Anyway as I have that free access I decided to take advantage of a discount offer and joined FMP.

The things I like on FMP are:

The outgoing passenger lists are excellent, well have been for me
Its quicker to trawl for BMD
I think some of the census transcriptions are more accurate
The bapt, marriage and burial records have been useful in several cases

What I don't like - I do find it a nuisance not having the complete 1851 and 1901 census.
I find that printing images from the site gives me a lot of poor copies.
Whilst I have no idea how many credits I am using I don't like the thought that there is a limit (albeit a big limit) even with a subscription - I look at a lot of images just in case I see a clue and possibly use quite a lot of credits up.

However, as mentioned, there is the 1911 factor to bear in mind.

You have been using Ancestry so know what that has to offer.

I do find Anc easier to use I think but it remains a difficult choice!

Ice

[Janet]

I have a sub for FMP and would agree with everything said so far about both Ancestry and FMP. I will add that Ancestry do offer good images on the records of First World War Soldiers. This is not accessible on FMP, and I have made a lot of use of this facility in the past, but yes you can access Ancestry through your local library, though the copies I have had from my library have not been the best of quality. I have also tried to send images from the library to my computer. It seemed to send it OK but I was unable to open the image on my return home, so I was not pleased with that!

It really does depend on what you want from Ancestry. If you want the LMA or First W War records then maybe you need to consider Ancestry but if not then FMP will have all census accessible by the end of the year and have many UK Parish Registers now available from the Federation of Family History Societies Site and this coupled with Free Reg is looking very promising for UK Parish Registers, excluding Scotland,which you have to access through Scotlands People anyway. The Irish information on Ancestry is almost a waste of space.

Janet