General Chat

Thanks Jill...it has been mentioned...will take alook.
Though there is something to say about help.
I found out I was looking in totally the wrong place..and without the help..probably still be looking in the wrong place..lol.
So I am greatful for the help.
Yes..i'd like to do some myelf...but I suck at it...lol :)
So...

Paul

Can I just add to this.

It's possible to search FreeBMD using images. Its a little slower than using Ancestry but it is totally, completely and utterly free. All it takes is time. You don't need other people to do lookups for your BMDs - you can do them all yourself - on line.

Try it.

Jill

Cheers Folks..thanks muchness.
for your input.
My original quest was to find out who were my grandparents on my fathers side.
But..without knowing if any one was possibly still alive..it's tricky to decide what info to put out.
Not knowing is a big problem.
I have since ..with help here.. which is great.. now have a good idea who my grandparents were or are on my fathers side. Plus I found an uncle who I never knew excisted..and the name of an Aunt..whom i was lead to believe moved to Australia..
I the original idea was to find out if I have any Scottish blood in my veins on my father side..as that where the true line of the family lies?
So finding out who my fathers parents were was the 1st place to look.
On my mother side there could be possible American and German lines...its all very interesting..but expensive..lol.
Being new to this..and not knowing what to look for or where to start was and is...going over my head,..lol

Paul,look on Tips board as I have nudged A-Z of best web sites.

Paul,
I feel so sorry for you in not knowing much about your family,but to get you started on this,why don't you enlist the help of someone on the Records office board?Give them what little you know,and see if they can put you on the right lines towards finding more info.
We were all new to this once,and to get help there are a lot on the boards who take great pleasure in helping.You only have to look at the Success board to read about those who have broken through their personal brick walls.I must admit that patience is necessary,but each little bit that you find is so exciting and encourages you to carry on to more.
There is so much on line that is free.
Familysearch.org for one.There is a thread of web sites I will try and find and give a nudge for you.

I guess im not looking in the right places..LOL.
Typical me. :)

Im still not sure what you mean.......exactly what records would you like to see free online?

Census information?

the 1881 IS free online...and most libraries and record offices have free access to ancestry....

BMD's...?

They are free online already....

It is already all there free, but perhaps not from your own actual computer room.

Whan you say access to files free...what files are you referring to?

You can request specific documents from any records office to be copied - most of them have online catalogues of their holdings now. Searchable free!

A2A - free!

National archives - free searches, lots of free documents and very cheap instant downloads...

lol

Yes Eldrick..I guess thats what I mean..I think..lol..
even im not sure now.
Put the information online for free...
I dont mind paying for a copy of original documents..say for personal reasons etc. But should we not have access to the general files free?
Yes...you could go to the offices and look..but..like me..some of us now live hundreds of miles from the offices which may have the documents im interested in. So.."poping in" is out of the question.
It's meant to be a modern world..surely putting it all online is a natural course to take?
If its free to look at in the offices...why not online? Why should I pay because I live futher away?

I guess ( I guess alot...LOL :) ) that everyone has opinion on this...and not everyone agrees. But isnt that what makes life interesting?...or just more frustrating?

Bit difficult when the flamin records office
is 10000 miles away! lol

Well Brenda....I guess Im a little impataint :).
Aren't we all at times.?
I pretty new to this..my arthritis has made me more iritable..and frustarted.
I guess it's becuase I know very little about my family past. Again..like most....BUT I really don't or didn't. I couldn't even remember my parents birthdays..didnt even know when or where they were born. Didn't even know the real names of their brothers or sisters..just guested..and now knowing..how many!..1 I didn't even know exsited.

So finding anything was great!...got excited..such an eye opener.

Its still appears my famliy still doesn't want to have contact. Since my father died...the family seemed ,.or has ..dis-owned me and whats left of my part or the famly.
But this is more for me than them..to know of my past..so I'll have to do it without their help.

Yeah, it is a hobby. What else can it be?

lol - I don't get your point at all...the information is available - you can go to a records office or library and find it free....are you saying the government should put it onto the internet for free?

Because most of the vital records are free somewhere or another....or do you mean modern day records?

Oh I don't mine paying for anything I want or need... but after paying for all the searching I did on Ancestry.... I lost all that I had kept because I left them in their file.
I should have put it all in my files instead.
Ah well something to remember for the future.
Deanna X

Not sure on that one Eldrick.
Surley this kind of information is stored for a reason by the goverment. It contains your life..so to speak.
We are all tax payers...and we are all in the files. So it's not like individuals are paying for my information to be stored...we are all paying for everyones.
If that makes sence..This information would be collected by the goverment whether folks were interested in it or not. Its how they keep an eye on the population..trends in births..and ways of living.

So it's not costing them anything more than what they would be doing anyway.
I expect your not understanding my point..most don't.
So this kind of information has a lot more relevancy to folks than just a hobby...So is it really a hobby?
I guess you make your own mind up on that.

I mean..Im sure the Hier Hunters on tv aint finding these hiers..just for a hobby...LOL.

I haven't spent as much as have a lot of people on here as I have found quite a lot of hot matches and relations and we share our info.If I get a cert,I send a copy to my new found relation,and vice versa.
so many folk do not put their tree on here,and to me this is the whole idea of Genes.I have had more from here than Ancestry,and admit to getting help from others which have led me down different paths,and the whole idea is to help others.If you get a lead,you then start putting flesh on the bones.
For instance,I have just had help from a lady who has been to a cemetery in a town that would be impossible for me to get to,and she has sent me photos of a grandfather's grave.I would do the same for anyone else.
I find Free BMD easier to search than Ancestry in it's listings.
I have never used the credits on here,there are so many sites you can find with info that leads you on to others,and I have got back to 1650 on one line,and walked along streets and churches where they lived.
Read the Tips and Records boards and you learn a lot.

I think we have all done that - I know I have!

And thats when it gets really expensive - sending for the wrong certificates - but again, I bet most people have done that as well.

I actually like the records offices - the most underused resource there is. With the availability of so much information on the internet now, the tendency is to try to race ahead and get loads of people into a tree - and it gets quite addictive.

I find using the records office - in conjunction with online stuff - you get a feel for things - like when you find an ancestors signature on something.

For me, finding and getting a copy of a direct line ancestors signature or writing - or even a photograph or painting - is worth a hundred ten times removed 5th cousins!

I would much rather have a small, direct line meticulously researched and validated tree, with certificates, newspaper cuttings, school reports, medical records, etc etc than a huge tree numbering many thousands which is just a list of names.

But there's no right and wrongs - what suits one isn't right for another :-)

LOL..Eldrick..

Yes...but when I started looking..I didnt know it..but i was looking at TOTALLY the wrong people! :)

With some great help..for which Im very greatful..I found out the information I was looking for.
If I hadn't got that help....I would be thinking I was related to folks..ihave nothing to do with..LOL.. :)
Could have been embarassing.

I think other taxpayers would have a reasonable argument to say that if anyone wants to do their family tree, then why should taxpayers money be diverted to creating a free system for them to search?

Anyway, if you go to your records office or local library, you will get free access to almost everything you need.

I personally dont see why it should be free on the internet. Its a hobby, nothing more than that.

Yes..Deanna...everyones out to make a buck.
Can't blame them....but surely this kind of information should be free.?
These offices are payed for by the public purse...so surely we have payed for it in the 1st place.
Or am I just being to simplistic?.
Don't we have a right to the information?..after all...it is personal to us....it's about us!

Again..to simplistic?

Freebmd is free. Totally free.

But it is only fully indexed up to about 1915 or so....if you are searching for BMD's after the turn of the century, you need ancestry or one of the other pay sites. Before that, free BMD is just fine.

Of course, you will end up having to buy certificates, for which you should NEVER pay more than £7 each.

The bottom line is, if you are going to do your research properly and want to do it online, it gets expensive.

Probably not as expensive as joining a golf club or going salmon fishing in Scotland, but expensive all the same. As are many hobbies.

You can rely on other people doing look ups and such like on here, lots of people do that. I personally think it takes away the enjoyment of finding things out for yourself, and all you are getting is a list of names with no flesh on the bones at all, but thats just me.

:-)

freebmd.org is exactly that TOTALLY FREE
it is run by volunteers