For all you Family History buffs out there - free access weekend on Ancestry

[Anniemcc2]

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/free-access

[mainlypostcards]

It seems that the Dutch website they link to is not very reliable. I searched for a few of my relatives. Couldn't find a trace of one of them, one was married to the wrong person and one died in 2006 (I spoke to her only 2 weeks ago).

[HerMajesty]

Some of the information on sites like Ancestry is put there by ordinary people putting down what they think their family history is. People don't always get the facts right. And sometimes, people who have transcribed old records into an online format, make mistaakes in their typing or reading. I found my dad's middle name was misinterpreted on one of Ancestry's records. Luckily, on that site you can make alternate suggestions. Some sites don't bother with that, which is a real shame. For best and most accurate genealogy info, you need to see the actual record, or a photo or digital copy of it.....don't just rely on the transcription of that record, and don't rely on what someone just writes as the truth.

[astral276]

Some of the information on sites like Ancestry is put there by ordinary people putting down what they think their family history is. People don't always get the facts right. And sometimes, people who have transcribed old records into an online format, make mistaakes in their typing or reading. I found my dad's middle name was misinterpreted on one of Ancestry's records. Luckily, on that site you can make alternate suggestions. Some sites don't bother with that, which is a real shame. For best and most accurate genealogy info, you need to see the actual record, or a photo or digital copy of it.....don't just rely on the transcription of that record, and don't rely on what someone just writes as the truth.

Before the 1911 census records on places like Ancestry were transcriptions of transcriptions of the original handwritten returns. Thus a lot of scope for the introduction of errors (one of my relatives, Julia, ended up as Isaac on the original census).

I also believe a lot of Ancestry's transcriptions are done in India. That is good in a way as they have less preconceptions of what a word or name might be, and so more likely to transcribe verbatim rather than make assumptions as to what is written.

Having done transcriptions for the FreeBMD project, I know it is not easy. Many records are of poor quality, damaged, illegible, or written in old style handwriting (with the addition of individualistic flourishes) that takes some getting used to to transcribe accurately.

As for Dutch records...some countries' records are very sparse, either because they were never required to be collected in the first place or they have been lost due to war damage.

[craig7501]

Thanks for that, I'll be checking the info out on my dads side

[asktricia]

I also use Ancestry, they hold numerous interesting records, although I do not rely on the information found in other people’s family trees that appear to be connected to mine.

Some of the mistakes on the census records were down to the person who filled in the forms, as regards my ancestors they all spelt the family surname differently and still do, if a census taker wrote the information down because the family could not read or write, they too made mistakes by writing what they heard depending on pronunciation i.e. there are numerous variations of the surname MacQuillin, I am still finding them after 9 years researching. I am lucky in that I can get to all the London record offices to verify anything found online that I am not sure about.

It is worth taking advantage of the Ancestry free trial, it can be quite an addictive and fascinating hobby. A lot of the records are now transcribed in the UK by members. I have done my bit for the time being.

[HerMajesty]

You are all correct....and more than Holland's records were destroyed in the war. A lot of records from Britain were destroyed. A lot of military records are gone, and some just partly available or legible due to scorching and burning.

Also, unfortunately, a lot of records have just been dumped over time.............a lot of wills and divorce records in the UK are gone.

[FirstGreenIsGold]

I'm another family history researcher who has been using Ancestry for a few years. Yes, there are certainly all kinds of reasons why the information that we find and record isn't really accurate. But the searching and speculating is fascinating anyway.

My paternal grandparents were from England (Cheshire) and the maternal side from Bessarabia / Moldova. Both sets of my grandparents came to Alberta as homesteaders in the early 1900s.

[Anniemcc2]

Both sets of my grandparents came to Alberta as homesteaders in the early 1900s.

As did my absentee gt grandfather, Walter SCOTT - oh I do wish his parents had given him a middle name as that would make looking for him so much easier !

[astral276]

As did my absentee gt grandfather, Walter SCOTT - oh I do wish his parents had given him a middle name as that would make looking for him so much easier !

Wot you moanin' about? My family is full of Smiths and Bakers.