On line sources

[harrybrewer]

There appear to be numerous commercial companies offering on line access to their collections for a fairly substantial subscription. I am thinking of Ancestry, The Genealogist, Find my past, British Origins etc.

Many of the collections appear to be similar, containing BMD, Census indexes etc.

I would be interested in others thoughts on this, and on peoples experience and preference with these companies.

Harry

[Peter Goodey]

I'm not sure that the management of this site approve of recommendations for online sites.

I notice you're in Shoreham so you're conveniently situated for London. If you want a free taster of any of those sites, the Society of Genealogists and the National Archives have free access from their premises to many genealogical sites. Also don't forget that there is free access to Ancestry from within Kent libraries.

Most, if not all, of the sites you mentioned have a pay-as-you-go option which many people find more convenient and is certainly handier for trying them out.

If you're going to give any of them money, you may, of course, prefer that the associated profits stay on this side of the Atlantic!

[harrybrewer]

Thanks for your reply. I was unaware that Kent libraries had free access to Ancestry, although it appears that this may be true of Bromley but not every KCC libraries has it. I guess "pay as you go" is the answer.

Harry

[Jan1954]

Harry,

Trundle along the coast into Brighton. There's a relatively new Family History Centre there. I'm sure that they would be able to help.

Edit - sorry Harry, I'm confusing my Shorehams :( Have you tried Orpington Library?

[Geoffers]

Everyone has their own personal preferences so I don't think you would necessarily get an unbiased view - and as has been commented, since this site is sponsored by The Parish Chest (http://www.parishchest.com/), recommendation of other sites may be frowned upon.

Try the sites to see which you like, how good is the indexing, do you like how results are displayed, how much do they charge? How easy is it to end a subscription, etc? Don't necessarily go for the site that has the most records, if searching those records is a nightmare.

Take your time - subscribe in haste, repent at leisure. Use free sources first (libraries) and consider purchasing facsimile copies of records on CD

[suedent]

I would always take a look at sites like Genuki & FreeReg to see what is available for your area of interest free of charge. There are armies of volunteers transcribing records & more appear online every day.

There are also records available on CDs or in booklets from FHS and small specialist companies (many available on Parish Chest). I would chose these above the big commercial sites everytime.

[mfwebb]

Pay-as-you-go is ideal for trying them all out.

But bear in mind that you can easily spend more than an annual subscription in a very short space of time using P-A-Y-G. That's what happened to me.

So I opted for an annual subscription on one of them. If I need to consult any of the others I can always buy a P-A-Y-G subscription as necessary.

Malcolm Webb
Lincoln UK

[harrybrewer]

It transpires that Ancestry (Library Edition) is available at Kent Libraries, so now I am spoilt for choice.

I will take the advice given, and appreciate those who have taken the trouble to make suggestions.

Harry

[Peter Goodey]

It transpires that Ancestry (Library Edition) is available at Kent Libraries

As mentioned in my earlier message.

The Kent library service also offers free online access from home to some sites of genealogical interest - The Times Digital Archive, The Dictionary of National Biography, Who Was Who, the Dictionary of Local and Family History etc. The Oxford English Dictionary is more use than one might expect.