GenBIRes-Networking launched

GenBIRes-Networking has been launched as a sister site to GenBIRes. GenBIRes-Networking looks at on-line networking resources for family historians researching their ancestors in the British Isles.

There are a wide range of websites available to help genealogists get in contact with each other about family history research areas of mutual interest, or just to discuss the research process and issues. GenBIRes-Networking identifies the facilities available on each of these sites, and identifies any costs, where appropriate - some sites are completely free and others have a small fee for more advanced features.

The aim is to have a reasonably comprehensive list of sites available by the end of April 2007. You can visit GenBIRes-Networking now and register for e-mail updates if you wish to be notified of new content as it appears.

1901 census online

The 1901 census online site is run by Genes Reunited, and now also provides access, presumably through associates, to the 1841-1871 and 1891 census for England and Wales, and to BMD indexes for 1837-2004. You do need to look hard on their site to find out what is available and what it will cost.

£5 purchases 500 credits – and you use 50 credits to see an individual’s record, 50 credits to see others in the household (for a census search) and 75 credits to view a census or BMD image in PDF format. Credits only last for 7 days. The initial search is free.

What do you think about the 1901 census onlinesite – value for money, resources available, quality of resources etc? Please leave a comment.

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Find My Past adds more passenger lists

Find My Past have added further outbound from the UK passenger records to their site - these now run up from 1890 up to 1919.

They are offering a reduced 30 Day Voyager subscription - from £25 to £15 - but only up until 23 April. Update 21 April: now extended to 29 April.

They are also offering free access to the passenger list for the Titanic for a limited period .

Ancestry adds more Scotland Census Transcripts

Ancestry have added to their Scotland census transcriptions - they now cover all of 1841 -1901.
These are ancestry's transcriptions - if you need census images, you will need to go to Scotlands People.
What's more, for the 1901 census, most of Ancestry's age calculations appear to be 10 years out. For example, my wife's Great Great Grandfather, born in 1890, is shown as being 21 years old on the Ancestry 1901 transcription. It appears to be only a problem with the 1901 transcriptions.

Update 14 April - this problem with the 1901 census appears to have now been resolved. Let us know if you find evidence to the contrary.

Family Relatives site temporarily closed

The Family Relatives site is temporarily closed, with a view to a relaunch around easter time as Familyrelatives.com. They are engaging a new service provider following technical malfunctions. They also plan to introduce a subscription service. Their lastest bulletin can be found here.

Find My Past announces new pay per view rates

FindMyPast have announced that they are introducing new pay per view rates from 2 April 2007. Between now and then they are offering an addditional 20% free on purchase of pay per view units, but only for purchases of £25 or over.

The new rates from 2 April, including a new intermediate 6 month plan, are as follows (old rates in brackets):

3 months – 60 Units @ 12 pence - £6.95 (previously 50 Units @ 10 pence - £5)
6 months – 150 Units @ 10 pence - £14.95
1 year – 280 Units @ 9 pence - £24.95 (previously 313 Units @ 8 pence - £25)
1 year – 670 Units @ 7.5 pence - £49.95 (previously 810 Units @ 7.5 pence - £60)
1 year – 2000 Units @ 5 pence - £99.95 (previously 2400 Units @ 5 pence - £120)

All in all, this is an increase in cost per Unit for low volume purchases, while heavier user purchases remain at pretty well the same rates.

What do you think about FindMyPast's new tarrifs? Please leave a comment.

Find My Past

FindMyPast have now included access to their UK Outbound Passenger List database (aka Ancestors on Board) as part of their Explorer package. There is no increase in the cost of the Explorer Package subscription.

They have also introduced a subscription package for just Ancestors on Board – their Voyager Package. This provides unlimited access to Ancestors on Board for 30 days at the cost of £25. You need to note that at the time of writing, this dataset covers only 1890-1909, but more records are to be added, over time, to take the collection through to 1960.

Ancestry - new additions

Ancestry have now added transcriptions (only) for 1871 and 1891 to their Scotland census collection.

Family History Online

FAMILYHISTORYONLINE is the resources web portal of the Federation of Family History societies. They publish on-line records compiled by Family History Societies. A full list of the resources available can be found here. The quantity of records vary across the counties of England and Wales.

The charges for using Family History Online vary, but it is free, once registered, to search the databases:

- index entries cost 6p (except 'surname only' indexes which cost 4p);
- transcriptions cost 8p (except census entries from 1851 onwards and marriage entries from July 1837 onwards which both cost 10p.).
- any records not yet checked by the database provider cost less, normally 1p in each case (i.e. 3p, 5p, 7p or 9p).
- images of a church or any similar location cost 50p
- images of a gravestone or other rarely photographed family item cost 2 pounds (other images may be charged at an intermediate rate.)

You pay by buying credits via Credit or Debit card to the value of £5, £10, £20 or £50. You can also buy pre-payment vouchers through some Family History Societies or GenFair, the FFHS's on-line shop. Credits last for 6 months.

What do you think about Family History Online – value for money, resources available, quality of resources etc? Please leave a comment.