Genealogy Forum UK

Hi
After many years of researching on and off on the internet, I have finally decided to take out an annual subscription to a general sites. I have used both Find my past.co.uk and ancestry.co.uk and can't decide between the two.
All of my research is UK based.
Can anyone recommend which one they prefer and why.

Ancestry is miles ahead in terms of content, number of users, features and value for money.

There is very little data on Find My Past that is not on Ancestry. The 1911 census being the big one. The 1890 to 1960 shipping lists on Find My Past is also usefull (but not if you are UK only...)

Ancestry has far more content and even though you say you are UK based, as soon as you find a relative in the USA or Europe or Australia, Find My Past is useless.

Ancestry allowed you to host your tree and know immediately anybody else who is investigating a particular person.

You can immediately see any changes made to that person in other peoples trees.

Unlike Genes Reunited, you can see public trees without asking permission. You still have to ask about private trees, which are a small percentage.

THe amount ofnew content being added to Ancestry is amazing.

Here is how I rank the sites (and I am amember of all of them)

1) Ancestry - 1st in content, tree hosting, usefull contacts to others researching the same people and value.

2) TheGenealogist - By far the most comprehensive and accurate BMD and Census. Unique data such as the Overseas and Marine BMD's, the non-conformist church registers, indexed Gazettes, Poll Books, army and navy lists, huge selection of fully indexed church registers etc etc. Their "Family Search" feature is brilliant. You know who should be in the house for a given census but have no idea how they transcribed the name? Search for up to ten people who should be in the same house on census night,. Use first names only, first names with part of the last name etc. Families I had no hope of finding on Ancestry and Find My Past were easy to find with this feature.

3) Find My Past. The actual photographs of the census and BMD forms are superb compared to those on Ancestry and Find My Past although their transcriptions are still innacurate compared to TheGenealogist.

Having a lot of immigrants to chase up, I have found the 1890 to 1960 shipping lists to be a superb addition. The 1911 census has solved enumerable brick walls. The rest of their data is availble on TheGenalogist and or Ancestry with far easier to use indexes and search engines.

4) World Vital Records. The amount of data they have indexed is staggering and the content is diverse. Not really usefull for finding your ancestors but the best tool there is for fleshing them out beyond the standard date of birth/marriage/death data. It takes a bit of practice to get the most out of this site but I am constantly amazed at what I find.

5) Genes Reunited. Terrible tree hosting. Not good value for money if you pay for their BMD and Census information. But there are over 10 million people on GR and the number of contacts from 1st and 2nd cousins I have received from GR is staggering.

6) OneGreatFamily. Stay away from this site like the plague. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

Mark's assessment is good and I have been using Ancestry for a couple of years now. You still get the census transcription errors, which often require some creative thinking to overcome, but yes, it is good value for money. One point to note is that Findmypast appears to include the 1911 census as part of the subscription, although it seems way more expensive that Ancestry and I have been using the official 1911 census web site instead - just buy credits when needed.

I agree that the main thing that I find missing on Ancestry is 1911 but I believe they are going to add that during 2010.

If they are then it certainly beats Findmypast in my book -

I like Ancestry and I also use Origins.
I also buy Trade directory CDs etc when I can.
Jo

Thanks for the comprehensive reply. Ancestry.com does seem to be the one to go with. Just another thought....has anyone used The Genealogist site. It seems to offer everything that the other two offer and more for a much cheaper subscription. (except of course, the 1911 census)

teachersmate wrote:Thanks for the comprehensive reply. Ancestry.com does seem to be the one to go with. Just another thought....has anyone used The Genealogist site. It seems to offer everything that the other two offer and more for a much cheaper subscription. (except of course, the 1911 census)

think mark uses it a lot he recons its better transcribe than most

TheGenealogist is brilliant as a research site. Not for hosting your online tree.

Not looked on there for years actually, although I did start transcribing for them a long time ago
Lazy, because I could look, but whats the cost?
Jo

I would go with Ancestry. I have a monthly subscription. It has loads of records and easy to use.

I've never used The Genealogist but I might try it out now.