Genealogy Chat

Has anyone actually been able to get on FreeBMD lately, before I went away three weeks ago i couldn't get on because of one thing and another, just tried now and 'the server is busy'. Ann Glos

Worked OK for me just now. If you get the server busy message, just click the back button, then the find button again. It should work eventually

Ann I think its been much better than it used to be, but when it is unable to cope, I use Ancestry's civil reg, which is the same info,but differently presented. Don't call it a waste of space, its been utterly invaluable to me in my research! nell

It depends on the time of day you use it. Early evening is usually the worst time, late at night or mornings are the best. When this is complete it will be a fantastic tool for the genealogist, not least because people can now access the lists from anywhere in the country and can electronically search rather than manually work your way through the books at the FRC. It's come on leaps and bounds since I started my family tree in January. Jonathan

If you're not happy with it, try http://freebmd.rootsweb.*com/refund and you will get back every penny you have spent there.

Tsk Tsk Geoff!!!! LOL Has anyone else managed to find a transcription errored cert? FreeBMD allows you to do this if you go steady. I couldn't find my G Grandmother's death cert at all even though I knew the date! Her name was Sarah Peck. I managed to search for ALL the Sarah's in the right district quarter by quarter - there were quite a few! In the end I found her as Sarah Peek. I'm in the process of looking for an Alice now - shame they don't have more unusual names! Anne

Maybe I am just cynical, but are we being optimistic thinking that when it is finally finished that it will remain free. Someone is bound to come along with a wad of notes for the rights to it and everyone has their price.

Maybe Carol, but I hope not. But Little Nell/Helen is right its invaluable. Jonathan is right I only use this site at night I have no problem with it then, I would never attempt to use it between 4-11pm it is just to busy, far enough shows how popular and good this site is. with patience and perservance and you will find this site is one of the best. Pat x

Don't forget the sites linked through UKBMD. Many parts of the country now have their own local BMD service which can be more comprehensive that the records on FreeBMD. They are also compiled from the local records rather than the national records. Always worth checking. Martin

In my view, freebmd is what 1837online would have been if 1837 hadn't been designed by a committee! Ok, sometimes, particularly after updates, a search won't complete or a server busy message comes up, but 95% of the time I have no problem with it at all. Can't wait for it to be completed, all credit to the volunteers doing the transcribing. Just surprised the government hasn't found an excuse to chop it down under the Orwellian freedom of information regulations.

Must have been a) unlucky and b) disgruntled, but I did get on later, although still can't find the marriage of Elizabeth Lowman and Charles warner, i thought it was in 1864, searched 1837 online until i ran out of credits (searched 1864-1867) then switched to free BMD but no sign, their first child was born in 1869. Oh well, back to the drawing board. Nell i will take out the waste of space remark, uncalled for, sorry. Ann Glos

Ann, Although first child was born 1869 it doesnt always follow that they were married at least 9 months before that. They may even have married after child was born. In some cases, as someone on here found, couples chose to have all their children first then get married.

Carol yes, I have thought of that but my gut reaction is that they would have married first, going by the family tradition. still you are right, and when I get back from holiday (don't want to waste 2 weeks) I will buy more 1837 credits. Charles was my Gt grandfather. Haven't found his death yet either. ann Glos

Don't panic, FreeBMD will remain free! They were only allowed access to the data if they promised to make it available for free. Whether or not the server will cope is another matter. They really need another one, maybe two by the time the project is completed. I seem to be getting everyone else's share of 'server is busy' messages! Now I do an all types, all dates, specific county search for the less common surnames and save it in Word. The only problem is when they update it, it takes me ages to find out if any new names have been added! There must be an easier way.

FreeBMD is fantastic. I've not found an error in it, ever!! It can be slow at times, but that's because it's so popular. If it's free, why complain!?! hehe Chloe

I have to say it is alot cleaner than Ancestry's attempts at the census. However, there are one or two mistakes, as is inevitable when trying to read people's handwriting (of course the fault could be in the source itself). I have a James wrongly listed as a Jones. Otherwise, everything I've used is spot on.

Ann, if its any consolation I too am looking for a marriage arround 1865 and can't find it on 1837 or freebmd. The thing is most of the records then were handwritten and I think some were missed... Ive been looking for it for 18 months now, Someone on this site kindly looked on an earlier census and found an earlier "first " child , still can't find the marriage though. Kim

Please don't be critical of the site. I have been a transcriber for just over 6 months, and there is a lot of free time and effort put in to get these records on line. I don't know how long other transcribers take, but it personally takes me an average of 2 hours for each page (that's about 350 records). That includes the verification of the transcription before upload to the website. Some of the images are not the easiest to read as well, so if there are unknown characters or incorrect names, it's not surprising. We are instructed to "type what we see", and often the letters are ambiguous. I believe the site to be excellent, and have found much useful information myself on it, with it getting better all the time. If more people volunteer, the site will get more records quicker. Pauline

No one is knocking the transcribers, if there is a problem with clarity then it lies with the awful handwriting or with the age of the records. I work in an archive and it sometimes takes five or six people to work out one word! The server is the main issue. No matter how well-transcribed, if we can't display the results then we're none the wiser.

No waywas I criticizing the transcribers, more the ability of the site to cope with everyone who wants to access it. I ama transcriber myself for FHS and Dorset OPC so I would never criticize them Ann Glos