Which is best?

[GillPrince]

I've been doing my family history for many years and used to charge around the country spending hours in vicarages and GenSoc etc. All of my stuff was/is paper-based and now I'm retired I have time to get it all digitised but, some people say Ancestry is best, others MyHeritage, others FindMyPast.
Given annual subs to some of these for the full package are not cheap I don't want to find I pay and then can't do what I need. The trials are usually restricted.
Sooo over to you guys, which do you recommend and why?

 

[p.risboy]

No one site offers everything. It can depend where most of your relatives were born, and over what time period. Some sites offer transcripts with no details, others offer original copies.

All I can suggest is pay for 1 month with Ancestry, and go at it for all it's worth, then cancel well ahead of renewal date. Do the same with FMP. If I have worked the subs for a month with each, should cost circa £40 for both.

But only sign up for one at a time, as while you are searching on one, you won't be searching on the other, so time and money maybe wasted.

FamilySearch is linked with FMP, but worth looking there first, as some records are free to download.

Also worth looking at for Irish records, which is free...........https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/ ................and,...http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/

Other members of this site will offer other suggestions, so keep an eye out.


Steve.

 

[Ellie7]

There is a limit on sites of how much you can put on.I lost a few records(Burials) for that reason on Ancestry as i could not add anymore and then download it. I still have paper records which i think is best.Cd wears out.Anything i find ,i save to my computer.I also look on Amazon for any books holding some of my records.Forgotten Books is another site .eBay is worth keeping an eye on.

 

[p.risboy]

There is a limit on sites of how much you can put on.I lost a few records(Burials) for that reason on Ancestry as i could not add anymore and then download it. I still have paper records which i think is best.Cd wears out.Anything i find ,i save to my computer.

You can upload them to gmail photos or Google drive.......it's free up to 15gb. If your PC crashes, they are saved.
.

 

[Ellie7]

Yes i use Google Drive/Photos

 

[Ellie7]

I had just found Court Rolls with Ancesters on it.Went to Amazon and there it was on book form ."old" Bradford library book £7 i like to have my records outwith computer if possible

 

[p.risboy]

http://www.dustydocs.com/

 

[GillPrince]

My family tree is huge. At the moment it goes back to 1536.
I have also done DNA testing and more people turn up weekly.
Heritage is 100% English and Irish.

I do have family who emigrated to Australia in the 1800s, and Canada late 1600s/early 1700s.
I have relatives by marriage in the USA but getting info about them is not easy as they are seriously rich and the instant you ask for details they think you're after their money.

I currently have a free account with MyHeritage as a cousin in the US was researching my father's side of the family so there are loads of links on there but he has since died and the account is archived so I can't update errors. There is also a woman in the US tied in there somewhere who updates her own chart regularly so in some cases it would make sense to stick with MH but it has some irritants and it is expensive, plus I have maxed out my freebie so can't add any more and need to take a decision one way or another.

As to data safety I've been in IT for 40 years so backups are routine. I have a NAS box with RAID which does change backups for my machines so I'm always up to date.

As the 1921 census is due out soon, need to factor the costs of that in as well.