Is Genes Reunited a purely English site?

[mistral]

I think it might be useful to point out that the only reason Scottish 1881 census data is not available on the IGI website is because the General Register Office for Scotland would not allow it.
I suspect the same reason may well apply to other websites such as Ancestry, Genes Reuinted etc.
It seems a bit unfair to blame these sites for ignoring Scotland when I am sure they would be only too happy to share in such a money making enterprise if they could only get their hands on the information! It's hardly their fault that GROS doesn't want to let anyone else have access to Scottish data?

I applaud GROS for setting up ScotlandsPeople and it is certainly a great asset to Scottish researchers but I have found it very expensive in terms of credits wasted on wrong certificates and census images due to the difficulty of pinpointing people especially those with common names! Everyone goes on about how expensive the English system but, in spite of each BDM certificate costing £7, I have wasted far less money researching my English ancestors! I have a yearly subscription to Ancestry UK, which cost about £50, that allows me to search through every census from 1841 to 1901 and print out any amount of images and also to search the GRO Index as well as various other databases. It makes it far easier to track down elusive people thorough the censuses and when I do send off for a certificate, I am pretty certain that it will be for the correct person! If I do have any doubts, the local Registrar's office is usually very helpful in checking certain points before issuing the certificate. In actual fact, I have only once received an incorrect certificate! In contrast, I hate to think how many incorrect certificates and census images I have downloaded from ScotlandsPeople!! I try to just ignore all those tell-tale £6 entries on my bank statements!! And still I have not found certain elusive people and probably never will unless I come into a large fortune or, more realistically, the search facility becomes a lot more user friendly and not so keen on eating up the credits!!!

Hope this might be of interest?

[Pandabean]

Can I ask what is the difference between the English records and those of the Scottish ones?

[apanderson]

I think it might be useful to point out that the only reason Scottish 1881 census data is not available on the IGI website is because the General Register Office for Scotland would not allow it.
I suspect the same reason may well apply to other websites such as Ancestry, Genes Reuinted etc.

I invested in buying the Double CD set of the 1881 Cencus (Scotland only) from LDS and have never looked back. From memory I think they cost about £8.00 - well worth it!!

Anne.

P.S. Even the whole set only costs about £20.00!

[Russell]

Hi Mistral

I use scotlandspeople exclusively since all my ancestors were Scots so I cannot comment on the sources for English & Welsh records.
The few excursions I have made into unknown territory I was disappointed by the information I got for my money and rejoice in the amount of information the Scottish records give.
I learned early on how to get the best out of the scotlandspeople search engine using wildcards and gradually narowing search parameters.
The only names which have beaten me have been those from South Uist where little was actually recorded anyway. I have relied on the experts for this one family line. Most of my other lines are back to the early 1700's and one is back to 1640. All authenticated by the local resources. The next step will be expensive B&B's up and down the country to visit the graveyards.
Back to my original complaint - Genes Re-united advertise as if they had all the UK records. If a Scot unwittingly signs up because of the advertised access they are in for a big disappointment.

Russell

[mistral]

Hello Russell

Yes, there is no doubt that Scottish certificates do give far more information than English ones, I think we are so lucky in that respect.

It's possible that I am just rubbish at using ScotlandsPeople to find my ancestors, even if one of them did have the name Margaret Johnston and there was no clue as to where she might have been or which of her three husbands' names she might have been using at any given time!!! Actually, she is one of my husband's ancestors and I have now found her in all the censuses except 1871 so I surely can't be that bad?
But I really do think that it would be more helpful to have a free search facility and only pay for the images we downloaded? Having to pay even one credit for the result of a search is just really annoying especially if you have narrowed it down to one possibility!! It's just plain mean!! And I may as well mention the time limit on credits which is really annoying as well!!

To get back to Genes Reunited, as far as I can tell tell they only give you access to the English 1901 census. They are not really a serious genealogical site as far as I can see but do provide a facility for bringing people together who are researching the same families. So there probably will be Scottish people there as well as all the other nationalities! But when I looked at it a while ago. I did notice a lot of incorrect information posted there so beware! It tries to make out that family history is so easy, just a question of finding a few long lost relatives on their website and bob's your uncle, so to speak!! I don't think so.................
If they really are advertising all the censuses, then it should not only be Scottish people who are annoyed, if that makes you feel any better?

Regards
Mistral

[DavidWW]

I think it might be useful to point out that the only reason Scottish 1881 census data is not available on the IGI website is because the General Register Office for Scotland would not allow it. Hope this might be of interest? ...... snipped...........

That's incorrect.

The current agreement between GROS and LDS/GSU gives them the freedom to use the 1881 Scottish data on familysearch.org should they wish to do so.

David
on the Gold Coast

[DavidWW]

I think it might be useful to point out that the only reason Scottish 1881 census data is not available on the IGI website is because the General Register Office for Scotland would not allow it.
I suspect the same reason may well apply to other websites such as Ancestry, Genes Reuinted etc.

I invested in buying the Double CD set of the 1881 Cencus (Scotland only) from LDS and have never looked back. From memory I think they cost about £8.00 - well worth it!!

Anne.

P.S. Even the whole set only costs about £20.00!

Unfortunately it's no longer possible to buy the two Scottish CDs only.

David

[DavidWW]

Hi Mistral

I use scotlandspeople exclusively since all my ancestors were Scots so I cannot comment on the sources for English & Welsh records.
The few excursions I have made into unknown territory I was disappointed by the information I got for my money and rejoice in the amount of information the Scottish records give.
I learned early on how to get the best out of the scotlandspeople search engine using wildcards and gradually narowing search parameters.
The only names which have beaten me have been those from South Uist where little was actually recorded anyway. I have relied on the experts for this one family line. Most of my other lines are back to the early 1700's and one is back to 1640. All authenticated by the local resources. The next step will be expensive B&B's up and down the country to visit the graveyards.
Back to my original complaint - Genes Re-united advertise as if they had all the UK records. If a Scot unwittingly signs up because of the advertised access they are in for a big disappointment.

Russell

Watch out for the launch soon of the Hebridean Connections site (? exact name).

David

[JimM]

But I really do think that it would be more helpful to have a free search facility and only pay for the images we downloaded

Hi Mistral
Totally agree...
I had one English line that needed tidying-up... so I bit the bullet and paid £4.95 to Ancestry.com (ten credits valid for 14 days)
When you search the English census on Ancestry... you can view other family members before you purchase the image.
This obviously helps you to confirm if you have the correct person
I found my Elizabeth Skinner (as Elizabeth Bradford in 1871 and then in 1891 as Elizabeth Crockett) without wasting a single credit

Ten census images for under a fiver.... and none of them are duds

Jim

[mistral]

If anyone is interested, this is the reply I got from the LDS when I asked them why Scotland was not included in the 1881 census in their website.

"Thank you for your email. Because of contractual agreements, the Scottish census records and the Scottish church records were made available elsewhere online. Therefore, they do not appear on FamilySearch Internet. To find Scottish census records online, go to the official Internet site (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk).
Note: Scotland does appear on the compact disc version of the 1881 British Census, and the Scottish church records are available at your local family history center in the FamilySearch 2.27 program. "