Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com is the big daddy of commercial genealogy sites and if you want names, they are here by the million. The difficulty for UK users is that unless you have American connections, you are unlikely to find much here of use, and a lot to distract. To access the majority of information, you need to take out a subscription, though there are sections that are free and others that permit a free trial period. The availability of the US census must be one of the key reasons for joining if you can make use of it.
A word of warning about the cancelling of subscriptions, including a 'free 14 day trial' for which you need to have over your credit card details. You are told to unsubscribe by dialling a toll-free number in Utah, which will not work from outside the US. The alternative is to phone a Utah based telephone number, which can prove both expensive and frustrating. International customers can email support@ancestry-inc.com to can. You must provide your full name, email address, username and say that you are an international customer. Even then, check your credit card statement to see that the subscription has been cancelled.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Search lets you put in a first and second name, or simply a surname. Specift a locality or not, as you choose, and then press the send button. This will produce a good number of hits. To progress further, you will either need to pay or, at the very least, sign up as a guest, for which you have to give your email address.
Searches for any of the records here, including those for the UK, can only go so far before requiring registration and a subscription.
Family Trees provides much of the data for the site, with individuals posting their personal information on the Message Boards, contributing to the Ancestry World Tree or joining the Research Registry. This is where the possibility for unreliable information is inevitably introduced. The software provided online is increasingly sophisticated and flexible in the reports that it can produce, and if you are collaborating with someone elsewhere, the ability to share your information online is attractive.
A word of warning about the cancelling of subscriptions, including a 'free 14 day trial' for which you need to have over your credit card details. You are told to unsubscribe by dialling a toll-free number in Utah, which will not work from outside the US. The alternative is to phone a Utah based telephone number, which can prove both expensive and frustrating. International customers can email support@ancestry-inc.com to can. You must provide your full name, email address, username and say that you are an international customer. Even then, check your credit card statement to see that the subscription has been cancelled.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Search lets you put in a first and second name, or simply a surname. Specift a locality or not, as you choose, and then press the send button. This will produce a good number of hits. To progress further, you will either need to pay or, at the very least, sign up as a guest, for which you have to give your email address.
Searches for any of the records here, including those for the UK, can only go so far before requiring registration and a subscription.
Family Trees provides much of the data for the site, with individuals posting their personal information on the Message Boards, contributing to the Ancestry World Tree or joining the Research Registry. This is where the possibility for unreliable information is inevitably introduced. The software provided online is increasingly sophisticated and flexible in the reports that it can produce, and if you are collaborating with someone elsewhere, the ability to share your information online is attractive.
COMMENTS
login to add a comment...If they've got what you want, it can be very useful. If not, try other places first.
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