Suffolk parish registers to go online?

[Trevor Rix]

Given that one of the main aims of Suffolk Record Office is to make Suffolk archives available to the public, this situation is completely unacceptable. How about those that live some distance away in other parts of the UK? Travel, accomodation and wasted time all add up to a huge expense. And for the millions overseas with Suffolk roots the situation is almost impossible.

The other aspect is that the microfiche copies are poor quality monochrome copies. No comparison to the high quality colour digital images that many other counties have published on Ancestry Findmypast or in house.

We need 24/7 access to downloadable high quality images from home anywhere in the world. Nothing less. Preferably within an Ancestry or Findmypast subscription. If other counties can do it, why can't Suffolk?

[coombs]

Also Suffolk coverage on the IGI, FindMyPast and Ancestry is quite thin on the ground. Since they got rid of the old IGI the new FamilySearch IGI is virtually useless and many records have vanished. Never knew IGI transcriptions had a shelf life. I think we could be in with a long wait for Suffolk records to come online. FindMyPast has a Suffolk Baptism Index but it is just a fraction of what is out there.

In this day and age we need more records online seeing as it is becoming a trend, and online records certainly help people who live hundreds of miles or thousands of miles from the record offices.

[Old Bristolian]

It would seem that finance is always the problem in cases like this. The scanning of the Oxfordshire registers was paid for by the Oxfordshire FHS as I understand it, and now both the Society and County archive benfit from its availability through Ancestry. Could not the Suffolk FHS manage something similar?

[Trevor Rix]

As far as I am aware the financial implications would be beneficial to Suffolk County Council. Ancestry and Findmypast compete to win the contract. The chosen partner send their team and equipment into the archive to digitise the records at their expense. The whole excercise would be a revenue earner for Suffolk County Council/Suffolk Archives/Suffolk Record Office. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Old Bristolian]

Agreed, but it would be interesting to know more of the financial considerations and the results of other digitalisation deals. Did Ancestry or FindMyPast pay for the counties they already have or did they just buy rights and the counties paid for the photography? I can see the ROs reluctance to pay the capital cost of digitalisation given their constained budgets, but if it works for others I don't see why more counties haven't proceeded with some deals. Perhaps the companies don't see enough take -up of extra memberships to make it worthwhile for them to cover the initial costs.

[Trevor Rix]

Possibly more than 50% of English parish registers have now been digitised and are available on the internet - mainly via Ancestry, Findmypast and FamilySearch. Some areas have done their own thing such as Essex on SEAX and the Medway area on CityArk. As far as I am aware both Ancestry and Findmypast digitise the records for the contracts that they have won at their expense.

Having spoken to both Ancestry and Findmypast at WDYTYA Live this year and previous years, both are keen to win the Suffolk contract. It appears that it is Suffolk County Council that are dragging their heels because their focus is on other projects.

[JosiahS]

If you go to view Suffolk registers on film at the Society of Genealogists you have to sign a register and say what you have looked at because of an ongoing dispute with Suffolk County Council.  It is the only county where this happens.

Clearly they are the awkward squad...

[smudwhisk]

As far as I am aware both Ancestry and Findmypast digitise the records for the contracts that they have won at their expense.

Ancestry I understand hire temporary staff to go to the Archives and digitise the registers.  FindMyPast, at least in the case of Hertfordshire, expect the Archives to arrange their own digitisation (whether they loan them equipment I don't know).  From what I've heard Hertfordshire used volunteers to digitise the registers which perhaps explains why they are such a mess with so many omissions, nobody was ensuring that everything was completed.  Although in the case of Northamptonshire and Ancestry there was a Project Manager from the Archives but still there are a number of omissions.  If that is the normal case with FindMyPast, it may explain why Ancestry appear to be winning more of the recent contracts.

If you go to view Suffolk registers on film at the Society of Genealogists you have to sign a register and say what you have looked at because of an ongoing dispute with Suffolk County Council.  It is the only county where this happens.

This has been going on for I think at least 10 years and unlike the other counties' film/fiche, you aren't allowed at the SOG (or weren't last time I was down there) to print off copies from microfilm/fiche.

[littlesis 76]

I went to a find you family event today in Ipswich and they were selling cd's of parish records of each district for £15 each. I did ask when these will be going online and they did say some will be going on Find my Past .I got a little excited and asked when but they did say only some will as the more that are out online the less they will sell ?
Did say that seems a little unfair for all the people that have Suffolk roots but don't live local have no access to all these records .
So some will be going on Find My Past how many and when they didn't seem to know