New records this week - updated probate calendar and Staffs parish records

[StevieSteve]

The search on Ancestry should allow searching over a wider period (I only look for 3 years on the Gov site before assuming there's no entry) but I doubt anybody's paying Ancestry for the Probate Calendar alone

[BumbleB]

Many thanks Alan b.  I don't usually look at the A-Z list.  But now I know!!!! 

[clairec666]

Ancestry is making a big thing of updating the Probate Calendar, but surely it has been available for free for several years on the Government website via the link given by aghadowey? So why pay for something that is free elsewhere?

True, the records are available to anyone for free, and I've made good use of that website. If you've got an ancestry subscription, it's much easier to use, because it'll take you straight to the correct page. If you haven't got a subscription, you can still use the free search to check if the record exists, then locate it on the government website.

[goldie61]

Many thanks Alan b.  I don't usually look at the A-Z list.  But now I know!!!! 

I use this to go straight to Lichfield wills or marriage allegations - saves having to plough through lots of other stuff if all you want to see is if somebody left a will, or applied for a marriage licence. 

[sallyyorks]

Ancestry is making a big thing of updating the Probate Calendar, but surely it has been available for free for several years on the Government website via the link given by aghadowey? So why pay for something that is free elsewhere?

Ancestry did the same with their
London, England, Proceedings of the Old Bailey and Ordinary's Accounts Index, 1674-1913


These have been freely available for many years on
https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913

[coombs]

FindMyPast often on Fridays uploads records that are already available, some by fee or some free on FamilySearch. In that case they are not new records then, just them obtaining records already available on other sites.

[clairec666]

FindMyPast often on Fridays uploads records that are already available, some by fee or some free on FamilySearch. In that case they are not new records then, just them obtaining records already available on other sites.

FindMyPast annoys me a bit with their grand announcements of "Seven New Record Sets This Week" etc., quite often they're tiny and irrelevant to my research, but I didn't spot the announcement of additional Staffordshire records (lots of additions, and very relevant to me). Lucky I discovered the updates by accident!

[coombs]

FindMyPast often on Fridays uploads records that are already available, some by fee or some free on FamilySearch. In that case they are not new records then, just them obtaining records already available on other sites.

FindMyPast annoys me a bit with their grand announcements of "Seven New Record Sets This Week" etc., quite often they're tiny and irrelevant to my research, but I didn't spot the announcement of additional Staffordshire records (lots of additions, and very relevant to me). Lucky I discovered the updates by accident!

Yes, same here, either that or the records do not have enough information to make a positive identification on an ancestor such as some criminal records and new passenger lists. And when they do say "a great collection of records" it is just Memorial Inscriptions for 20 parishes in a county with many, or 1895-1900 Teachers Registrations, Essex. And I have zero interest in Irish and Welsh records.

[clairec666]

I'm glad that small/obscure record sets are being added... but FindMyPast's biggest draw is the parish records which barely overlap with other sites. If they made more of a fanfare about this, surely more of their subscribers would be tempted to renew!