Beware Find My Past dataset validity

[GrahamH]

Hope I've posted this in the correct section.

Earlier this afternoon I received the Friday newsletter from FindMyPast which included a section headed UK deaths 2007-2016. The text says "Discover your relatives who died in the United Kingdom between the years 2007 and 2016. The collection covers England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and Jersey and list the individual’s name, date of death, and location of death.".

As a quick test I decided to look for my mother, who died on 20 September 2015, only to find there is no record listed.

I contacted FindMyPast about it and the reply I received is: "These records have been provided to us by Wilmington Millennium, rather than the GRO, so if there are records missing they might not have the data available yet. It's not designed to be a complete collection of all those who passed away between 2007 and 2016.I hope that we will be able to add the record in the future as more are transcribed."

I've responded to them pointing out that the text in the e-mail gives no indication that it is "not designed to be a complete collection", nor does it reveal that it is just a mish-mash of records put together by a marketing company, rather than a dataset whose accuracy can be relied upon.

I've made the point that if FindMyPast is going to use datasets put together by companies for their own commercial purposes, rather than official datasets, then FindMyPast should be honest enough to say so instead of misleading customers.

Hopefully they will do so but I shall not hold my breath. This could easily be a reason why searches do not return expected results.

[Gadget]

I've just run a test to find a couple of my relatives who died in that time period and whose birth dates, death dates and places of death I know. One was in London and one in Birmingham.  Like you, they did not show in that particular data set.

Gadget

[KGarrad]

Wilmington Millenium get their records from Funeral Directors and newspaper obituaries
I believe it's the same dataset as available on Ancestry

[smudwhisk]

As KG says, its most likely the same dataset that's been on Ancestry for the last few years and the same type of complaints were made then.  At least FindMyPast have actually put the source if you view a record from the dataset, when Ancestry launched their version they didn't do this but were forced to change this when their were concerns raised about where the information had originated from.  My grandmother appears in the dataset, this would appear to be from the Funeral Directors which annoyed my mother a lot as she had deliberately not put anything in the local papers.  At the time we had wondered if Ancestry had obtained the information from the then newly released probate search website but subsequently Ancestry did acknowledge the source of the information which is far from complete and possibly not accurate judging by the data of death for my Great Aunt.

[GrahamH]

Wilmington Millenium get their records from Funeral Directors and newspaper obituaries
I believe it's the same dataset as available on Ancestry

Wherever they get their records from, the dataset is obviously not fit for the purpose it is being put to by FindMyPast and Ancestry.
Typical of DMA yee-hahs.

[Deirdre784]

I’ve looked for 5 relatives who died within those dates, not one of them appears 🙁

[Millmoor]

Even the title of the dataset is incorrect. It states 2007 - 2016. My father's death is showing... that was in 2002 and his place of death is wrong.

William

[Guy Etchells]

Hope I've posted this in the correct section.

Earlier this afternoon I received the Friday newsletter from FindMyPast which included a section headed UK deaths 2007-2016. The text says "Discover your relatives who died in the United Kingdom between the years 2007 and 2016. The collection covers England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and Jersey and list the individual’s name, date of death, and location of death.".

As a quick test I decided to look for my mother, who died on 20 September 2015, only to find there is no record listed.

I contacted FindMyPast about it and the reply I received is: "These records have been provided to us by Wilmington Millennium, rather than the GRO, so if there are records missing they might not have the data available yet. It's not designed to be a complete collection of all those who passed away between 2007 and 2016.I hope that we will be able to add the record in the future as more are transcribed."

I've responded to them pointing out that the text in the e-mail gives no indication that it is "not designed to be a complete collection", nor does it reveal that it is just a mish-mash of records put together by a marketing company, rather than a dataset whose accuracy can be relied upon.

I've made the point that if FindMyPast is going to use datasets put together by companies for their own commercial purposes, rather than official datasets, then FindMyPast should be honest enough to say so instead of misleading customers.

Hopefully they will do so but I shall not hold my breath. This could easily be a reason why searches do not return expected results.

Did you not look at the “Learn more about these records” section?

Which under the title “What can these records tell me” begins -
“Each result will provide a transcript giving the individual’s name, date of death, and location of death. The amount of information provided in each transcript varies. Records usually include a combination of the following about your ancestor: ...”

Did you not click on the "Discover more about these records" link?
If you had you would have read-

“These records, provided by Wilmington Millennium, include over two and a half million entries with just under two million records pertaining to the years 2007 to 2013. The remainder of the records cover the years 2014 to 2016.

The majority of these records will either contain the date of birth or age at death for the deceased individual. Death records included in this collection span the United Kingdom and include England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Island, the Isle of Man, and Jersey.

This collection contains some notable death records including that of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Her death on 8 April 2013 is listed against her full name Margaret Hilda Thatcher. The redoubtable Iron Lady passed away at London’s The Ritz Hotel aged 87.

Also included in this collection is famed astronomer Sir Patrick Moore, who presented the monthly BBC astronomy programme ‘The Sky at Night’. Sir Patrick presented the popular astronomy programme from its inception in 1957 until his death in 2013, making it the longest-running television programme with the same presenter in television history.

Another television great, Icelandic-born Magnus Magnusson, also appears in this collection. Magnus Magnusson hosted the quiz show Mastermind for twenty-five years as well as translating many books from Icelandic and Old Norse into English.”

I would agree they could have provided more information but the above should have alerted you to the fact you were looking at a compilation from Wilmington Millennium and the amount of information provided in each transcript varies.
There are a rough average of half a million deaths in England and Wales each year which would give about 5 million deaths in England and Wales alone If we discount 2007 and 2016 that would still give 4 million deaths without including deaths in Scotland, Northern Island, the Isle of Man, and Jersey. The dataset only holds two and a half million therefore the dataset does not contain all the deaths in Great Britain between the years mentioned.

Is it a case of being mislead or should you the researcher not take responsibility of finding out just what you are actually looking at.
It is the same as the earlier “researchers” who misused the IGI then complained it was not a complete index of Parish Registers but could not grasp the truth that it was an Index of Temple Ordinations.

Cheers
Guy

[panda40]

I have just had a look for my uncle who died in 2005, the information is misleading for any researcher as it lists the church where the service was held as his burial place. He was cremated at a different location, so anyone using these records to visit a garage will be mis directed.
Regards
Panda