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.

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

No I didn't Guy.
I relied on the text in the e-mail being complete and truthful and followed the adjacent "Search These Records" button - which is what FindMyPast invited their paying customers to do.

It says "Discover your relatives who died in the United Kingdom between the years 2007 and 2016.", not "Discover whether your relatives happen to appear in our marketing database of people who died in the United Kingdom between the years 2007 and 2016."

The comparison with the IGI is not valid. I never saw the IGI never represented as anything other than an Index of Temple Ordinations. The e-mail from FindMyPast presents its dataset as something it isn't.
 

[Jomot]

I don't really see the problem.   If the entry isn't included we are no worse off, but if it is then it's information we possibly wouldn't otherwise have had.   

Looking at my uncle's entry it clearly states 'copyright Wilmington Millennium Ltd', and the information provided is enough for me to be able to order his death certificate, should I wish to do so.   

I also don't think they've been particularly misleading.  They frequently send emails saying 'Discover your [insert County] ancestors' but that doesn't necessarily mean it includes every single parish in that county.

With the exception of actual images of primary documents surely all data sets are just guidance tools?

[dawnsh]

Looking at my uncle's entry it clearly states 'copyright Wilmington Millennium Ltd', and the information provided is enough for me to be able to order his death certificate, should I wish to do so.   

Maybe not, there is no GRO reference information so if you were to apply to the GRO for a copy, you would have to tick the 'reference not known' box and wait 15 working days for them to find the correct entry.

If a coroners inquest were to have held up the death registration, again you might miss out if it doesn't fall within one year after the date of death given, the GRO only search one year either side.

It might also fail if the place of death is not within the same registration district.

[Jomot]

OK, let me rephrase - it gives me the date & place of his death along with his age and full date of birth, which in the vast majority of cases would be sufficient to order a death certificate (and in my uncle's case it definitely would, as I know there was no inquest).   

The point I was making is that it's information that wasn't available to subscribers previously and at the very least helps narrow down time-frames and areas, and as such I welcome it.