RootsChat.Com
Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Topic started by: bonjedward on Saturday 19 March 05 15:49 GMT (UK)
-
As many have discovered, the indexing at http://scotlandspeople.gov.uk leaves much to be desired, and you often spend credits in vain only to discover it's the wrong individual. That's part of their business model, I suppose, but we might as well try to spend our money as wisely as possible. Here are some examples of how to get value for money and even get some free results. It takes a little patience, and probably annoys the hell out of Scotlandspeople, since it hits their servers with many non income-generating queries. What a shame!
It's often worthwhile designing a search so that it results a number of results, for example where the surname is rare, or where you're interested in a surname in a particular district. There can be up to 25 results on a single page, at a cost of 1 credit, so try to go for the 25. E.g. search for Deaths, "TOWERS"; County: Renfrew; Year From: 1912; Year To: 1954, 25 results. Or if it's 2 pages, try to go for 50 results - try selecting districts - up to 5 at a time - to narrow the search. Even if you're currently only looking for one particular individual, there's a good chance that some of the others could be relevant later. Even once you've narrowed the search down so it returns 25 results, try to expand it a little. E.g. if 1866-1913 returns 25 results, try 1865-1913, 1866-1914 etc until you go over the 25 and have to go back one year. I.e. try to get the most extensive search for your 1 credit - you may well want to go back to this search later while looking for another individual.
I often have a browser window open searching the IGI, or FreeCEN at the same time as Scotlandspeople. In Scotlandspeople, you can't for example, search for all children of given parents - you have to know their names to search for them. So find them first if possible other places and then search Scotlandspeople.
There's a maximum limit of 5500 characters in a Rootschat post, so for my examples, see the following post:
-
Example: Search Statutory Register (SR) Deaths (1855-1954)
Euphemia Rennie, born ca. 1846, married 1871 to John Pritchard.
Search for death, Euphemia Rennie, 1871- 1954. 32 results, 2 pages.
Reduce search til it fits on 1 page: 1871-1932 - 25 results. Pay 1 credit for that search.
This result: 1919 RENNIE EUPHEMIA MCGEEC F 73 HILLHEAD LANARK looks promising - age fits, and the location.
Now search for Euphemia Pritchard, aged 73, died 1919 in Hillhead, Lanark. Returns 1 result: it’s her. For the moment I’m not all that interested - I’ve discovered the year and place of her death. The middle name (probably McGeech) is interesting . I haven’t come across it before. Maybe I’ll have a look some time in the future if I have extra credits, in the meantime I won’t spend the 1 credit to get the exact result of the search, or the subsequent 5 credits to download the image. This is a typical example of trying to save credits - she's a remote relative, not a direct ancestor, so I'm not willing to spend a lot of money right now following that line.
Result: Euphemia Pritchard, nee Rennie died aged 73, in1919 in Hillhead, Lanark
Total cost: 1 credit
Example: Search Statutory Register (SR) Marriages (1855-1929)
and Search Statutory Register (SR) Births (1855-1904))
From 1881 census - Rennie family, Govan. Flora Rennie, aged 16, born in Irvine, Ayrshire (her mother Jane born same place). I.e. born between 4th April 1864 and 4th April 1865 (the census was taken on the night of 3rd-4th April 1881 - earliest possible date is if she turned 17 on 4th April 1881 and the census taker appeared before midnight, latest possible date is if she turned 16 on 4th April and the census taker appeared after midnight.)
1901: David Rennie dies, widow Jeanie Muirhead.
Search for marriage: David Rennie, Jeanie Muirhead, no matches. Neither are there matches with Jean* (note on wildcard searches: * matches any number of characters -including none, ? matches one character only -e.g. THOM*SON matches both THOMSON, THOMPSON, THOMASON, THOMASSON, etc. THOM?SON will match THOMPSON and THOMASON but not the others
Replace Jeanie with Jane, 1 match. Narrow it down to 1870, Glasgow (could have narrowed it down to district, but couldn’t be bothered). So Flora born before that wedding. Search for births, Flora Rennie 1864-1865, Ayr, Irvine. 0 matches. Replace Rennie with Muirhead, 1 match. 1864-1864 1 match.
Result: David Rennie married Jane Muirhead in Glasgow in 1870.
Result: Flora Muirhead born in Irvine, Ayrshire in 1864.
Total cost: 0 credits
Example: Search Statutory Register (SR) Deaths (1855-1954)
Search for death cert for. Sarah Wray, nee Davis. Was 38 yrs old in 1881 census, so should be born between 4-apr-1842 and 4-apr-1843. Search for deaths, all years, all counties, Sarah Wray. 9 results. Married women are usually also indexed under their maiden names, so try Sarah Davis. 57 results. So Wray is a rarer name, try this first. The family lived in Port Glasgow in 1881, so let's try Renfrewshire, Port Glasgow district, and Sarah Wray, deaths from 1881 and from age 38 upwards. (note: not all age of deaths are indexed - those not indexed are set to 131, so if you set an upper limit of 100 years of age, you won't find these). 1 result. Try replacing Wray with Davis and do the same search. If there are no results, then we shouldn't be looking in Port Glasgow. 1 result. That's better than I'd hoped - there could easily have been more. Now find the year of death, changing the surname back to Wray, and try 1900-1943. Remember to set the district, Port Glasgow, each time - it gets reset. 1 result. 1920-1943 1 result. 1930-1943 0 results. 1920-1925 0 results. 1926-1928 1 results. 1926-1926 1 result. Now try to find the age. In 1926, she should have been about 83. Try ages 81-85 1 result. 81-83 1 result. 81-81 0 results 82-82 1 result. Now replace Wray with Davis, all other criteria as before 1 result. That must be her.
Result: Sarah Wray nee Davis died aged 82 in Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire, in 1926.
Total cost 0 credits.
2 March 2007 - new example. Looking for a George Philp, born probably between 1700 and 1728, probably around Edinburgh. Searching for Ph*l*p*
G*r*g* in Midlothian gives only one result. I could pay for it now, but might as well get any siblings at the same time. Since searching only for Ph*l*p* (all first names) would cost 3 credits, find out what parish he's born in first. Narrow this down, taking say 5 parishs at a time - either you get 1 result or 0 results. I result in Edinburgh Parish. So do the Ph*l*p* (all first names) search of that parish. 24 results. Extend to 1700-1729 25 results. Pay 1 credit for this.
-
Thanks David
This is very useful guidance - something that could be added to the site itself. I can't believe they are just after our money!! ;D
I did in fact hace some success searching for all children of known parents. If you put the child's surname (or supposed surname) in the top surname field and then the mother's surname into the "parent's name" field at the bottom, it brings up likely matches. By a process of eliminating those born in the wrong place (Thurso instead of Bute!!) or to parents with the wrong first names, you can come up with a likely list. Not foolproof I know,but useful for further flung rellies.
Caution: remember to apply alternative spellings!! e.g. I found my GUY relatives under GAY (same pronunciation in the vernacular)
Arranroots ;)
-
David's advice is excellent!
Arranroots mentioned finding GUY spelled GAY, and suggested trying spelling variations.
As David pointed out, do make use of wildcards on ScotlandsPeople (I find their Soundex useless but that's a personal opinion).
Using wildcards in the GUY/GAY case cited, one could search for G*Y (* = no, one or more letters) but that would not be any help as it would bring up e.g. GRAY, GREY etc. But a search for G?Y (? = one letter) would bring up GUY and GAY - and also GEY, GIY, and GOY should there happen to be any.
The Free Surname Search on the Home Page is also useful - in the above example it shows that there are heaps of GUYs and GAYs, no GIYs, 1 GEY, and 9 GOYs (and specifies in which set of records they appear). I couldn't try GY as the Free Surname Search requires a surname with length greater than two characters(!!!).
Cheers,
JAP
-
Thanks for your comments.
As I recall, specifying parents' names when searching for births is only possible for OPR searches, and I seem to remember that although parents' first and last names are transcribed there, you can't specify parents' first names in the search (My credits have expired, and I'm not planning to buy more before the 1871 Census is available "this Spring" - well, it's the 21st of March today).
The OPRs are good for one other thing - you can via the free searching I described find the exact dates, by halving your search interval each time, if you have the patience.
The parent's surnames in the Statutory Birth records might not be indexed, and it would certainly be a major undertaking for Scotlandspeople to do it. But in the absence of good indexing, I think it would only be fair to make the search results free of charge - perhaps increasing the cost of downloading an image by 1 credit to pay for it. Also, you should be able to search for female deaths by specifying surname AND maiden surname.
-
Dear David
Thank you for this information.
My husband's Scottish family is proving most elusive and the conversion from NZ dollars to British pound is horrendous.
Anne 8)
-
Very useful advice David. I have only just started using Scotlands People and I have to say I am horrified at how much it has been costing. I suppose I was expecting it to be like Ancestry. I dont seem to have found out much for my money so your tips will come in very handy.
Best wishes. Linda.
-
Thanks for that David, I have just narrowed down, to within a year, the deaths of 2 of my Jeffreys for free!!
I have 16 credits left on SP (expired at the moment) and I'm putting off buying more till the 1851 census comes online...shouldn't be much longer surely.
Sylvia ;D
PS Anne, I'm in NZ too so have to watch the $$$'s
-
Hi David
I only joined the forum last month so have only just picked up on this thread. I already use some of your tips & will try some of the others so Thank you for posting them.
Do you have any tips on census searches by any chance?
When Scotts Origin had the censuses online you could include the birthplace in the search which was very useful when you had no idea where an ancestor would be 10 years on from the previous census. Scotlandspeople say they can see no point in adding the birthplace into the search boxes - they either have no idea how hard it is to search for a common name on the census or perhaps think that if they make it slightly easier for us then their income may drop slightly.
In my case they have actually lost out on at least 6GBP as I have search results I am not sure of so have not purchased the image. LIke you these are not direct ancestors, so I am not willing to spend money - especially when I am not sure I have the right people.
Regards
Sally
-
It's been a few months since I last used Scotlandspeople, as I can't really get any further before the 1851 census is available. Here is what I remember offhand.
Freecen is of course worth checking first, especially when the 1841 and 1851 censuses are available on Scotlandspeople.
Otherwise, the tips are similar to the ones for other sources.
Narrow your search down until you have a minimum of matching results. If you're pretty sure of the county, try one district at a time. Once you have a list of possible results, try searching those same districts one at a time for other family members you'd expect to be at the same address. Of course, for common names, and uncertain ages, this can be very difficult. If you're getting large numbers of results, you might have to put that search aside until Freecen has done that census and district, or maybe plan a trip to New Register House and pay the daily fee for unlimited searches.
Once you've decided to pay 1 credit for a likely result, expand the search before paying: try to find the most extensive search (widest range of years, ages, wildcards instead of letters) that will return 25 results on a page (or multiples of 25) - there may be other family members among the 25 as a 'bonus'. Or at least you will have eliminated those ranges of years, so that a later search doesn't have to waste time or money there. Remember, don't stop when you get 25 results, expand the ranges a little until you get more than 25, then contract it a little so you find the greatest range to return exactly 25.
-
Hi David
Thank you for the tips which I have printed out so they are ready to use later.
I do keep a check on Freecen but the 1851 & 1841 are going to be a doddle compared to the later censuses when various family members spread their wings & decided to fly to various parts of Scotland.
Thanks again
Regards
Sally
-
As many have discovered, the indexing at http://scotlandspeople.gov.uk leaves much to be desired, and you often spend credits in vain only to discover it's the wrong individual. That's part of their business model, I suppose
No, actually, it isn't.
I was helping someone who had looked at every possible certificate indexed on SP in a vain attempt to find her ancestor. When I happened to be in New Register House I dug around in the microfiche and found the right death in 1883, but it was not in the online index.
SP immediately corrected the index and refunded all the credits the person had used looking for this entry.
This accords with my experience of GROS over a number of years. They are always happy to correct any error drawn to their attention, and if an error on their part has caused someone to use up credits, they will refund them. (They don't refund credits used up looking to see if correct index entries point to the right person,so there's no relief for people hunting John Smiths or Macdonalds.)
So your rather cynical comment is not justified.
Forfarian
-
I was referring to the limited and inflexible options in online searches, which can require the spending of several credits in order to get results which could have fitted on one page, given the information actually contained in the indexes.
Businesses are entitled to structure their services in ways that are advantageous to them, just as consumers are entitled to adapt their purchasing habits in order to get the most for their money.
-
Thanks David!
I appreciate your comments on how to search for the least amount of money spent.
Another thing that everyone should do is transcribe all the information found on the birth, death, marriage and census certificates. That way, all of us could check here first, before spending a fortune looking for ancestors.
I am in the middle of transcribing the certs that I have viewed so far, as I know just how frustrating it is to pay, and find out that it is the wrong person.
As death, and birth certs have three listed, marriage certs
have two and census can have as many as 50, you can only imagine how many people will be helped, when I transcribe 104 certs that I have already viewed. My search pages total 241, and that results in quite a few pages with as many as 25 names listed on most pages.
Hopefully more people will do this, and post the information in the "unwanted items", so that other rootschatters can be helped.
Janice
-
A good place to post Scottish BDM information is on Sue Lund's Scotland BDM Exchange at:
http://www.sctbdm.com/
JAP
-
What happens when you have found the right record eg Marriage Cert, then find its impossible to read it all they charge £10.00 for the cert it self, I am even having problems printing it off any ideas please.
Thanks Marrle
-
What happens when you have found the right record eg Marriage Cert, then find its impossible to read it all they charge £10.00 for the cert it self, I am even having problems printing it off any ideas please.
Contact Scotland's People and tell them you cannot read it. They will replace it with a legible version.
-
Thanks will try that. Marrle
-
sometimes it helps with reading the images to download, enlarge and highlight in in microsoft document imaging. highlighting often makes the writing clearer. If it is very faint clicking 'auto correct' often makes it a little darker. Also try having a look at how the writer has formed letters in other known words.
-
Just a little correction.
In the ScotlandsPeople (and Scots Origins) census indexes for 1841,1851, 1861, 1871, 1891 and 1901 the birthplace info has never been included in the GROS indexes. 1881, yes, but that census only, due to the indexing method used by GSU.
But will Ancestry trump this?
ibi
-
My way round to try to cope with Census searching
One of my biggest problems in searching through the census on Scotlandspeople have been common names and people in the most populous county Lanarkshire. Often they were quite mobile around the county though didn't often venture into Glasgow city (why does Lanarkshire automatically include Glasgow districts (I know Glasgow was historically part of Lanarkshire) when Glasgow districts can be separated from Lanarkshire in the search). A method that I have sometimes used (with varying degrees of sucess) to try to emulate ancestry's "view of other members of the household" is as follows:
Pick a couple of members of the houshold you are interested in. Possibly not the actual ancestor you are looking for but one with a less common forename.
Search for these in the county that you are interested in with the age range that you would have searched for them with anyway.
Don't look at any images until you have searched for two ancestors.
Print off your results.
Compare the GROS data for the results. My interpretation the GROS data for the census returns is as follows(please anybody correct me if I am wrong):
Take the code 651/02 013/02 017 as an example.
651 refers to the registration district 02 being a subdistrict (?)
013 is the enumeration district and 02 I think is the book number for that district
017 is the page within the enumeration book
Basically if there is the same GROS data in the searches from the two people you are looking for then the chances of them being in the same household are greatly increased as at least they are on the same page (obviously if the page differs by 1 it could indicate a continuation of a household on the next page). If a couple of possiblities still exist then a search on a third person solely in those districts of that county would indicate if there is someone who is on the same page.
Not an exact way and I still have wasted 5 credits viewing unwanted images but at least I have an idea if there is a John Campbell for example on the same page as Mary Campbell. Rather than thinking that one looks really good using five credits and then finding is wife was Jane. Ok the searches still cost 1 credit but for the searches I use this for is when I know I'm not going to hit the exact return in 6, 11 or 16 credits (1 for the search and 5 for each of the viewed images).
Hope this was of some help and not too confusing!
Gordon
-
Recent developments on Ancestry, whitiver it's noo ca'ed, have radically altered optimum search strategies in the Scottish censuses, particularly when there's common name problems, or other problems.
The GROS indexes on line at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk are so-called "thin" indexes, i.e. the fields that are searchable are few in number.
The Ancestry indexes, - so far, 1841, '51 and '61 are "fatter" indexes, in the sense that more fields are included in the indexes which can be searched, plus it's possible to search without having to enter the surname; and link the search to the presence in the household of another name.
As yet, I haven't sufficient personal experience to make a judgement, but from what I've seen of the opinion of others whose opinion I trust, the Ancestry indexes are worthwhile, even although there appear to be major problems in terms of the accuracy of the indexing...... the saving grace being the number of fields that can be searched, and the ways in which search info can be combined.
To give you a flavour of the transcription errors in the Ancestry Scottish census indexes, I only just y'day was made aware of the following entry for place of birth, - "Deaf& Dumb, England" !! ;D
In other words, the indexer, or the OCR software involved, assumed that the entry in the column before the place of birth column was associated, i.e. the parish, as opposed to being the entry in the column relating to mental or physical disability ........
BTW, the instructions in this context in term of mental disability were, over the various censuses where such info was requested, along the following lines, -
Lunatic: “A mentally ill person with periods of lucidity”.
Imbecile: "Persons who have fallen in later life into a state of chronic dementia"
Idiot: "..those who suffer from congenital mental deficiency."
ibi
-
Hi David Douglas
I too have given up for the time being with Scotlandspeople.
I kept forgetting my password - I know I should have made a note of it which I did frequently. Also, how long does your history remain available to view? We recently changed our broadband provider and, of course Scotlandspeople don't recognise me any longer.
I now really don't want to request information which I have already viewed under another user name/password.
I have reregistered under my new name and will scutinise your recommendations before I pay for new credits.
Thank you for your information.
Kind regards,
Ankerdine
-
Hi Ankerdine,
SP (GROS) is not a site which rips people off - well, that's my view!
If your email address and user name have remained the same, then SP will certainly help you find your old password. And if your email address and user name have changed, then I feel sure they'll do their very best to merge your new and old email addresses and your new and old user names - and the viewing/paying history which goes with your old email address and user name - if they can possibly do so. Do please give them all the details.
Well, that's my opinion.
Your history (i.e. the history of one email address, user name and password - how could it be else) remains from the inception of SP. Of course, SP can't possibly know that someone who registered under one email address, user name and password is the same person as someone who registered under another email address, user name and password. You need to explain this to SP and seek their help.
Just ask the questions of SP! And persevere!
If there's a problem, do come back and post here again.
JAP
-
Thanks for that reply, Jap. I will certainly do as you say. We have actually changed our e-mail address to a completely new one.
I agree that Scotlandspeople are very helpful if you have a genuine problem. I once had trouble downloading images and, indeed, lost them completely. SP, once contacted, reimbursed me immediately with credits used.
What I was querying was the continued change of password. Do you know if it is possible to use, say, one familiar word rather than the numbers and letters offered at present. I use one personal password for all other genealogy sites and would like to be able to to do this on SP.
-
You can change your password in the "My details" section of the site, once you've logged in. You can also change your e-mail address there.
However, if you can't remember the password on your account you'll have to contact SP, as JAP suggests, to see if they can sort it out - the forgotten password option will only send e-mails to your old address.
It might also be worth searching through your e-mail inbox to see if you still have a copy of the last e-mail giving your password.
Helen
-
Hi ankerdine,
I don't know what you mean by "the continued change of password" ???
As far as I'm aware, I've used the same password since the inception of SP - of course, that has been with my same email address and user name! I don't bother to change the passwords I use on genie sites because I don't really think that there is a security issue there!
If you want to use one familiar word as a password for all genealogical sites but if certain genealogical sites require a combination of letters and numbers, why not - for such sites - use the familiar word followed always by one specific number (e.g. 1)? That way you'll always be able to remember it - if not at the first try (when you might try just the familiar word) then certainly at the second try (when you try the familiar word followed by your chosen number e.g. 1) ;D
But, as Helen (NellW) confirms, you'll have to liaise direct with SP if you've actually changed your email address/user name and want to retain/regain access to your previous searches and viewed images!
JAP
-
Thanks Helen/Jap
I will do as you both suggest and let you know when I've done it!
Regards
-
Hi David Douglas
I too have given up for the time being with Scotlandspeople.
I kept forgetting my password - I know I should have made a note of it which I did frequently. Also, how long does your history remain available to view? We recently changed our broadband provider and, of course Scotlandspeople don't recognise me any longer.
I now really don't want to request information which I have already viewed under another user name/password.
I have reregistered under my new name and will scutinise your recommendations before I pay for new credits.
Thank you for your information.
Kind regards,
Ankerdine
Hi Ankerdine
See the excellent advice in posts from JAP.
Your problem, I suspect, is that if you've forgotten your password, and, in the interim, have changed your email address, and then asked ScotlandsPeople for a reminder of your password, but that reminder will, of course, be sent to the email address registered on the account..............
ScotlandsPeople can't do anything else, unless you contact them and make them aware of the situation.
I'd suggest that you use the "Contact Us" option, - see the SP Home page right down at the bottom, - I'm sure that SP will be delighted to put you back in touch with all the previous records that you have viewed, but they're going to need to know your previous email address. To know the user name(s) is preferable but not required, alho', in that situation, they may want to confirm your identity.
ibi
-
Here's a tip: don't spend too long on genealogy in one sitting; it can really get confusing at times if you're like me and do a bit of research on one family and jump to another when you hit a brick wall. After about 2 hours my mind is so full of names, dates and place names I have to go for a cuppa before returning to my studies. :)
-
Hello
I could weep. :'( :'( I too have thrown away another few quid on searching Scotspeople. I found an Alexander Marshall, son of Robert, who married a Mary Shaw but then the dates/ages didn't fit with what I already had. I watched the credits fast disappearing and it was like a challenge to see if I could get something accurate before they all ran out. To no avail, it was nearly a completely wasted few hours of work too.......
On a brighter note though I did find just one marriage certificate and one accurate census record for a William Marshall. On the census (1851) in (Kirkcowan) there is a reference to a family of WILSONS. Someone out there was searching for Wilsons and having trouble.
I had 1 credit left and found something very positive-sounding but didn't dare try again.
How do you list several districts at once on scotspeople? Do you have to select and hold down the control key?
I will wait until another rainy day and raid the "piggy bank" again.
-
Hi
Did I hear anyone mention Wilsons :D
If you want to select parishes, you can do it in the usual way - crtl or shift key and click to select some or a range. Unfortunately you can't do it for counties unless you select all counties and then the parishes associated with them - but that's a bit tedious ::)
Gadget
-
Hi again and thanks for information re multiple districts, Gadget.
The Wilsons on the 1851 census: Husband was besom maker and wife was besom seller!! Lovely don't you think? I really enjoy reading about their occupations.
-
Not my Wilsons - they'd left by then :( :( :( :(
Thanks :)
-
I've noticed that there hasn't been any updates in this thread for quite a while even though there have been a few changes at ScotlandsPeople.
Census Updates
1. They added another search parameter for all the census except 1881 quite some time ago in which the forename of a second person can be included in a search.
From SP:
Second Person Forename
If you know the forename of another person whom you would expect to find in a household, enter the forename here to refine your search results.
Please Note:
If a household is spread over two pages, and both members appear on separate pages, the search will not return this entry.
If two households appearing on the same image have the same names as your search criteria, both will be returned.
A search on a second person forename will return records which contain exact matches of that forename only. For example, entering ANN will only return ANN. MARY ANN, ANN ELIZA or ANN J. , etc. will not be returned. Variations in the spelling of the name, for example, Anne or Annie, will also not be returned. To find any of these, you must either search with each variation separately or use Wildcards for example, Ann*.
2. A person I was helping with some Scottish research had a problem with an entry from the 1881 census and contacted SP. In the response she received (they corrected the problem), she was told that SP will be adding the images for the 1881 census soon (possibly in Dec 2008). When that occurs, the search mechanisms will be the same for all census databases.
I haven't seen the "Return all forenames that begin with these characters" feature mentioned in this thread regarding searching so I thought I would mention it. This box is checked by default at SP and can be very helpful when searching names that have spelling variations, such as Catherine, Margaret or names which may have been abbreviated, such as Alex for Alexander, Thos for Thomas or Jos for Joseph. Using Catherine as an example, if you enter Cat you will get back results for Catherine, Catharine, Cathrine, Cathryn, etc. (Note for a name like Catherine, you might want to try searching Kat as well in case they were registered as Katherine, Katrine, etc.). You can enter as few as one letter so if you have a person who is Jean on one census, Jane on another, Janet on yet another and Jessie on still another, you can use this feature and just enter the letter J and specify that you are searching for a female and you will get results for all those names.
I think one of the mistakes that I've heard about over and over again when people say they can't find someone is the mistake of being too specific. For example, if you include a year of birth in the search parameters be sure to include a plus/minus of at least 2 years (IMO). Take into account spelling variations for forenames and surnames. As mentioned in this thread, take advantage of searching with wildcards. Remember that soundex does not always work. For example, I was once helping a person who was researching the surname Stewart and when using soundex the results only came up with the Stewart surname but when I did a soundex search of Stuart, I got both Stuart and Stewart surnames in the results. Another person I was helping was researching the Muirie/Muiry surname and when using soundex for Muirie, no Muiry names were included in the results and vice versa. In this case using wildcards to search Muir* worked best.
Jacquie
-
Hi Jacquie
Thanks for your input about Scotlands People. I must say that I just charge into it without really thinking what I am doing and so my units dont last very long. I will try to be more patient in future and really think who I am looking for.
I notice that you have Williamsons from Scotland in your interests. Do they by any chance come from Wigtownshire via Ireland?
I have a couple of Williamsons who are a real trouble to me. Still missing after all this time.
Judy
-
I notice that you have Williamsons from Scotland in your interests. Do they by any chance come from Wigtownshire via Ireland?
I have a couple of Williamsons who are a real trouble to me. Still missing after all this time.
Judy
The Williamsons I have are from Fife although I know very little about that line. My 4th great-grandmother was Elizabeth Williamson and she married David Galloway in Aberdour, Fife in 1793. I don't have confirmed parents for her.
Jacquie
-
Another of my contacts has told me that the Williamsons were a highland clan originally from the North of Scotland.
To my shame :-[ :-[ I am very rusty on the "counties" of Scotland so much so that I don't even know where Fife is. It's the same with places like Renfrewshire, Midlothian etc. I ought to take a course on the geography of Scotland.
A possible "New Year Resolution"! ;D ;D
Judy
-
Here's a good site for you, Judy:
http://scotlandsfamily.com/
Gadget
(think I'm getting to be your minder ;D ;D ;D )
-
Another of my contacts has told me that the Williamsons were a highland clan originally from the North of Scotland.
To my shame :-[ :-[ I am very rusty on the "counties" of Scotland so much so that I don't even know where Fife is. It's the same with places like Renfrewshire, Midlothian etc. I ought to take a course on the geography of Scotland.
A possible "New Year Resolution"! ;D ;D
Judy
I use the wonderful genuki county map all the time - couldn't be without it :)
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/Britain.html
There is a separate one for Ireland
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/Ireland.html
For county parish maps, I also try genuki
This is my Fife map
http://www.thefifepost.com/?page_id=836
and Renfrew
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/RFW/rfw_pmap2.html
Any others you want can probably be found via genuki as well
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/#Counties
Trish
-
'They are always happy to correct any error drawn to their attention, and if an error on their part has caused someone to use up credits, they will refund them'.
i'm afraid i have to side with david here. in the past i have drawn s.p's attention to a number of faults. i have never been offered a refund. if it is now their policy to do so i applaud them, but its not before time.
-
Hi Trish
Thanks for the reminder about Genuki. It was one of the first sites recommended to me by a "genealogy" friend. Perhaps that is why I seldom use it nowadays. It was good of you to jog my memory. You are right, it has been so useful in the past for pointing me in one direction or another.
Judy
-
Note the following from the ScotlandsPeople website
We are pleased to announce that new statutory images from the Statutory Register of Births for 1908 and the Statutory Register of Deaths for 1958 are now on-line. Statutory Register of Marriages (index and images) for 1933 will follow shortly.
No sign yet, however, of the 1881 scanned images, or the Catholic records, both 'promised' for around now.
And still no sign of the modern marriage index, i.e. the index only from the present closure date for images up to the present day, despite this being originally announced for early 2008. A major problem apparently, has been that the release of the similar birth and death indexes a year ago led to an overload on the system from the large number of extract (certificate) orders, - the delivery period is still 4 weeks or worse. (It can be worth paying the extra £3 to order via email, phone, or fax, since this involves a completely separate system with the delivery time being max 7 to 10 days!)
Referring back to an earlier post re the kirk session records, these are all now digitised, but so far can only be viewed at National Archives of Scotland (they may also, or soon, be available via individual kirks?), - promised at some future date for on-line web availability, but that that depends on a number of factors, not least how to index them, - the original indexing pilot project which included every name mentioned produced the result that the full project, with current resources, would take over 15 years to complete, so a less powerful index is being investigated.
Orraverybest
ibi
-
Thanks Trish, these maps are just what I have been looking for
Regards
-
I;m going to ask that this thread is kept to general ideas about how to optimise SP searches - and that specific searches are kept to threads of their own - thanks.
:)
-
It is probably me being somewhat dumb but in case there is anyone else like me I thought I would mention it. When you search on statutory death indexes - especially the early ones 1855 - 1860s the age of death is often not included. There is a button that says include unrecorded ages. That switch I discovered after some expense only refers to ages put in the age range it does not include the year of birth range. Thus if you tick the box but put in the year of birth it will only bring up those people whose age has been included and not those where it has not. Thus:
I accept the logic that the unrecorded ages box only applies to the one but surely this could be linked to the year of birth?
frustrated Sarenid
-
I think one of the biggest mistakes people make when searching at SP is entering too much information.
With respect to the age at death box, I always leave that blank because I've found that keeping track of a person's real age wasn't really a priority back then. :P We look at census records and find an ancestor who was 25 in 1851, 30 in 1861 and 60 in 1871, for example. Using the birth year with a plus/minus of at least 2 without putting the age at death in works best IMO.
-
My advice to people just starting out on researching their family is to do what I did.
I knew my Lawrie family were from Fife (at least as far back as my g/grandparents) and years ago I just searched in Scotlandspeople for all births, marriages & deaths of Lawries in Fife.
There were hundreds and hundreds of them but at 1 credit per 25 line page it was worth it to print them out, wire bind them and have a hard copy.
I could then view them at my leisure and pick the ones I wanted to investigate.
This would work with any name, but of course the less popular the name, the easier (and cheaper) it is.
-
I accept the logic that the unrecorded ages box only applies to the one but surely this could be linked to the year of birth?
I think the problem arises from the fact that the age at death was not included in the handwritten indexes in the first decade or so. Therefore when the index was computerised it would have meant that to include ages at death they would have had to go back to the original books to extract the extra information.
For my part, I am glad they didn't because that would have taken a lot of time and would have delayed getting the rest of the index computerised.
-
Example: Search Statutory Register (SR) Marriages (1855-1929)
and Search Statutory Register (SR) Births (1855-1904))
From 1881 census - Rennie family, Govan. Flora Rennie, aged 16, born in Irvine, Ayrshire (her mother Jane born same place). I.e. born between 4th April 1864 and 4th April 1865 (the census was taken on the night of 3rd-4th April 1881 - earliest possible date is if she turned 17 on 4th April 1881 and the census taker appeared before midnight, latest possible date is if she turned 16 on 4th April and the census taker appeared after midnight.)
1901: David Rennie dies, widow Jeanie Muirhead.
Search for marriage: David Rennie, Jeanie Muirhead, no matches. Neither are there matches with Jean* (note on wildcard searches: * matches any number of characters -including none, ? matches one character only -e.g. THOM*SON matches both THOMSON, THOMPSON, THOMASON, THOMASSON, etc. THOM?SON will match THOMPSON and THOMASON but not the others
Replace Jeanie with Jane, 1 match. Narrow it down to 1870, Glasgow (could have narrowed it down to district, but couldn’t be bothered). So Flora born before that wedding. Search for births, Flora Rennie 1864-1865, Ayr, Irvine. 0 matches. Replace Rennie with Muirhead, 1 match. 1864-1864 1 match.
Result: David Rennie married Jane Muirhead in Glasgow in 1870.
Result: Flora Muirhead born in Irvine, Ayrshire in 1864.
Total cost: 0 credits
Your technique works well, but that isn't a particularly good example. If I were looking for that information, I'd go straight to the IGI for it, because births and marriages between 1855 and 1874 are indexed there.
Search for marriage of David Rennie to .... Muirhead. Result - marriage in Tradeston, Glasgow on 15 July 1870.
Ah! So Flora was born before the marriage.
Search for birth of Flora Muirhead in 1864 plus or minus 2 years. Result - born in Irvine on 1 May 1864, mother Jane Muirhead, father not named.
Bonus: Search using father's and mother's name. Result: two more children, born 1871 and 1873 in Glasgow.
Total cost: nil.
-
just wasted 30 credits trying to find a simple marriage of a widower, occupation baker, to an English born woman called Helen (as per 1901 from ancestry.co.uk)
only to find it was the wrong one
a 1911 census search also revealed the wrong man - why are you not able to look up a specific address or have I over looked this?
a death in 1911 was also revealed (age matched too) which also turned out to be the wrong man!
I thought the powers that be wanted people to embrace their Scottish roots - I'd have more success getting into Fort Knox then cracking the access to Scotlands People website
I've not got the will power to search any more or spend the money, which should have resulted in a more direct and successful hit - if only they were willing to allow search criteria as on the English and Welsh 1911 search engine - then I would have stayed longer and probably spent more time researching in depth.
It's just going to have to remain a closed door on that part of the world - which means they'll also miss out on possible tourism trade!
Rant over!
;D
-
Was the information used in your search to specific and/or is it possible that the woman married under a variation of her given name like Ellen instead of Helen?
-
plimmerian, I suppose that's what happens when you believe everything you find on Ancestry.
Just be thankful you were not looking for a marriage in England and Wales (cost used to be £7 per certificate but it's gone up to over £8) or Australia or New Zealand (about $20-$30 per certificate IIRC).
-
Ancestry helped locate deaths on scotlands people that had been totally mistranscribed there!
Ireland not easy either - lucky to have the GRO and freebmd and the likes of Lancashirebmd or lanc-opc.org.uk to cross reference and get a more direct hit - you can either keep the free info as fact or send for official documents to confirm
It just seems Scotlands People is a money maker and not there for the good of the family historian - yes it must stop the fraudsters but doesn't help genuine researchers
I'm sure if you are familiar with and a regular user of the site it is a wonderful thing to have.
-
Was the information used in your search to specific and/or is it possible that the woman married under a variation of her given name like Ellen instead of Helen?
thanks batwoman - I was tired and fighting flu - I've found her / him now LOL
amazing what a good sleep can do ;D :-*
-
Hiya, is it just me or is this website not very good? Finding I am flying through credits and not getting the images. Very frustrated. Anyone know of any other websites that offer the information in an easier format? ???
-
I love SP. It does have its issues though.
There are other sites available but none as comprehensive as SP - depends on location / date.
SP is the only place you can view the actual images for BDMs.
Read through the first couple of pages on this thread - it might save you a few credits.
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,43916.0.html
-
No, it's not just you Scotty. As Daval says, SP has its issues. One of the biggest for me is its stranglehold on the Scottish records, which prevents anyone else from offering the images at a slightly more competative rate. And one of my biggest bugbears with it is that they give you so little information in the indexes, that you have to go through a pile of records - i.e. credits - just to find the one you want (if it's there at all!). It can be very frustrating, not least because they don't even offer a subscription, where you can look through the records you need to sort out the wheat from the chaff to your hearts content for a reasonable fee, like other sites tend to do.
As the link suggests, there are ways to narrow down the records you're after, but even using those methods sometimes is not enough.
-
Hi
Keeping in mind that Scotlandspeople is a Scottish Government website it is not surprising that they have a strangle hold on Scottish records. For BMDs the English equivalent is the GRO and while the GRO indexes are a little better, that is offset by the fact that historical Scottish images are cheaper than English certificates.
Both Ancestry and Findmypast have transcriptions of Scottish Censuses and are very useful in helping you to work out which census image to download.
If it is OPRs that you are interested in then Familysearch.org is worth looking at first as they have indexed them (the former IGI) In fact I believe that SP uses the Familysearch index.
Also Familysearch have indexed Scottish births and marriages from 1855 to 1875 from the Statutory Registers.
There are also tips on SP as well as on Rootschat on how to maximise your searches.
I think SP are looking at how they can offer a subscription.
Andy
-
One of the biggest for me is its stranglehold on the Scottish records, which prevents anyone else from offering the images at a slightly more competative rate.
Please tell me where you are getting English or Welsh certificates even half as cheaply as you can get Scottish ones? I would love to be able to see images of English and Welsh BMD certificates for as little as £1.40 a time.
At the moment, the cheapest English and Welsh certificates I have found are £9.25 each, and you have to wait for them to come through the post. For the price of just one of those I can buy 39-and-a-bit SP credits. If I use 1 SP credit for a search, I can then look at 7 SP images and still have 3-and-a-bit credits over compared with buying 1 certificate from the GRO.
That seems to me to be an excellent deal.
And if you compare with certificates from (say) Australia or New Zealand, SP looks an even better deal.
There are at least two petitions to Parliament asking for legislation to allow the GRO to make digital images of historical English and Welsh BMD certificates available online. I strongly recommend that everyone should sign one or (preferably) both/all.
http//epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1792 Petitions ended 2012
http//epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/6988 Petitions ended 2012
-
In advance of the new year and the release of another year's records by Scotlands People:
New Images Will Be Available on ScotlandsPeople From 1 January 2012:
We are pleased to announce that the New Year’s statutory images containing records from the Statutory Register of Births for 1911, the Statutory Register of Marriages for 1936 and the Statutory Register of Deaths for 1961 will be released on the site on 1 January 2012.
Monica :)
-
just wasted 30 credits trying to find a simple marriage of a widower, occupation baker, to an English born woman called Helen (as per 1901 from ancestry.co.uk)
I thought the powers that be wanted people to embrace their Scottish roots - I'd have more success getting into Fort Knox then cracking the access to Scotlands People website
I've not got the will power to search any more or spend the money, which should have resulted in a more direct and successful hit - if only they were willing to allow search criteria as on the English and Welsh 1911 search engine - then I would have stayed longer and probably spent more time researching in depth.
It's just going to have to remain a closed door on that part of the world - which means they'll also miss out on possible tourism trade!
Rant over!
;D
Hmm right. So you made a mess of it, randomly started guessing and wasting your credits, then blame the Scottish authorities for the fact you couldn't figure it out?
This isn't to say that site isn't without its issues, because it has issues. Personally I would like to see it converted to some kind of subscription service. However, the records are still relatively cheap, easily accessable, date back to the 1500s, scanned and avaliable online with support from staff who will rescan any document within 3-4 days if you request assistance. The English and Welsh records are absolutely awful and horrendously over priced in comparison, I'm just happy I have no links to England or Wales, it would be a nightmare trying to find anyone.
These records are some of the best maintained in the world.
-
the site I enjoy the most because it is completely free and helped me find two missing marriages is
http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Search/indexp.html
I'm finding my Eire ancestry even harder to trace than my Scottish root - my Welsh and English roots have been a walk in the park in comparison - but I'm very glad to have them all as part of my history
;D
-
I was just about the start searching SP when I found all your comments. This has made me very scared about how much I am going to spend. I will just have to bite the bullet and try and follow your instructions.
Carol
Moderator Comment: Carol's post continues on the Midlothian Boards here www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,599280.0.html
-
Hi Carol
I think this discussion has become a little bit overwhelming unfortunately :-\ I think sometimes when people try to comment on their experience and you have many people doing this, new people may indeed find it indeed a little bit scary, understandably....and that is actually the opposite of what this post is trying to do. I think that is a pity really.
This post is meant to be really about tips and help for people coming to SP for the first time:
- The use of the wildcard '*' to replace characters is essential often. Given spellings in those times, spelling variations are always a bit problem. When searching on SP, which is rigid on its spellings, how you write it is how it will search....
- On the issue of spelling variations, in respect of first names, there are a number of first name variations that are worth considering if you have a problem finding what you are looking for. www.whatsinaname.net is a great site for checking on first name variations. In respect of surnames, you also have to be creative on the use of the wildcard. For example, always search for Mac/Mc names as M*c.
- Golden rules on SP such as: use the minumum number of letters, use widest possible age/year range - all to keep you within 25 entries per page...1 unit! Cut back on years, add a few more letters to get you to that 25 entries per page if required. This is all about maximising your unit(s). If you make an error on viewing an entry, you then have a wider search result list to try again (without having to pay another unit..!)
- When you are using any pay to view site, you always aim to maximize you money! On SP you buy units - £7GB gets you 30 of them. You search first (even if you know what you are looking for with certainty) and this costs 1 unit. You then view an image for 5 units. So as you can see, if you were very precise and exact, you could view 5 BMDs or census images for £7/30 units. This fares well with the current £9.25 cost of ordering a single BMD cert in England or Wales, and viewing is instant
- The reality is that you will have problems sometimes finding the right BMD entry. In the main though, this would happen also through the GRO for England and Wales and in Ireland. A lot of the issues here are no different to what happened in the rest of the UK: people were vague sometimes about their age, spellings were fluid, and you sometimes/often don't find people where you are expecting. Just a few of the issues that get in the way...
The tips and guidance are already on this thread.....
People sometimes do get frustrated and annoyed about not being able to find the right entry for a BMD and make comments here about their frustrations...not sure though whether this is necessarily to do with SP or just frustration overall which is understandable ::)
Without going over the top, Scotland have a fantastic resource with Scotlands People. It does have it quirks and pitfalls (for me, mostly when searching for census entries and the search field options). In respect of BMDs, we are so lucky to have SP at our fingertips and being able to download instantly, at a very reasonable cost, BMDs up to acceptable time frames (due to data protection/privacy issues).
Carol, ask for advice and help in the early stages as often as you need. RC members here on the Scottish boards are very experienced and comfortable on the SP pecularities and can offer advice along the way always..... ;)
Monica
-
Very sensible advice, Monica. I had ups and downs in the beginning but, over time, you eventually get to "learn the ropes".
Carol, just read and digest what Monica says. You may well have a few little problems but it does become clearer eventually.
CaileanMac may well find she/he does have Welsh or English ancestors one day. ::). I'm a mongrel (as is my OH) so we have no trouble supporting a rugby team!
Judy
-
The SP website still indicates that BMD images are only available till 1911/1936/1961 respectively. I was expecting to be able to view a 1912 birth cert by now. Have I missed something?
stuartroxy
PS. I was, initially, paying a fortune for unwanted certs - mostly because I was not aware of the excellent pointers on this thread; and the expert advice offered by the kind people here. Thanks again!
-
Stuart, they should be up an running now with the additional year for BMDs but I am not sure :-\ Had a little bit of a family crisis Xmas so not much registering.
Edit: They show this on their site www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Content/Help/index.aspx?2195
Release of the New Year's images on ScotlandsPeople
We are delighted to announce that the New Year's images will be made available on the ScotlandsPeople website on the 1st of January 2013. Images from statutory register of births for 1912, the statutory register of marriages for 1937 and the statutory register of deaths for 1962 will be made available on the ScotlandsPeople website at the turn of the New Year. We hope that you enjoy using these new images, and that the post-Hogmanay lull is the ideal time for it!
Monica :)
-
Thanks, Monica. I was certain that I'd get a prompt reply! I had seen the SP note, and it seems that they have just not yet updated the 'Record availability' page.
That said, the search that I have just completed came up with a completely irrelevant image! I hope that my issue is a one-off and not indicative of some poor indexing! I'll keep you all info'd
stuartroxy
-
I found the issue - an indexing problem. Hopefully, I'll get my credits back from SP shortly!
stuartroxy
-
I'm sure you will! As you know, SP are good at dealing with this type of issue relatively quickly.
Monica
-
Yup. I've no doubt I'll get sorted.
stuartroxy
-
Help! I know the name of the children whose births I am searching for and I know that one of them was born in 1915, I also know the names of the parents but I don't know where the children were born. How do I find their births? I am really reluctant to buy more credits as it's a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack. However, if there was an easier way to search for births ie by being able to add parents names, then I would definitely buy more credits to look at the fewer possibilities. Surely there must be a lot of people in the same situation resulting in SP losing out on revenue?
-
lalkav,
You won't get access to their BC if they were born after 1912 (or 1913 in a couple of months!); but it doesn't cost anything to search. It's a bit of a pain, but if you find that date if the individual, you can work your way through the different areas.
Good luck,
stuartroxy
-
Hi lalkav and Stuart
Unlike the England and Welsh indexes, you cannot search for births online on SP using both the family surname and the mother's maiden name. Makes it more tricky really.
As Stuart has mentioned, there is a 100 yr rule (due to data protection) on viewing images of birth certs online on SP, although you can view the indexes for births.
Monica
-
Thanks. I think I will just have to resign myself to never finding them as they were travellers and the children could literally have been born anywhere. They also used one of either of two surnames and I don't even have a year of birth for one of the children. I was just hoping there was some way I could trace their births by using their parents names like you can with the Irish records as this is how I've found some of their children that I didn't previously know about.
-
As Monica has pointed out, searching BC doesn't really allow for parents names etc; however, searching DC does allow you to search 'other' surnames and mother's maiden survey - just a thought.
stuartroxy
-
With a few exceptions the mother's maiden name is not recorded in the death index before 1974.
1974-2011
Mothers maiden surname is present in the index for these years.
As a security measure, wildcards are not allowed - if you enter a mothers maiden surname, it must be an exact match for the information in the database or the record will not be returned.
If you search without entering the mothers maiden surname, all records returned will show Not Permissible in the Mothers Maiden Surname column, although the information will be visible on any extract ordered (if known by the informant).
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Content/FAQs/Questions/index.aspx?64
ev
-
Dear David
Thank you for this information.
My husband's Scottish family is proving most elusive and the conversion from NZ dollars to British pound is horrendous.
Anne 8)
I'm having the same problem. My father is from Scotland and I am in Australia
-
Having not ventured far into Scottish records before could anyone tell me please if for example I find a marriage in the index I want to look at what exactly will I get to see for 1 credit?
If the marriage was in the 1940's or 1950's what information would I be able to see?
Thank you :)
-
Hi Milliepede
This is a good guide as to what images you are currently able to view and download online www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Content/Help/index.aspx?r=554&413
There are the following restrictions due to privacy etc in respect of viewing images online:
Births 100 yrs
Deaths 50 yrs
Marriages 75 yrs
In respect of a marriage after 1939, you would need to order this. You can do this via the search results page for an entry.
This is a list of current charges on SP www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Content/Help/index.aspx?r=554&409 If you only have one extract that you need from Scotland, it is likely cheaper to order direct from www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/famrec/bdm.html I think they currently charge £15. It is £12 if you order via Scotlands People website...however, you need the credits (at £7 for a batch of 30 units) to get to the search page results to then order...
Monica :)
-
That's very helpful thank you Monica :)
-
In the 1940s and 1950s a marriage certificate should tell you the date and address where the marriage ceremony was held; religious denomination, if any; names, occupations, marital status, age and current residence of both bride and groom; whether both signed their names or signed with an 'x' (i.e. could not write - though I have yet to see anyone marrying in the 1940s or later who could not sign their own name); full names of both parents of both bride and groom, including their mothers' maiden surnames; name and usually qualification of the person conducting the ceremony; names and address of witnesses; date and place of registration and registrar's signature.
-
Having not ventured far into Scottish records before could anyone tell me please if for example I find a marriage in the index I want to look at what exactly will I get to see for 1 credit?
If the marriage was in the 1940's or 1950's what information would I be able to see?
Thank you :)
One credit gets you the search results - 5 credits gets the image of the registration. This is what the registration looks like: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/images/famousscots/Marriagekeirhardie.tif (http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/images/famousscots/Marriagekeirhardie.tif)
This example is from 1880 but the form was the same for the 1940s and 1950s.
Jacquie
-
Thanks that's useful to see. I was hoping date of birth would be shown on the marriage certificate.
Unfortunately everything I want to search for is not in the time frame given ie too recent so I would have to purchase certificates.
-
I was hoping date of birth would be shown on the marriage certificate.
Not in the 1940s and 1950s.
Unfortunately everything I want to search for is not in the time frame given ie too recent so I would have to purchase certificates.
Unles you want to have a paper copy for your records, you could ask if a kind RootsChatter planning a visit to the SP centre would transcribe them for you (assuming it's only one or two and not dozens) or you could get a professional searcher to transcribe them, which would be cheaper than buying copies.
-
Thank you for these tips! I am in Canada, and have Scots rellies in 3 of my 4 grandparent's lines, so far! There are also Scots rellies in 3 of the 4 grandparent's lines on my husband's side. We have a good starting point for 'his' side from a handwritten family tree one of his aunts compiled on a visit to Scotland in the early 60s. Unfortunately I didn't know about this tree until after she died, so was unable to go over it with her. Still lots of good leads, though.
My daughter, who normally lives in Surrey but who is in NZ for 18 months, has spent an enormous amount of money on family history in the past with Scotland's People, often only to find it isn't the correct person. Both of my husband's grandmothers are extremely elusive, one from Ayrshire and one from Aberdeenshire. I will find their parents eventually!!!!!
-
Hi Rowan48
Welcome to RootsChat :)
At some point you might want to add some new posts on the relevant county boards for those particularly grandmothers of your husband ;)
People may well be able to help with access to local resources or expertise in the area.
Monica
-
Thank you, Monica. I'll be posting names in the appropriate county once I get a feel for how things are done here.
-
Hello
This may have been discussed and written about already but I couldn't find it. So apologies in advance.
I know that my grandmother was born, and lived, at an address in Partick where her family had lived for several generations. In the 1911 census she is a visitor elsewhere.
How can I search for an address to see if there are any of the family remaining at the old address?
regards
liz
-
Hello
It's me again. I've been trying to work it out and have got a bit further.
The address I want to look at is 338 Dumbarton Road.
I have discovered the road lists on Scotland's people and come up with the advanced search term:
rdno:646 && rdsuffix:3 && enumdist:35
This gives me 792 people who live between 314 to 348 (even) Dumbarton Road.
31 pages to search on Scotland's people - very expensive.
Is there any way to narrow it down to number 338. I tried adding && 338 to the search term but that didn't seem to work and the search returned zero results.
Regards
Liz
-
Sorry David, I have just made a thread regarding the prices at SP website. (I didn't see your thread) I thought it was just me.
-
Just adding this link to your other post for the more wider current discussion on costs on SP ;) www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=711043.0
I personally think we are very lucky to have SP for Scottish records. However, I know to my cost (£) that it is a learning process for searches and people need to understand this better before they start :-\
Monica :)
-
Here's a tip: don't spend too long on genealogy in one sitting; it can really get confusing at times if you're like me and do a bit of research on one family and jump to another when you hit a brick wall. After about 2 hours my mind is so full of names, dates and place names I have to go for a cuppa before returning to my studies. :)
I relate to this so much I call it ADHD Genealogy. The flitting from one name to another as to continue searching SOMEBODY ANYBODY :D
Thank you David
I too had come up with some of your ideas , as many people did on their own. The 25 hits per search is one I use a lot.
I think there is some change as I pay 1 credit per page to just look at my 25 hits- which makes it more important. I also use other sites to narrow down my searches.
Also use the wonderful people here on Rootschat to point you in the right direction :)
For me in Oz , as an example of foreign exchange, I pay $14 plus change most times for 30 credits. I am not as reliant on certs as many on here are. Living in Australia I tend to accept I wont be visiting the Kent Archive Centre or the Glasgow Reading Room anytime soon. I have a subscription to a major site and use that to find Archive Records where available - that suffices me - for now. Every now and then I will spend 5 credits on a downloaded cert from SP and I treat that like a certificate sent by the GRO.
Thank you for your tips from 11 years back.
Just a note : I too was wary of SP and the set up - but for what I have received I am eternally thankful for the opportunity SP gives us in other lands
-
Just a quick thank you to the people on this thread who provided so many hints in using Scotland's People. I found the site many years ago and found it invaluable in searching for Scots relatives from Australia. Also thought the charges, compared to many others at the time, quite reasonable.
However, having now spent time actually reading this thread, I utilised the wild card concept for the name DRYSDALE by typing in DR*****L and came up with about a dozen variations of the name.
My thanks again to those who take the time to post hints and responses.
Jane
-
Jane, sadly, you need to review the tips and advice since SP's very recent relaunch under new "management". New current (long now) thread here www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=753942.0
Monica :)
-
Thanks Monica, will do, much appreciated. :)
-
I had a large amount of info from this forum :) immediately after forking out again for SP, then found more on FamSearch! ::)
However,I do like 'saving' the SP records & noting other names I recognise from the wider circle, e.g. multiple Hopes,Harknesses/Irvings/Armstrongs, now added to my chart.Not so keen on very faint writing which requires effort to read.
-
I had a large amount of info from this forum :) immediately after forking out again for SP, then found more on FamSearch! ::)
Never trust anything you find online unless it is an image of an original document.
Yes, FamilySearch has lots of very useful information, but almost all of the information there is either indexes or transcriptions. Use FS as a finding aid to the primary sources at Scotland's People.