I am not convinced of that, they do not seem to have recognised what a mess they have made of the site and are more interested in PR telling everyone that it is only a minor problem. They still have not managed to produce a nice simple, tidy summary of a household census entry that can be printed on less side of a sheet of paper as was possible before the 'improvements'. My standard test is to enter my family name in one of the censuses with just place of birth 'Bolton', I get no matches even though there are a dozen or so. It is over two months since they screwed up the site, I keep reading that it has got better but I have seen no difference. Martin Briscoe Fort William martin@mbriscoe.me.uk -----Original Message----- From: cheshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:cheshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Lesley Baxendale Sent: 05 June 2014 16:01 To: cheshire@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [CHS] FMP All very well if you don't happen to have lots of Cheshire ancestors. Neither site is fully comprehensive, but FMP is by far the best for Cheshire. It's having a few struggles at the moment, which I'm sure will get ironed out eventually.

All very well if you don't happen to have lots of Cheshire ancestors. Neither site is fully comprehensive, but FMP is by far the best for Cheshire. It's having a few struggles at the moment, which I'm sure will get ironed out eventually. It's still a lot cheaper than travelling to somewhere where you can get at the records you need, not to mention a whole lot faster! Personally, I got very fed up with the way it looked and worked, but then decided to come at it as if I had never used the site before - Hey presto - it works! I still use a combination of two or three different sites to find information if I have trouble finding something on FMP, but once I have as much detail as possible (usually Familysearch for my Cheshire stuff), I've had no difficulty finding the image for that info on FMP. None of the main family history sites seem to be working well at the moment, Ancestry and Familysearcg are having trouble too. Looks as though they are all busy updating their websites to fit in with the current fashion for doing everything from an ipad or tablet and trying (needlessly in mho) to make them look 'cool'. All done in the name of progress, which I'm afraid we're stuck with. Unfortunately, internet software is starting to become obsolete just as fast as the hardware! A sign of the times I suppose. Regards Lesley Baxendale On 05/06/2014 14:48, David wrote: > Time to pack FMP in, too many quirks to it, too many subscribers floundering > > And your paying for it. > > Time to switch to Ancestry > > A happy satisfied and well informed Ancestry subscriber > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHESHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

<<snipped>> But typing in "D" to get to Cheshire records isn't very obvious to say the least. <<snipped>> Fair comment - except that what you want is the Diocese of Chester datasets, not the Cheshire datasets. And to repeat a previous comment of mine, they're called that because they aren't all of the Cheshire parishes and they include stuff from outside Cheshire. Adrian

I think all the websites are getting too complicated.   You get used to something that works for you and then they 'update' and all goes to pot. No one likes change but the simpler the better and less jargon! K. ________________________________ From: David <davey.gravey@sympatico.ca> To: Cheshire@rootsweb.com Sent: Thursday, 5 June 2014, 14:48 Subject: [CHS] FMP Time to pack FMP in,    too many quirks to it,    too many subscribers floundering And your paying for it. Time to switch to Ancestry A happy satisfied and well informed Ancestry subscriber ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHESHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thanks Ruth, that's another way to get to it. But typing in "D" to get to Cheshire records isn't very obvious to say the least. It is useful at the moment in order to be able to get at data when required but WHATEVER way you go to the records ALL records that match the search parameters should be shown. And that wasn't happening. But you and I have no real control over that apart from complaining to FMP (which I have done) and for the moment it is useful to have another method of searching. Thanks again Christine -----Original Message----- From: Ruth Genda Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2014 9:30 AM To: Cheshire@rootsweb.com ; christinebenson313@btinternet.com Subject: Cheshire Records on FMP (was Matthew Whittaker & Sarah) Hi Christine et al, The quick and easy method I use is this: On the FMP introductory page I click first on the Search all Records box at the bottom of the page. A new page opens (NPO). On the left hand side you will see a menu which gives you 3 Filters. Click on the one for Record Set. NPO Click on the letter D for Diocese of Chester. NPO You will then be shown all the records which start with that letter page by page - so yes you will have to click for two pages through Derby and Devon, etc until you reach the ones you want. Click for both the PRs and the BTs and your filters will then be in place. The search page will return. Only now go to the top of that page and insert the name you are searching for - Matthew Whittaker - in this case you don't need to put in dates or other names. Just click on the Search box. Up he comes. As you don't want the BMDs don't click on the BMD & Parish Records filter - it gets too confused. Don't put the name in before you've sorted which filters you want to use. Less is more. The mantra is FILTER FIRST before doing anything else. (I'm not shouting - just showing how important it is!) Some Cheshire records are filtered under the letter C, some under D, so it's useful to familiarise yourself with them. Just take a look. I hope this helps you - I'm very used to it now after the initial floundering. FMP does work. It's managing the change that didn't. Good luck. Ruth

>From the USA, I found FMP to be very valuable in my search for Cheshire ancestors. Past tense! It is mostly useless now, can't find anything but the census'. But that doesn't bother me as much as the fact that FMP does not care that they have destroyed its usefulness. I have written them 3 times on the subject, and all inquiries have been ignored. I have a full-up worldwide Ancestry account, but they can't hold a candle to FMP, that is the old FMP. It makes me so sad. Beverly Culpeper, VA -----Original Message----- From: cheshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:cheshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Bruce Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2014 12:13 PM To: cheshire@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [CHS] FMP <<snipped>> I keep reading that it has got better but I have seen no difference. <<snipped>> Depends where you're looking. They have reintroduced the ability to download pages of newspapers, for instance. <<snipped>> None of the main family history sites seem to be working well at the moment, Ancestry and FamilySearch are having trouble too. Looks as though they are all busy updating their websites to fit in with the current fashion for doing everything from an iPad or tablet <<snipped>> Working on tablets and smartphones has to be a given. It's perfectly possible to do it - you just need to design layouts that respond differently to being on different sizes of glass. Re Ancestry - Yes, New Search anyone? And I suspect the impractical mechanism to choose birthplace in the FMP censuses had its inspiration in Ancestry restricting people to birthplaces in a drop-down list. And where did Ancestry get its inspiration from? The programmers? I suspect not - I think they got the idea from American *genealogists*. You don't have to go far before you find American genealogists going on about placename authority tables, i.e. a full and complete list of *all* placenames. (Honesty compels me to point out that when American genealogists refer to placenames they mean jurisdictions - and it might be possible to produce such a list for the UK - I think http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk has just that. But the Norwegian genealogists seem to be producing a database of all farm-names!!! Maybe "farm" means something different to them...) Adrian ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHESHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

On 05/06/2014 10:43, "Tony Vernon" <tonyvernon4@gmail.com> wrote: Snipped "Perhaps someone should compile a 'Tips and Tricks' or 'Frequently Asked Questions' list of this and similar items for the newsletter. " Good idea. It would be really helpful if it were on the FMP site. I'm guessing that there are plenty of FMP subscribers who do not subscribe to the Cheshire list and others who will join in the future who may never discover what we have found on the old searches.

Time to pack FMP in, too many quirks to it, too many subscribers floundering And your paying for it. Time to switch to Ancestry A happy satisfied and well informed Ancestry subscriber

Hi Christine et al, The quick and easy method I use is this: On the FMP introductory page I click first on the Search all Records box at the bottom of the page. A new page opens (NPO). On the left hand side you will see a menu which gives you 3 Filters. Click on the one for Record Set. NPO Click on the letter D for Diocese of Chester. NPO You will then be shown all the records which start with that letter page by page - so yes you will have to click for two pages through Derby and Devon, etc until you reach the ones you want. Click for both the PRs and the BTs and your filters will then be in place. The search page will return. Only now go to the top of that page and insert the name you are searching for - Matthew Whittaker - in this case you don't need to put in dates or other names. Just click on the Search box. Up he comes. As you don't want the BMDs don't click on the BMD & Parish Records filter - it gets too confused. Don't put the name in before you've sorted which filters you want to use. Less is more. The mantra is FILTER FIRST before doing anything else. (I'm not shouting - just showing how important it is!) Some Cheshire records are filtered under the letter C, some under D, so it's useful to familiarise yourself with them. Just take a look. I hope this helps you - I'm very used to it now after the initial floundering. FMP does work. It's managing the change that didn't. Good luck. Ruth

Hello, Perhaps someone should compile a 'Tips and Tricks' or 'Frequently Asked Questions' list of this and similar items for the newsletter. If someone has time for it, it would be nice to have all these discussions of the new FMP interface in one place. Personally, I'm taking care of our 7 and 6 year old while my wife is in France, so can't do it myself! I am in software and we like to call situations like this 'undocumented features' rather than 'bugs'. Makes it sound so much better! Regardless, it would be a big help if all these were in one place for easy reference. I hope someone can find the time for that. Thanks, Tony On Thu, Jun 5, 2014 at 4:30 AM, Ruth Genda <ruthgenda@btinternet.com> wrote: > Hi Christine et al, > > The quick and easy method I use is this: > > On the FMP introductory page I click first on the Search all Records box at > the bottom of the page. > A new page opens (NPO). On the left hand side you will see a menu which > gives you 3 Filters. > > Click on the one for Record Set. NPO > Click on the letter D for Diocese of Chester. NPO > You will then be shown all the records which start with that letter page by > page - so yes you will have to click for two pages through Derby and Devon, > etc until you reach the ones you want. > > Click for both the PRs and the BTs and your filters will then be in place. > The search page will return. > > Only now go to the top of that page and insert the name you are searching > for - Matthew Whittaker - in this case you don't need to put in dates or > other names. Just click on the Search box. Up he comes. > > As you don't want the BMDs don't click on the BMD & Parish Records filter - > it gets too confused. Don't put the name in before you've sorted which > filters you want to use. Less is more. > The mantra is FILTER FIRST before doing anything else. (I'm not shouting - > just showing how important it is!) > Some Cheshire records are filtered under the letter C, some under D, so > it's > useful to familiarise yourself with them. Just take a look. > > I hope this helps you - I'm very used to it now after the initial > floundering. FMP does work. It's managing the change that didn't. > Good luck. > Ruth > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > CHESHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

<<snipped>> I still think it should present you with ALL matching records, so the parish record should have been there as well as the GRO type record. <<snipped>> So do I - I like having parish records and civil records all stacked up together - shows me (possible) late baptisms, children who (possibly) die young, etc. It drives some people daft having combinations. Personally, I can't understand why! Adrian

Thanks Adrian. But since there was never previously a space to enter a spouse's name I wasn't looking for that. I was using the filters to filter out the marriages after first selecting "BMD and parish records" or "all records" on the initial search. And I didn't notice the line in small print at the top when all those large boxes were catching my eye. I still think it should present you with ALL matching records, so the parish record should have been there as well as the GRO type record. But at least I now know how to find it in the future. And on my screen, after selecting "Marriages & Divorces" from the pop-down list it gives a "When" date and a date of birth but not a date of death. Christine -----Original Message----- From: Adrian Bruce Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2014 10:04 PM To: 'CHESHIRE mailing list' Cc: 'Christine Benson' Subject: RE: [CHS] Matthew WHITTAKER and Sarah <<snipped>> If you select BMD and parish records, and before filling in the screen select "Marriages & Divorces" from the pop-down list under "all collections" then you get the parish record for the marriage. But if you look at marriages in any other way (at least those I have tried) you don't get it. What a way to design a system!!! <<snipped>> There is a bug here. On Search records / "Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records" / "All Collections", there is no ability to specify any marriage date, only a year of birth or death, which makes it fairly useless to search for marriage, despite the "Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records" title! Except that... It turns out that there is no ability to specify it on first entry. If you go from the "All Collections" drop-down option to "Marriages & Divorces" drop-down and then back to "All Collections" drop-down, there are NOW three years on the search form, for event, birth and death. The event year item is not there on first entry. This is clearly a bug. I've raised it as a Feedback item. But I also have to say that if you don't move beyond the "all collections" option, then you don't get any items for spouse's name, which is a bit of a clue that this is not a good screen to use to search for a marriage. Adrian

<<snipped>> If you select BMD and parish records, and before filling in the screen select "Marriages & Divorces" from the pop-down list under "all collections" then you get the parish record for the marriage. But if you look at marriages in any other way (at least those I have tried) you don't get it. What a way to design a system!!! <<snipped>> There is a bug here. On Search records / "Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records" / "All Collections", there is no ability to specify any marriage date, only a year of birth or death, which makes it fairly useless to search for marriage, despite the "Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records" title! Except that... It turns out that there is no ability to specify it on first entry. If you go from the "All Collections" drop-down option to "Marriages & Divorces" drop-down and then back to "All Collections" drop-down, there are NOW three years on the search form, for event, birth and death. The event year item is not there on first entry. This is clearly a bug. I've raised it as a Feedback item. But I also have to say that if you don't move beyond the "all collections" option, then you don't get any items for spouse's name, which is a bit of a clue that this is not a good screen to use to search for a marriage. Adrian

Hi All, In trying to submit the question to FMP I have answered my own question. If you select BMD and parish records, and before filling in the screen select "Marriages & Divorces" from the pop-down list under "all collections" then you get the parish record for the marriage. But if you look at marriages in any other way (at least those I have tried) you don't get it. What a way to design a system!!! Christine -----Original Message----- From: Christine Benson Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2014 7:58 PM To: CHESHIRE mailing list Subject: [CHS] Matthew WHITTAKER and Sarah Hi All, Some time ago I noted on my tree that Matthew WHITTAKER (1789-1873) married Sarah PROCTOR on 7 Sep 1841 at Gawsworth. I have the names of the witnesses so I must have been looking at the original and I found it on Findmypast. Now, trying to access it again I can only get the GRO info, i.e.the quarter and the list of possible spouses. What's more Sarah is shown as Sarah HOUGH. Now it is possible this was her 2nd marriage and, at an early stage in my research, I omitted to note that. If I could get at the original parish record or bishop's transcript I could check that. So am I looking in the wrong place on FMP? Or have they removed that facility after 1837. Any ideas/answers gratefully received. Christine ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHESHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi All, Some time ago I noted on my tree that Matthew WHITTAKER (1789-1873) married Sarah PROCTOR on 7 Sep 1841 at Gawsworth. I have the names of the witnesses so I must have been looking at the original and I found it on Findmypast. Now, trying to access it again I can only get the GRO info, i.e.the quarter and the list of possible spouses. What's more Sarah is shown as Sarah HOUGH. Now it is possible this was her 2nd marriage and, at an early stage in my research, I omitted to note that. If I could get at the original parish record or bishop's transcript I could check that. So am I looking in the wrong place on FMP? Or have they removed that facility after 1837. Any ideas/answers gratefully received. Christine

The Following updates for CheshireBMD have just been announced: -------------------- Message from Ian Hartas, Cheshire. Hi, Cheshire BMD has been updated to as follows: Births: 3,191 for Stockport First, registers at Stockport (1964-1966) Marriages: 255 for Oxton, St Saviour, registers at Wirral (1942-1958) 248 for Birkenhead, Holy Trinity, registers at Wirral (1938-1948) 101 for Woodchurch, Holy Cross, registers at Wirral (1940-1942) 303 for Great Meols (Hoylake), St John, registers at Wirral (1940-1962) 253 for Heswall, St Peter, registers at Wirral (1936-1943) 250 for Hoylake, Holy Trinity, registers at Wirral (1939-1952) Deaths: Replaced 17,430 for Tameside, registers at Tameside (1978-2007) to add age at death Many thanks to Bob Kirk, Helen Gill, Peter Greenwood and their respective colleagues for these. -------------------- Forwarded by: Bob Kirk Penrith Cumbria www.Kirksoft.me.uk http://www.cheshirebmd.org.uk

Looking at family search found 2 surnames in a marriage records. Edward Rowland born about 1760 in possible Cheshire I have the marriage record from the Bishops Transcription and from archives search from 2006 as follows Edward Rowland married Hannah Griffies at St Oswald's Chester 10 March 1784 bans published on 11,18,and 25 January both marked the register with a X.Witnesses were Thomas Wiegh &Samuel Wey Bishops transcripts Cheshire Marriage Edward Rowland to Hannah Griffies 10 March 1784 St Oswalds Chester Edward Rowland to Hanah Griffiths same date same film number1655540 ,digital number4012056 &Image number 414 There is a Aldford connection all his family and his son George would ancesters There is a Hannah Griffiths born 1762 in Aldford Thanks

I have received a very helpful and informative reply from Stockport Library about the photograph. The librarian, Natasha Hirst , believes it to be of Stockport Municipal Secondary School. She has researched the two teachers and gives more details about them. She thinks that the photograph is of a cookery and laundry class. (domestic science). She adds: 'In regards to information about the school, here is a quick history: Stockport Technical School was founded in 1888 and located on Wellington Road. By 1902 the school was performing four different functions - a day school for boys and girls, an art school, classes for pupil teachers and evening classes in technical and scientific subjects. In 1903 the day school became known as Stockport Municipal Secondary School. This building became Stockport College for Further Education in 1927, and was demolished in 1971. In 1910 the girls moved into a new building, known as Greek Street High for Girls. In 1917 the school was used as a military hospital, and in 1960 the school moved to Offerton, changing its name to Goyt Bank School. This building became part of Stockport College, and still stands today.' Excellent response! I now think that all four of my FLETCHER aunts may have been pupils there - they all became teachers in adult life - so I have further questions to ask. If anyone is interested in a copy of the full reply please let me know. I will be donating the photograph to the Library shortly. Ruth

Hi - can anyone tell me if there are any churchwarden or settlement records for anywhere in Cheshire please? If so where might I find them Thanks Sandra

We have a book with an inscription in it, part of which reads: Christmas 1948 from Mr & Mrs McCormick and John. I was wondering if anyone has any idea as to who this family is. Our family did live in the Birkenhead area and our family names are: Armstrong/Walker/Zachary/Lawson. Any suggestions would be appreciated, Irene