Hi Robyn: If you feel so guilty about someone else researching your family for you, why don't you buy the CD of the 1851 census for Co. Durham. I have and it means I can do my own research. Sure, it would be easier to use an overall index if one was available but until then it must be done the hard way. I believe Stepping Stones and/or S&N Genealogy have done 1841 and 1851 between them. I have them both but I'm not at home so don't remember which was which. Archive CD Books has done 1861 and is promising 1871 this year although I haven't seen hide nor hair of it yet. Doing your own research is so much more rewarding because you feel so good when you find somebody. As a bonus you'll probably find more folks because you'll be the only one to recognise a married daughter etc. In addition, if you have your own CDs you'd be able to help FreeCEN transcribe the census and make it freely available on-line. It might be the only way some of us will ever find our ancestors. I'm trying to do my research from thousands of miles away and I know how hard it can be and how welcome even the smallest bit of help is. Still, this is a hobby for most of us and DIY is the best way to go - with a little help from our friends! Good hunting, Irene

> In addition, if you have your own CDs you'd be able to help FreeCEN > transcribe the census and make it freely available on-line. It might be the > only way some of us will ever find our ancestors. I'm transcribing now for FreeCen and they will loan you the CD's free to transcribe. Just go to the FreeCen website, http://freecen.rootsweb.com/project.htm and volunteer. You don't need to own the CD's. You can pick which county you want to help with, but I don't think you can request a particular CD. I'm working on 1861 Worcester and Durham. Please don't ask for lookups because part of the terms of having the CD's loaned to us free, is that we only use it for transcribing for FreeCen. Just in case anyone wanted to help put them online faster. It will also give you a feel for how hard it can be to index correctly. Renee O'Neal

Hi Irene :) I agree wholeheartedly with you, it IS much more rewarding finding your own ancestors!! :D I purchased the 1851 Devon census CD not that long ago from the LDS site. It was only about US$10 which I could afford. The Durham CDs I've looked into at a few sites and they're around £45 which is way over my budge when you convert it to US dollars. If I were back in the States I could access one of their family history centres, or even if I was still in Australia, but unfortunately here in Germany I have nothing but the internet!! :(( And the kindness of strangers of course!!! :D I think the highlight of my research was when I received a newspaper article photocopy of my ggGrandfather, William Eastley's, trial details (he was a convict, bad boy!) and just because I'm a stickybeak I read the entire page. I found part of another article which had William's name on it so I requested a copy of that part of the page. I uncovered information about one of the biggest mysteries of our family, all because I had to know what everyone else was being tried for!! lol Boy it felt good to give other researchers information that I'd "almost" found myself too, although I wouldn't have had it had I not had the trial article with just that little bit on the left!! ;D So far I've had an incredible response to my census lookup request, so before I get totally absorbed (am I not?!? lol) in finding Elizabeth, a huge THANK YOU to everyone on the list, you've all made finding her that much more pleasant and a tad easier!! :D Take care, Rob. IBSSG Stuttgart, Germany Honey's Home of Genealogy www.honeyshome.com ----- Original Message ----- From: irene.marlborough@syngenta.com To: ENG-DURHAM-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 3:03 PM Subject: RE: [ENG-DUR] 1851 Durham census Hi Robyn: If you feel so guilty about someone else researching your family for you, why don't you buy the CD of the 1851 census for Co. Durham. I have and it means I can do my own research. Sure, it would be easier to use an overall index if one was available but until then it must be done the hard way. I believe Stepping Stones and/or S&N Genealogy have done 1841 and 1851 between them. I have them both but I'm not at home so don't remember which was which. Archive CD Books has done 1861 and is promising 1871 this year although I haven't seen hide nor hair of it yet. Doing your own research is so much more rewarding because you feel so good when you find somebody. As a bonus you'll probably find more folks because you'll be the only one to recognise a married daughter etc. In addition, if you have your own CDs you'd be able to help FreeCEN transcribe the census and make it freely available on-line. It might be the only way some of us will ever find our ancestors. I'm trying to do my research from thousands of miles away and I know how hard it can be and how welcome even the smallest bit of help is. Still, this is a hobby for most of us and DIY is the best way to go - with a little help from our friends! Good hunting, Irene ==== ENG-DURHAM Mailing List ==== U.K. PhoneDirectory http://www.bt.com/phonenetuk/ Looking for an address in the U.K. try, http://www.streetmap.co.uk/