"CWatters" <colin.watters@NOturnersoakSPAM.plus.com> wrote: > >"Terry Pinnell" <terrypin@dial.pipex.com> wrote in message >news:p4dro31t3seo60tkp9okmq6qh99lfdtrq3@4ax.com... >> "CWatters" <colin.watters@NOturnersoakSPAM.plus.com> wrote: > > >You might be able to get quite a long way just using FreeBMD, the LDS >site >> >at http://www.familysearch.org and buying certificates. >> >> Thanks. How reliable/comprehensive is that? It seems dominated by USA >> sources? My first tests using people whose names and birth dates (in >> England) are beyond question came up with nothing. And using names >> like 'John Smith' in various arbitrary years from 1914 t0 1970 >> produced either zero or just a couple of hits! > >I haven't used it for post 1900 but I've found it very helpful for info >prior to that. They have the 1881 census on there for example. With other >records check to see if they are "Extractions from local records" or "Member >submissions". The former are more reliable. . Founds several records of my >British family in India on there. > >> >> >Your local library may well have an subscription that will give you free >> >access to www.ancestry.co.uk whe you will find census. >> >> I'd be happy to buy a subscription again for the convenience of home >> use. Is Ancestry well regarded? > >Yes Ancestry is well regarded. There are/were reports of people having >problems canceling subscriptions in the past. Not heard that for a year or >so. They quite regularly have offers and free trials and some require you to >take out a sub with a CC then cancel it if you just want the three months >free. > Thanks to all for the follow-ups. I should have made the point in my OP that I'm starting the current project in the 20th Century. At great cost to my eyes, I spent most of yesterday laboriously searching 1935-1945 BMD register scans for my first data. For this I bit the bullet and plumped my first subscription on The Genealogist, http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk. -- Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Terry Pinnell wrote: snip > > Thanks to all for the follow-ups. I should have made the point in my > OP that I'm starting the current project in the 20th Century. At great > cost to my eyes, I spent most of yesterday laboriously searching > 1935-1945 BMD register scans for my first data. For this I bit the > bullet and plumped my first subscription on The Genealogist, > http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk. > were you using the horrible fiche? I find the images on http://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/rectype/vital/freebmd/bmd.aspx easier to read you can enlarge them or change the screen resolution to make things easier still Hugh W