This may be relevant only to those of us on the Western side of the Atlantic, but you never know . . . I heard on my local radio station this afternoon that the good folks from Ancestry are making much of their data collection available for free for four days from Friday through Monday, inclusive. Perhaps you'll need to adjust for US time zones. You will need to visit tryancestry.com and then work from there. I'm guessing that they will want at least an email address in return. Merry Christmas/Hannukah/holiday of your choice! Paul -- Paul Howes www.howesfamilies.com Researching House, Howes, Hows, Howse & Howze worldwide