Re: Recommendation for online services?

"CWatters" <colin.watters@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>
>"Terry Pinnell" <terrypin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>news:q65qo3ha5ktjlifliiq5esoujpsqb5e9j4@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> I'm about to resume my family research after a very long break. After
>> starting in Nov 2005, I subscribed to several services such as
>> Ancestry, BMD, findmypast.com and 1837Online. I let these lapse in
>> 2006.
>>
>> I appreciate that it's a partly subjective matter, but to help me
>> decide which service(s) to re-join, I'd appreciate recommendations
>> please. I don't suppose there's consensus on the best value, but what
>> about 'the most comprehensive single service'?
>>
>> Is there in fact a case to be made for using entirely *free* services?
>> These seemed to be coming on fast by the time my activity finished
>> around Feb 2006, so perhaps there are now enough to cover all the
>> censuses and other major sources?
>
>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!

>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?


-- 
Terry, East Grinstead, UK