Genealogy Chat

I'm surprised that nobody has noticed the new, revamped freereg site:

http://freereg2.freereg.org.uk/

It's more modern and brighter looking and is updated much more often (the idea is for it to be updated every single day as transcriptions are uploaded).

From the old site:
IMPORTANT: We are pleased to announce that a new version of this website is ready for you to search at FreeREG2 and it is using the same set of records as here. You will find that it has some new search options and it works slightly differently, so do not expect exactly the same search result, and you may even find something new.

Many thanks!

Joan - true, but the FreeREG home page contains Beverley's IMPORTANT note with the embedded "FreeREG2" link.

I can't find any more of my guys on the new than I could on the old :-(


I was told about the new site in another group, so didn't check on here.


I do gather that the new one is still somewhat under trial.

They've also privatized some of the records that used to be available - baptisms less than 100 years ago, (can't remember marriages, possible less than 75 years?) and (if there were any) burials less than 5 years ago.

I'd deleted the email a while ago - its disappeared into the ether :-0

Joan, both sites are still running so if you click on the 'freereg' without the added '2' you will still get to the old site.
Sylvia, finding new people will depend on how many new transcriptions there are for your area of interest :) the main thing is that now new records will be updated quickly instead of once a month or whatever it used to be.

The new ones though seem to want info for the search that you may not have

I tried several of my London Dartnell family that I have back to the early 1700"s but only found them by giving dates that I already knew . If you don't put criteria in like dates or county /area it come up with nothing found

Hmm I just did a search for some of my ancestors just putting in surname and county - absolutely nothing else - and got results.



Last Name
NIGHTINGALE

Exact Match?
Yes

Record Type
Baptism

County
Staffordshire

250 Search Results
Your results were limited to the maximum number of results. We suggest you may wish to refine your search to ensure a complete set of results

I've found over the last 3 years that I have got maybe 2 results from looking on freereg 2 or 3 times a month .................. mainly to help people on here, but also for our ancestors.


so I have been looking at parishes all over the country, and nada!

I look with envy at those who seem to get results every time :-)


I usually start off as Beverley has just done if the surname is relatively uncommon (ie, not Smith or Jones!) ........... surname and county, and then try to whittle down from that. But usually whittling down by entering a forename results in 0 Results.

It depends so much on the area you are researching, coverage is very unequal over the UK. I have been lucky with some of my ancestors, since I have branches in East Lothian, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Staffordshire, all of which have a high % rate of transcription. Other areas are not so fortunate. I haven't found anything on FreeReg for my ancestors in Bucks. or Worcestershire (yet).

Beverley ...............

for our ancestors, I want Buckinghamshire, Lancashire, Westmorland and West Riding Yorkshire ................


I'm beginning to feel that we have a whole lot of ones that were dropped fully formed from an alien spaceship, not just my Dad's gt x ??? grandfather who arrived in time to get married in 1740! :-D :-D

Well at least for Lancs you have the LancsOpc site :)

that is true!


and it is excellent!