Comments on: 1911 England & Wales Census Summary Books Now Online at Ancestry.co.uk

By: Annabel Bernhardt

Annabel Bernhardt — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:44:21 +0000

Hi Janet, in our shortened search form you can such for a place by county and civil parish. However, Droitwich is a registration district so try going to ‘advanced search’ and entering Droitwich under ‘registration district’.

By: Graham J

Graham J — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 07:48:54 +0000

If the database is such a ‘fantastic resource’, would it not have been a good idea to arrange for web merging with FTM to work before it was released? Two weeks in and all that is produced is an error. This seems to happen every time a database is released.

One of the biggest frustrations with Ancestry is the apparent lack of interest in correcting transcription errors. The ‘Add alternate information’ does allow users to submit corrected information, although the original mistakes are never removed and it has the additional weakness that is also allows them to pollute the index with equally incorrect transcriptions and information that isn’t in the original source (maiden surnames and alternative spellings for example may be useful but should be indexed separately). However in all too many databases only a subset of the available fields may have alternate information and with the summary books it is just the ‘Name’, which is better than nothing but pretty hopeless. One would have though the ability to correct the address would be equally important.

By: Janet Adamson

Janet Adamson — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:56:58 +0000

Have tried to use the 1911 census,(enumerator’s books) but am not sure whether the records are complete – trying to look up families I know to be in Droitwich, Worcs, but only entries for Kidderminster come up – very frustrating

By: Andrew Long

Andrew Long — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 23:53:56 +0000

The Find my Past website have had the full 1911 census online for months. I have a subscription with them as well and have already completed my research. I must agree with other commenters that the summary books don’t add any real value and Ancestry would be better spending their time (and my not inconsiderable subscription) in getting their finger out and publishing the records for 1911 as FMP have already done.

I would also add that there are numerous problems with indexing. I was unable to search for an ancestor in Saltaire and was forced to go through each district file until I found it.

By: Len

Len — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 18:04:46 +0000

The index is intresting but is not going to help the family tree. Its realy a tease without the full census behind it. However the two togeather will be very powerful so I was wondering what about the other years is there any index for them? I have found a number of family members by ‘walking’ from one end of a vilage to the other. With an index that would be easier and quicker.

By: Boo

Boo — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 13:12:21 +0000

Any chance of getting Gateshead in the right county?
You have it in Northumberland rather than Durham. Yes, I realise that this was a glitch that occurred in both the 1911 official site and in Find My Past, but they both managed to correct it quite quickly.
I wonder how long it will take Ancestry? So far its been months since the omissions from the Probate Calendar were reported and ‘still’ no sign of that being corrected.

I love ancestry, but really do think that a bit more attention to quality rather than quantity would really help.

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:55:45 +0000

hey Annabel, how are you? n where are you .. Long time no contact?…

By: Julia Bentley

Julia Bentley — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:11:08 +0000

I am very glad about Ancestry having access to the 1911 Census. I will always research my family tree through you, as you are reasonable with your charges in that you can look up as many records as you like and not have to pay a per view fee.

Yes, there are a lot of transcription errors, but if you take the time to correct your family’s records and advise Ancestry, these are ironed out gradually, but it is not always Ancestry’s transcribers who are at fault. I found a baptism in one of the LMA records to be incorrect.

Keep up the good work Ancestry – you’ve come a long way since I first joined in 2004.

By: Annabel Bernhardt

Annabel Bernhardt — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 12:14:21 +0000

Thank you all for your comments, we appreciate that you want exact timings but we are still in the early planning stages and looking at the most effective way of delivering the complete 1911 Census to our members. Despite work already undertaken with the 1911 Census we still need to process all the images and create a brand new index to the records. Though our primary objective at this point is to make these records available online as quickly as possible, indexing over 15 million images takes time and unfortunately it is impossible to confirm exact delivery dates at this stage. We will have a clearer idea of when the indexes will be online in the early part of this year and will continue to keep our members fully updated until the complete collection is available.

By: Marylynn Burbridge

Marylynn Burbridge — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 10:54:34 +0000

Will the 1911 Scottish census details be available?