1. Using the Internet for genealogical researches in Britain ANDREW P. MACLEOD

2. Introduction Andrew P. MacLeod Genealogy Co-ordinator for the Associated Clan MacLeod Societies

3. www.imwe.co.uk Miscellaneous

4. Before you start…  Ensure that you have all your current information fully documented, with clear reference to the source of the information.  If you still have the opportunity then interview older people who may remember things from previous generations.  Never presume that you will remember everything you hear. You won’t!

5. General principles  Use free resources before paying for anything.  All transcribed records should be checked against the original whenever possible – transcriptions should be viewed as ‘finding aids’ rather than as the actual source record.  Ensure that you have a filing system which works for you.

6.  Donald Macleod will find pages which mention ‘Donald’ and which mention ‘Macleod’.  “Donald Macleod” will find that phrase but not find any Donald Murrays or George Macleods.  “Donald Macleod” -america will find ‘Donald Macleod’ but remove pages which mention the word ‘America’.  “Donald Macleod” +canada will insist that any pages returned include ‘Canada’. Google “googling intelligently genealogy ” for more suggestions Learn to search intelligently.

7. Example 1: Googling a name within quotation marks and with a location is sometimes beneficial. “George Macleod” Swordale The only drawback of this search is that it also found references to Swordale in Skye, so…

8. Example 1 (continued): Remove some unwanted results by refining the original search. “George Macleod” Swordale Lewis -Skye The search could now be repeated with variant spellings of ‘Macleod’.

9. Example 2: Googling a name within quotation marks and with a location is sometimes even more beneficial. “Angus Macaulay” Knock

11.  This site has stored millions of old web pages: http://archive.orghttp://archive.org  For example, search for ‘Scottish parish records’:  This search brings up 3 results, the second of which is…

12. The link brings up an ebook which can be read online. You never know what you’ll find!

13. Free Resources (UK)  Only spend hard-earned cash when you have to!  FreeBMD, FreeREG and FreeCEN are all under the FreeUKGenealogy umbrella.  FreeBMD was founded in 1998. Volunteers came together online to transcribe the General Register Office (GRO) indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths for England and Wales.  FreeREG is transcribing parish records and making them available in a searchable form for free online access.  FreeCEN is producing a free online access searchable database of 19th Century census returns. Volunteers have been concentrating on the censuses from 1841, ‘51, ‘61, ‘71 and ‘91.

14. Free Resources (UK) Never pay more than £9.25 ($16.50) for English/Welsh BMD certificates

15. Free Resources (UK) UK Parish records. Coverage is variable across different counties. A typical record

16. Free Resources (UK)

17. The National Library of Scotland (NLS) has a magnificent collection of old maps. They are of different ages and different scales – a wonderful resource! Have a browse around the site to discover other possible sources.

18. Paid Resources (Scotland) The ScotlandsPeople site (use Google to find it!) is the only place to view Scottish BMD certificates, census returns and other records. Whereas Civil Registration was introduced in England and Wales towards the end of 1837, Scotland introduced it in 1855. Catholic Registers. Old Parish Registers were kept pre-1855. They typically hold much less information but are still vital records. The valuation rolls are conveniently dated between the censuses. They only mention the owner and occupier – typically the head of house. Census Records for 1841 – 1911. Remember that transcripts exist on other sites – they are cheaper and so you should start there before paying to view these images. These are of some use – you might strike it lucky!

19. Credits can be bought in multiples of 30 at £7 each – no discounts are available. Viewing a list of search results costs 1 credit whilst viewing an image typically costs 5 credits. This means that each document ‘costs’ 6 credits (£1.40) if the initial search is successful. Compared to £9.25 for each English/Welsh certificate, this is a bargain! However… Canadian : British $2.50 : £1.40 $12.40 : £7.00 $16.50 : £9.25 Approximate at 25 June ‘16

20. It is easy to waste credits by performing the same search more than once. Avoid this problem by keeping a careful note of the exact searches you have done. You can view previous searches (and documents viewed) by clicking the links at the top of the screen:

22. When searching a common name, it is possible to have multiple possibilities. It then depends upon how badly you want the record. Are you willing to take the risk of paying for numerous documents you have no need of? There is still a clever trick which can be used in some circumstances: The ‘GROS Data’ numbers given here refer to the order of the events within the year of, in this case, 1855. 0041 is near the start of the year; 0137 is later in the year. Perhaps, based upon other evidence, one option is more likely than the other.

23. Paid Resources (World)

25. Paid Resources (Scotland) £15 ($26.70) for 3 months access. Transcribe for 1-2 hours per week in order to get ‘free’ access.

26. Forums There are many online forums for genealogy and family history. Here are three such forums with a UK slant:

27. Facebook

28. One final word If you’ve been helped, help others in turn. Transcriptions – transcribe a census return or an old will. Forum posts – post in your area of expertise. Online help is no different than more traditional forms of assistance!

29. www.imwe.co.uk Miscellaneous