Access to the records in the featured Australian collections will be free until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday 26 January 2016 AEDT. To view these records you will need to register for free with Ancestry.com.au with your name and email address. We will then send you a user name and password to access the records. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured Australian collections using an Ancestry.com.au paid membership.
If you are getting into Genealogy, whilst Ancestry has excellent access to records, and this free access if VERY useful, the web-based family tree facility is nothing like using appropriate software on your own PC. Their Android app is pretty useless. There are several pieces of software (free and paid for) that are more flexible and pleasing to use. In December, with about 2 weeks warning, Ancestry suddenly stopped selling their "Family Tree Maker" and angered 10s of thousands of their subscribers, losing many as a result. It remains to be seen what this will mean for genealogists and for Ancestry. (Ancestry is now owned and run for venture capitalists.)
Free access, especially if you go without sleep for the weekend, is most valuable.
FWIW
Where do they get the data from?
Will my family be in it?
Dont understand.
they source data from different sources, but a lot of it actually comes from fellow subscribers who enter information while they build their family tree.
once you start digging back 4 or 5 generations, you'd be very suprised how wide the tree goes and how many hundreds of people you are distantly related to.
it only takes 1 or 2 of those people to dig back and enter the little pieces of info they know, and then this correlates to what you have and hey presto, a huge family tree you never new about.
unfortunately, the resourses from non-english speaking backgrounds is next to useless (with some exceptions to french and spanish).
for my background (southern europe) it was complete waste of time and money.
Thanks.
That makes sense.
I think mine will be half good half bad.
Im half japanaese andhalf english so i guess the english should would be acurate but the japanese side would be hopeless?
There are numerous (paid) and some other sources of data online. The data are obtained from Census records, Electoral Rolls, rent books, newspapers, Parish records, Immigration and shipping records, Trade Directories, Police/criminal records, Wills and Probate documents, books, Trade Journals and many more sources. It is almost certain that some details of members of your family are there, it is just a matter of searching.
Go to the Ancestry site and have a look OR go to https://familysearch.org/ site and do a bit of searching. Membership is Free, though there are limitations to some of the information available.
Thanks! I love these free weekends and usually make the most of them.
I don't find the Australian records anywhere near as complete as the UK ones. Anyone else have this problem.
I'm having a problem of not even finding myself on it. I must be a nobody.
Yeah, same here none of my family except voting enrolment of my grandparents from '70s
For privacy reasons records only become public after a set amount of time.
For example NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages has public records for:
Births over 100 years ago
Deaths over 30 years ago
Marriages over 50 years ago
http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/Pages/family-history/family-histor…
That means living people are less easily harassed.
A fat lot of use this is. I entered my name and details into the search and it couldn't find any record of me. Seems that i don't exist.
Can't even find my dad on it too.
Edit: never mind i found my dads name hidden away on an electoral roll. Couldn't find myself on there though.
or privacy reasons records only become public after a set amount of time.
For example NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages has public records for:
Births over 100 years ago
Deaths over 30 years ago
Marriages over 50 years ago
http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/Pages/family-history/family-histor…
thanks helps
You are most welcome
Most genealogist know who they are, so don't need to search for themselves.
Thank you drunifex and I'm sorry Ozbargain is the sort of place where a warning gets you downvoted into oblivion. I was already aware of the catches with Ancestry.com, but most users here aren't even aware of the way genealogy works to the point that they are surprised when they can't find living people in a search. So a warning to those people is well warranted. Shame on you those who downvoted.
Thanks.
Ive seen that too. I was posting so that people are informed. I didn't vote down the deal as its a valid deal. But hey people here tend to be bitchy :)
So you still need to supply a credit card for the free trial?
Yes… and a good reason not to do it.
Aha - thanks!
Watch the video posted (and downvoted into oblivion) in this discussion by drunifex. It's a trap.
Serious question:
This would only be useful for anglo-Australians right?
They do have some records from other international sources but they aren't anywhere near as extensive and may be nonexistent depending on your background. If your family has been in Australia, America, the UK for a while some of the older records may be available. The Australian records are what they are. You won't find much recent info due to privacy law.
Worth checking out if you're interested in this 'deal'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C61tKCkR8Nk