Genealogy Chat

Don't be a complete dork like me....see below in a mo.....

I wanted to search for a death between 1851 and 1861 for the surname COUND. As I am not flush at the moment (son wants Darth Vadar suit and helmet for Xmas, plus a whole lot of other ''difficult to source'' items, and daughter wants to become Margot Fontayne by the new year).........I decided to do my search on FreeBMD. So, first I did a normal search for the surname. Very few results because it isn't a common name. So I made a note of all the quarters that were not mentioned in the results list and then proceeded to the ''View Images'' section, where I laboriously looked for Cound deaths in each ''missing'' quarter. After I'd done about 5 years worth (lol) I realised there were no Cound's at all on many quarters. Also the name fell between ''Councel'' and ''Counsill'' and their variants. So, I went back to the ordinary search page and did a deaths search for Council and then for Counsill. By viewing the pages for these names (by clicking the spectacles) I got to see nearly all the Cound entries without going through the laborious search thingy. So.......if you have an uncommon surname to look for on ''View Images'', try a more common name that you know will be listed very close to ''your'' name and save yourself lots of time (and Christmas money!!) Merry x

Good tip. Will try it. Cathy

Could you not have tried Coun* ? Just asking! Kate.

Hello Kate! You mean Coun* instead of Council/Counsill....?? yes.... But I was trying to get over that you would need to click on a name that was close enough to be on the same page (though the page refs are given when you view, so you could use these to aid the search, but I thought that was getting a bit complicated - lots of people on here don't know about View Images in the first place!!!).... (The truth is, I didn't think about your way, because sometimes I wait so long for a search with a * in it, that I can make a pot of tea whilst waiting for the results, and eat several slices of buttered toast too!!)Maybe it's just my 'puter??!! Merry

Another way to eliminate potentially wasted searches on 1837online etc is to first look at the coverage charts on FreeBMD (freebmd.rootsweb*com/progress.shtml). Even though there is little disclaimer on there that the coverage per quarter on these charts is only approx, you can fairly safely assume that quarters with 100% coverage have been fully transcribed, and therefore you should commence your 1837online searches in the quarters that are shown as incomplete. Richard

Thanks for the tip Merry. Just have a question regarding the 'spectacles', I have not been able to view any images . Yesterday I tried and Free BMD told me to choose file, which I did, and everytime I received answer choose file... I have tried for months to look at the view images with no luck. Can you help to put me in the right direction of how to do it.? Many thanks. Elizabeth

Assuming that FreeBMD hasn't only just been updated (i.e. that you're working with the same database), you can do some preliminary searching on Ancestry to get the right starting points, then search for those particular names on FreBMD to get the ''specs'' (image-link) up. If you are driven to going direct to the images for any reason, then there is one reliable route to narrowing down the target in any particular set of images. It's not always the quickest for a particular one you might have guessed, but I always find that it's longer if I try to second-guess and short-circuit it... 1] Look at the image half-way down the list: 2a] either you've found your target (in which case, Stop!) or 2b] you are before/after it, but you know which, so now you have a list only half as long to search 3] go back to step one for the half where your target is 4] repeat the process until you can Stop at [2a] This is what my maths professor used to call the Weierstrass lion-hunting technique! Whatever you call it, it works. Christine

What good tips everyone. Thanks.

Thanks Merry - wouldn't have thought of that one! certainly a time saver. Looby

No, it's not your computer that takes the time for wildcard searches, it is FreeBMD's. Sometimes they do take too long and it says it can't do it at all. Some wildcard searches don't take so long though, but it looks as though the Coun* one would take too long after all. Kate.

and too much toast and butter is too fattening before Christmas! Got the Darth Vadar suit this morning! Merry

time for another nudge, I think! especially for those who feel there aren't enough genuine Tips here! Christine

Nudging so I can print tomorrow;; to late now;; Babs