Family Historian User Group

I recently got a promotional code in my email for a cheap 1-month subscription to FindMyPast. As I write this, I have a British subscription and 5 PPV credits which have come back from the dead.

My previous experience with FMP was with the old search interface. Since I can't always find the record I want with the new interface, I have been using FamilySearch.org to find some census records, then clicking the "PartnerSite" button there to access the record on FindMyPast.

Since I was logged in to both FamilySearch.org and FindMyPast in separate Firefox tabs, I assumed this would work, and I would be able to view the images, in the same way I can view US records when I am logged into my US Ancestry account.

But what happens instead is that I get a page on FindMyPast which tells me that the record is not available, and I should check back in half an hour.

Is this an artifact of trying to use FMP with a British sub when I am using FamilySearch from the USA? Or is it broken for everyone?

If you click on the link in family search for either ancestry of FMP you get taken to a new page where you are not logged in (Even if you already are)

I also wonder how FS can take you to the record in FMP without extensive reprogramming to take account of the new interface?

I think FS have a background API, so it's probable that did not change.

Just wanted to post an update.

I can't do anything about it now unless I want to pay for more PPV credits or re-up, but while reviewing my FMP downloads and using the 'find missing census entries' plugin, I've discovered a missing record from the England and Wales Census, 1851. I can see the entry on FamilySearch.org, but when I search for that person on FMP's new search widget, I get 0 search results.

This would explain why I didn't download the image or view the transcript while my subscription was active.

I'm wondering how many more cases there are where records show up on FamilySearch but not on FMP and vice-versa because of differences in the index.

Edited to add: I may have found my missing person.

Family Search shows:

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/SGJS-ZQZ
Name: Thomas Knowls
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Birthplace: Slapton, Devonshire
Relationship to Head of Household: Aprentice
Schedule Type: Household

This may be the corresponding search result on Find My Past:
Thomas Knowls b. 1834 b. Devonshire census in: Kingsbridge Stokenham Devon

I was only able to get a result by doing a brute-force search of all the males born in Slapton with no name or age, and then picking his name out of the search results. (A search of everyone in Slapton on census day 1851 didn't find him, and now I can see that he may have been away from home.) I still don't see why a search on Find My Past of people born in Devon with the name Thomas didn't turn him up. I had the name variant boxes ticked, too.

Oh, well, this is why I'm building a List now to keep track of all these things, so next time I can afford to pay, I'll have a Plan.

The FamilySearch partner site link sends me to a page on FMP where I am logged in but not to any results. All I see is this page:

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/content/record-coming-soon

So annoying that when I actually had a subscription to FMP all I ever saw was that "your record will be ready soon, come back in half an hour" page, and never any results.

In FMP you could try searching for the Piece/Folio/Page reference.

Oddly on FMP searching for Devon instead of Devonshire for the Birth County does not work.

I searched for Thomas and Knowls and 1834 and Male and even with name variants he was top of the list.

(Slapton is only a few miles away from Kingsbridge and I have visited both.)

tatewise wrote:In FMP you could try searching for the Piece/Folio/Page reference.

Oddly on FMP searching for Devon instead of Devonshire for the Birth County does not work.

I searched for Thomas and Knowls and 1834 and Male and even with name variants he was top of the list.

(Slapton is only a few miles away from Kingsbridge and I have visited both.)

Yes, I discovered that if the census uses the form "Devonshire" one must search with "Devonshire" or it won't work. And probably vice-versa, so it helps to see what form is used in any given census year. (I haven't checked the Hampshire / Hants variants yet.)

One of the things I really enjoy about doing research in the UK is the wonderful variety of resources available to help with geography. Between A Vision of Britain Through Time, Curious Fox, GENUKI, various old map collections, and the historical directories at Leicester, there is a huge amount of material available to the out-of-country researcher.

And if the Internet is not available, I can always fall back on the Ordnance Survey Motoring Atlas that a friend kindly brought back for me from one of his trips to England.

It would be fun to visit Slapton one day; in the meantime I'll have to make do with Google Street View.

Re: searching for the Piece/Folio/Page -- it works only if I already found the image and downloaded it. If it's a census entry I don't already have, neither FamilySearch or Ancestry will show me the reference number unless I'm subscribed (or the image is available for free, e.g. 1881).

In case you are unfamiliar with South Devon and the UK Registration Districts administration here is some background.

Slapton village is near the coast at Slapton Sands.
Stokenham village is just inland a few miles south-west.
Kingsbridge is the town a few miles west further inland.

Just search Google Maps for Kingsbridge, Devon, UK for a map.

All UK Census Records and BMD Certificates are recorded at the local Registration District Office.
Kingsbridge is the Registration District.
Stokenham is a Sub-District.
Slapton is a Civil Parish within this Sub-District.

Full details of all the UK Registration Districts are available at http://www.freebmd.org.uk/district-list.html.
This includes all the Sub-Districts and Civil Parishes and how they have changed over the years since 1837.

I wonder if you are aware of the part Slapton Sands played in the WWII D-Day landings?
Just Google Search for Slapton Sands D-Day for full details.

Thanks very much for the overview of the Reg Districts, and the link to the district lists on FreeBMD. I had forgotten about the lists there, since I usually go to A Vision of Britain Through Time or to GENUKI to look up the Reg District info.

tatewise wrote:I wonder if you are aware of the part Slapton Sands played in the WWII D-Day landings?
Just Google Search for Slapton Sands D-Day for full details.

It's a bit amusing how every person I correspond with from the South Hams asks me if I know about Slapton Sands. It's impossible to look for anything about Slapton on Google or to search for books about Slapton on ABE and other bookselling sites without finding out about Slapton Sands. But I was very moved when I heard the news stories about the memorials there. It is comforting to know that the men who died there are remembered.

Michael Morpurgo's book The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips is in my collection, too. http://www.michaelmorpurgo.com/books/165

(I knew about Morpurgo from reading his book War Horse, because I like books about horses -- when I discovered he had written a book set in Slapton, I had to have it.)

Earlier you said:

Yes, I discovered that if the census uses the form "Devonshire" one must search with "Devonshire" or it won't work. And probably vice-versa,

If in Birth county or County you choose both Devon and Devonshire then it works OK.
Similarly for other counties such as Hants and Hampshire.