Family Historian User Group

I'm new to Family Historian (and still wet behind the ears on family history research!) but have just installed FH6 and wondering what online service would be best given to use given that my mother is Danish and my father is English so my research will span both countries. I see from the documentation that FH6 supports Findmypast and Myheritage so would one of those be best? Or what of Ancestry or Geni - if FH6 doesn't support them are they best avoided? I'm a bit reluctant to sign up with one for a whole year at this stage so would prefer to pay a month at a time so I can see what's available.

thanks in advance

Simonides

Simonides wrote:... I see from the documentation that FH6 supports Findmypast and Myheritage so would one of those be best? Or what of Ancestry or Geni - if FH6 doesn't support them are they best avoided? ...

There are two aspects here :
1. Which on-line provider has the data that you need?
2. How easy is it to get the data from that on-line system into FH?

Re question 1 - Fundamentally, the big three for research into English & Welsh genealogy (note that I didn't say Scotland or Ireland) are FindMyPast, Ancestry and FamilySearch. FS indexes a lot of UK data but seldom gives you images of the real source documents - instead it directs you (or not) to Ancestry, FMP, etc. If you are just looking at civil registration and censuses in England & Wales, then both Ancestry and FMP give you similar stuff and there really is a choice to be made depending on whose interface you prefer. Back past 1837 you need parish registers and almost certainly a county's parish register are on only one of the providers (or none), so, basically, you don't have a choice before 1837 - e.g. if you want Cheshire PRs, it's FMP whereas Lancashire are only on Ancestry.

If you have access to a public library, many have a library edition access to Ancestry or (I think) FMP - you may prefer to try things there first.

Re question 2 - be aware that FH's support for on-line services is confined to hinting that the provider in question has potential records for this or that person. You still need to download the images, copy the transcripts, etc, yourself (probably easing the job by using Ancestral Sources where it supports those types of record). So basically, you save a little bit of work using FH's in-built support, but it's still easy enough to use (say) Ancestry for censuses.

Point 3 (of 2?) - you need to be wary of the difference between historical records and other people's trees. FamilySearch has lots of historical records or indexes to them (mostly indexes as far as the UK is concerned, as I say), but it also has the massive FamilySearch FamilyTree. Ancestry has lots of family trees as well as its historical records. FMP has historical records and appears to be getting into trees. GENI.COM is nothing but trees - some people swear by its approach, others swear at it. You should only ever use other people's trees as hints - they tend to be riddled with impossibilities and wishful thinking.

All the above is riddled with sweeping statements and over-simplifications....

Note that FamilySearch does have some Danish stuff - see https://www.familysearch.org/search/col ... on=Denmark - and with FS, the price is always right - free. Mind you, I have no idea what you get for that price in terms of completeness or access to images.

As a newcomer study how_to:key_features_for_newcomers|> Key Features for Newcomers and its links.

Check research:index|> Genealogy Research where research:useful_research_web_sites|> Useful Research Web Sites lists many useful resources, several of which a FREE, sometimes at libraries.

The online support FH offers is only 'hints' to potential records (primarily BMD & Census).
See how_to:internet_data_matches|> Internet Data Matches which mentions two Lookup Missing... Plugins that provide similar capabilities for Ancestry, FindMyPast, FamilySearch & MyHeritage.

Another thing ot remember about FamilySearch, is that the search results are only given for films that have been indexed. However, they are now making some unindexed films available to browse via their catalog search.

If you search the catalog for what is available online for the Parish you are interested in, you’ll get a list of subjects for which they hold information. If you select Church Records, you’ll be presented with a list showing the films available for the parish (Baptisms, Marriages and Burials etc) and their availability is shown by an icon. i.e. Indexed, Image available, images with restricted viewing, or microfiche etc.

If the Camera icon is against the required film, clicking it will bring up the roll of film in their viewer, which can then be browsed for the record you want. If you do find the correct image, it may be available for download, or you may have to take a screenshot.

MyHeritage has a lot of Danish records -- go to https://www.myheritage.com/research/catalog?q=denmark to see what they have.

Ancestry also have some records -- see https://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/ca ... rd=denmark&

You should also look at https://www3.sa.dk/en/services/arkivali ... es-online/ where the Danish National Archives are putting documents online.

Never having had any need to delve into Danish records I couldn't comment on how useful they would be.

Thanks so much for all your valuable suggestions.

Adrian - re. "you need to be wary of the difference between historical records and other people's trees" Yes, good point, well made. I'll take great care of that one!

Mike T - thanks in particular for providing the links for advice for newcomers, I've been reviewing those and the advice is certainly very helpful.

Mike L - Good tips on FS - I'll be taking a look there.

Helen - Yes, it was interesting to review the links you provided for Danish history (plus the FS link from Adrian as well) I may well sign up for a data subscription to MyHeritage in due course for that. (Helen - I like the Colevalleygirl website, BTW!)

I've Simon Ordes Getting the most from Family Historian 6 book arriving this afternoon so will probably read through that under a shady tree and then take the plunge and sign up for a month of FMP and see how I get on.

Thanks again,

Simonides

I think you will find Getting the most from Family Historian 6 is not ideal for a 'shady tree' read, because it uses many interactive tutorials involving the Family Historian Sample Project.

There is a group on Facebook called Genealogisk forum
It is all about Danish genealogy
I have made many contacts with Danes regarding my brother in laws ancestors

Victor

Thanks Victor, I'll take a look. I've also found this site useful : https://www.danishfamilysearch.com/