Based on original data from Staffordshire County Council this birth, marriage and death index collection has 4,944,006 entries. A search brings up a result listing with headings Name, Event Type, Event Date, Registration district, Relatives. Leading every row is a link View Record which opens up additional transcription detail. There are no image originals.
These records would appear to derive from the same registration as used for the GRO index so looked at the 344 entries, about equally divided pre and post Second World War, for last name Northwood. 33% births, 26% marriages, 29% deaths, 13% no entry. FreeBMD contains 942 BMD index entries for Northwood (likely due to a wider definition of the registration districts with the county), 43% births, 29% marriages, 28% deaths.
No registration district is given for 29% of these Ancestry Staffordshire index entries for most of which the name is that of the mother for birth registration of a child under another last name (likely where the father was not named).
Why would anyone in their right mind go to Ancestry for BMD Indexes 1837-2017? These are all available at FreeBMD including the images. I feel that sites like Ancestry, and to some extent Family Search are "padding their numbers" by repeating information already available elsewhere and they are rapidly losing my respect.
ReplyDeleteAncestry will tell you they aim to provide one-stop service so you don't have to remember a bunch of different sites.
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