Is it worth it?

Yesterday, I signed up for my 14-day free trial of Ancestry. This would be unremarkable were it not for the fact that for years I’ve baulked at joining it.

At first, in total ignorance, I thought it was simply a fancier side to the Mormon archives in Utah – what I now know to call IGI.  Jargon really is invidious, isn’t it? Try as you might, on whatever topic, you can’t avoid it forever.  And genealogy is no different. Best to go with the flow then – saddle up my BMDs and go on over to the IGI for a long cool drink of OPRs…

Then I thought it was only for those in the US – the British records seemed woefully under-represented.  And as I, at least as far as I know, have zero connections over the pond, there seemed no point to looking at American records. You’ll notice a certain British insularity creeping in here, leading to a blind eye being turned to the fact that ahem Ancestry also holds Canadian records – and those I do have a connection with.

And finally – and here’s where I do a stunning stereotype of the money-pinching  Scot – I thought it was awful that somebody was making money out of genealogy. My and others’ family histories.  I was up on my hind legs by now – I’d be damned if I was going to pay good money to some American Johnny-come-lately who’s stolen my history! (You know it’s a bad sign when exclamation marks start creeping in).

After I’d grudgingly accepted (and let me tell you, Scots do grudging better than anyone) that well,  maybe it was ok to charge money for looking at genealogical records, I looked at the prices of subscription and nearly fainted.

It’s a given that with any product to which you subscribe, there will be a level called something like  value – bronze -essential.  Then it steps up to silver – advanced – premium.  And finally (oxygen will be supplied) worldwide – gold – platinum. This is marketing speak for Come in my dear, let me tempt you with a peek at my fine wares or I can see you’re a person of quality to select this option or, finally You are a serious and worthwhile person and I salute you (gotcha!) I’m not agin this in principle, mind. Marketing men have to feed their children too.

There’s an odd thing going on with BMDs in the ‘United’ Kingdom that our Transatlantic cousins may not be aware of.  We in Scotland, being a fierce and independent nation, have all our own records (I’m drawing my pinny defensively around me as I type).  And very excellent records they are.  These are kept in Scotland and are now (mostly) online too at scotlandspeople.  On that site, you get to look at the indices but you have to pay for anything else and believe me, it mounts up if you’re searching for anything other than a granny of unusual surname born well into the 20th century.

But, lest the Union of  Nations of 1707 fool you, the English records are entirely separate and we in Scotland cannot see them.  The English always were a vindictive race ;)

But (and here’s the lure, that juicy worm that could be yours if only you’d reach for your credit card) Ancestry has the English records – well, most of them. And they’ve got the Canadian records.  And they’ve even got the Scottish records (although scotlandspeople has naturally hung onto the plum that is view original image).

Suddenly, I’m trampling all my prejudices, I’m squashing my reservations, I’m looking at the carrot of ‘14 day free trial’, I’m telling the wee voice in my head (that must be Mother) who’s saying ‘now can you really afford this eh?’ to shut up – and I’m on the registration page.  And the credit card’s out.

I’m thinking – hey, I can milk all these records within 14 days and not pay a penny.  It’ll be fine – what a clever minx I am.  Yeah, just like hundreds of others before me.  The reality is that I’ve gone for it, I’ve committed to being part of ‘the Ancestry community’.  Notice how companies try to engender a sense of cosiness by using words like ‘family’ or ‘community’.  It’s commerce, folks, don’t fool yourselves.

So how do I feel about it now it’s done? (Let your Blog be your Therapist). Actually, its fine. As a younger person would say – I’m cool with it.

I spent a couple of hours on the site last night and my first thought was what an excellently designed site it is. It’s visually attractive, very easy to navigate (especially for a battle hardened family researcher used to endless screens of Times Roman 10 tables with only the sketchiest of headings). And their use of little pop-up, fly-in, flash-and-goodness-knows-what-else boxes – well, that’s a delight.  No more opening endless tabs in Firefox.

Yes but what about the records? So far, so good. I haven’t actually found anyone yet that I wanted to find, but, as all us genealogy geeks know, hey that’s a detail.  The fun is in the hunt, right? At one point, I got thoroughly absorbed in ship’s passenger lists – could that Catherine be ‘my’ Catherine? Well no she couldn’t, but goodness what does it say about her – how fascinating.  This syndrome is, of course, called the ‘What shall I have for supper? Ah, I know – a nice plump red herring’.

In summation (isn’t that a great phrase? I’m trying to improve my language skills, no matter that I’m reverting to Victorian office-ese) I have to admit that I’m caught. Hooked. Sunk. It’s a fair cop, guv – you got me. It’s a fair assumption that I will be renewing my worldwide subscription (only the best is good enough for me) after the trial period.  And my credit card will fall groaning to its fiscal knees once more.

Photo by René Erhardt