Ancestry Updates

Ancestry Updates

Welcome to the Ancestry.co.uk update newsletter. Last month we launched our first census release for Scotland (1841) as well as further updates to our free access Birth, Marriage and Death collections-the place to start researching your family history.

Whilst adding to our unrivalled record collections, Ancestry has also been hard at work making exciting changes to other areas of the website.

You'll find new tools and features for creating, building and sharing your family trees as well as updates to the Ancestry Community section- great news for all of our members, new and experienced alike.

Scottish Census Update -

Since its launch last month, the release of our first Scottish census has proved a real success with Ancestry members. We'd like to take a moment to thank all our members for the great feedback received on this key collection release and for all the work affiliates have put in driving traffic to it.

In particular, you singled out the ability to search by address to be one of the real benefits and we'll certainly be looking to incorporate in future census releases for Scotland.

With around 2.6 million index names, the 1841 Scottish census holds similar significance to its English and Welsh counterparts as the first of the modern day censuses for Scotland.

The index is in a fully transcribed form at present. Our work with the General Register Office for Scotland, as the holders of these records, remains on-going to enable posting of the accompanying census images and we'll keep you updated on the progress.

Create, Build and Share your own experiences at Ancestry.co.uk -

Wouldn't it be great if you could build and preserve a rich picture of your ancestors' lives on-line? Well, now you can.

As an Ancestry member you can now build and save rich biographical pictures of your ancestors on-line including adding photos and key events which shaped their lives. You can also invite friends, relatives and other members to view your family tree(s) as well as import your existing family trees from another site or from your PC.

To start building pictures of your individual ancestors, you'll need to have created and saved a basic family tree on the Ancestry website. Read on to find out how you can do this, either by starting a tree on Ancestry.co.uk or by importing an existing tree from elsewhere.

Starting Your Family Tree -

With all our new website enhancements, there's really never been a better time to start building your family tree on Ancestry.co.uk. (If you already have a tree saved on another website read our 'Importing your tree' section to find out how to easily upload your tree.)

To start your tree, simply click on the Family Tree or the My Ancestry tab and select the Start my Tree button. You'll be taken through 4 simple steps to create a basic family tree including yourself and your parents. You can return to update and continue building at anytime.

Using the Person and Family Views -

Once you've started a tree with Ancestry.co.uk, you'll be able to access the Person and Family views, using the tab options at the top of the page.

Person View will enable you to create a rich biographical picture of your ancestors' lives. You can include key events and add photos and reference sources such as census and birth, marriage and death information. You can also connect with other Ancestry members with similar research interests here too.

Family View enables you to add new family members and information about them. You'll find the family view tab located along the top of the page, above your family tree.

Importing your Family tree

Do you already have a family tree saved elsewhere? Now you can now easily import it into Ancestry.co.uk. Simply click on the Family Tree tab and select the Upload a Tree (GEDCOM) link in the Start Your Family Tree section on the page.

Inviting other people to see your tree is a great way of getting other family members involved. They can help greatly in furthering your research and are also likely to have photos and other information which you can use to enrich your tree. Just look out for the green Share my tree button. You can also choose their level of view access and they will be sent an e-mail explaining why and what they will see on your tree.

Adding Photos -

Adding photos is a great way of creating a vivid picture of your ancestors and their lives. You'll find this option within Person View where you can easily add and remove photos at anytime.

Already have a family tree saved on Ancestry.co.uk? Your existing family tree will be waiting for you and you'll be able to benefit immediately from all our latest enhancements. Simply visit the My Ancestry tab or the logged in homepage to access your current family tree.

We've also introduced an easier way of searching for records. Whilst Ancestry.co.uk has over 500 million records on-line, there are also vast amounts of member submitted records (contained in Family Trees) as well as periodicals and publications on-line. You can search for these records within the Stories and Publications tab new on the homepage.

Newspapers are fantastic sources of information for understanding what our Ancestor's would have read, seen and heard and for how they were living at the time. If you are typically looking for census, birth, marriage or death information then you should search with the Historical Records tab.

We hope that you have found this update informative and don't forget to make use of this new functionality - It's a great way to help increase those conversions.

Many thanks