Free census access online?

Question

I am in the process of researching my family tree however are now at the stage where I need to look up relatives (great grandparents etc).

I have looked online and was under the impression that censuses were free to access, the 1901 census online lets you search but then have to pay to view, which seems the case with any searches online

Where can I access Birth/Marriage/Death records online completely free?

Answer 1

Sadly, we live in a commercial, capitalist world, and for those who want things now from the comfort of their PCs, you do have to pay.  The reasoning is pretty simple - they've had to pay people to transcribe the indexes so you get some hits when you press the "search" button.  These indexes don't make themselves, hence most companies on the internet charge to make this information available and searchable.

Only five or ten years ago if you wanted access to the census, you'd have had to travel either to the Family Records Centre in London (now relocated to the National Archives in Kew) or go to your nearest large library or county record office who only usally keep sets for their local area, not the complete national pages.  Although some family history societies published name and street indexes, searching through those microfilms was a pretty labourious task.  What could have took you an hour five years ago, can now be done in five seconds flat at Ancestry in the click of a mouse.  That's the price you pay for progress.  It's still possible to visit a library, record office or the National Archives to look at the census on microform, and crucially, it is free, but most people prefer to pay for the convienence of the internet.

The only census that is truly free is the 1881 census, and for that, you can thank the Mormons.  There is the FreeCEN project (an off-shoot of FreeBMD and FreeREG), but coverage is patchy.  Cornwall has been generally well transcribed for 1841 and 1851 as have certain other counties, just just as many places aren't covered at all.  It's all a question of finding the volunteers to do it.  Everyone it seems wants things for free, but no-one is prepared to give up some time to some of the websites who are trying to make stuff available to the masses gratis and for nothing.  It's a bit of a vicious circle.

Answer 2

Set up a free trial with http://www.ancestry.co.uk/, you don't have to pay but you need a credit or debit card just to register and they don't take any money unless you want to continue your subscription.

Answer 3

UK answer.

Here in the UK there is only one census that is completely free to search and that is the 1881 census the rest you have to pay to view.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

If you register with Genes Reunited I think it is about £10.00 now and ask other members who have access to Ancestry and Find my Past they will look up information for you.

Answer 5

Hi, you can view the free BMD records on www.ancestry.co.uk  you can view the 1881 census free at  www.familysearch.org  , they also have a lot of parish records there aswell on the IGI. If you also type in Google 'free BMD records for (county)' they sometimes bring them up, some counties have put them online, some haven't, good luck with your search! x

Answer 6

Assuming that you are talking about UK records...

Try http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/

You will not find very recent records there but most 1837-1900 records are now there plus many more post 1900.

For census records there's also http://freecen.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.p... but the coverage is a bit patchy at present. Check http://freecen.rootsweb.com/statistics.h... for current coverage.

Answer 7

How about joining Genes Reunited?

You may find other people researching the same families as you.  

Answer 8

Unfortunately you can't access certificates online free, you can visit your local library were you will be able to view them for your area for free but you will have to pay to get a copy from http://www.gro.gov.uk/

By law censuses are only available 100 years after publication. To search the 1901 census you can do so, free at http://www.1901censusonline.com

Unfortunately for prior census you will have to pay for a membership at http://www.ancestry.co.uk as this is the website in partnership with The National Archives which in turn is the government department for keeping records within censuses.  

Answer 9

I've used the following site.  

Answer 10

UK Answer

Are you in the UK? If you are it may be worth asking at your local library. Many libraries here subscribe to Ancestry Library Edition ( a version of Ancestry.com website) and make this available FREE to library members at the library. Ancestry Library Edition contains thousands of databases, but in particular UK census records1841 - 1901, and birth, marriage and death indexes for England and Wales.

This answer was provided by Enquire, a 24-hour, live question answering and enquiry service offered by public librarians across England and Scotland in collaboration with partners in the United States.   If you liked our answer and would like us to help you find another, you can chat with one of us right now by clicking on Enquire on the People’s Network site at http://www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk