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My Ancestry use has really increased the last few months, and I've become more adept in the different ways to use the search to find information. A new thing I decided to test out today is to see what info, if any, is on Ancestry for younger adults (at least 18 years old) since almost all my research has been for records no more recent than the 1970s.
I have been able to find birth records from @1990, but searches for someone born in 1998 and one born in 2002 turned up nil. The first was in the US, the other in the UK, I have subscriptions for both versions of Ancestry.
Again, I didn't need this info specifically, it was a test run. But additionally, I was recently trying to find a UK death record for someone I know died in 2016, and haven't been able to track it at all. It's possible this person had an unknown remarriage and an unknown different last name, but I don't believe so.
I did another test with my own mother, in the US. My parent's marriage license registration is on Ancestry, but not her birth or her death record. Ancestry also randomly has one of her high school yearbook photos.
Does anyone have any feedback on why certain information isn't available?
Ancestry is not the public records office and there is no requirement that records be provided free of charge to a commercial entity...a company making money off of public tax funded records. The missing records are probably available at the source...vital records or whatever. My guess is that those more recent records will be provided electronically and show up in a huge data dump at some point. There might be a time embargo on some records, like census records.
The old paper records were scanned individually and it was very time consuming and costly. I volunteered at a state archives office for a couple years and there was usually one or two employees working on the effort to digitize old death certificates.
My Ancestry use has really increased the last few months, and I've become more adept in the different ways to use the search to find information. A new thing I decided to test out today is to see what info, if any, is on Ancestry for younger adults (at least 18 years old) since almost all my research has been for records no more recent than the 1970s.
I have been able to find birth records from @1990, but searches for someone born in 1998 and one born in 2002 turned up nil. The first was in the US, the other in the UK, I have subscriptions for both versions of Ancestry.
Again, I didn't need this info specifically, it was a test run. But additionally, I was recently trying to find a UK death record for someone I know died in 2016, and haven't been able to track it at all. It's possible this person had an unknown remarriage and an unknown different last name, but I don't believe so.
I did another test with my own mother, in the US. My parent's marriage license registration is on Ancestry, but not her birth or her death record. Ancestry also randomly has one of her high school yearbook photos.
Does anyone have any feedback on why certain information isn't available?
Every country and state has different laws about what they release and when. You won't find current public birth records in New Jersey.
What state were the birth records from 1990? Same question for the 1998 and 2002 as well as for your mothers birth. Also, when did she die and what state?
Records for birth, death and marriage in the UK have their own rules.
With yearbook photos, it depends on each school and what has been scanned to be released online.
You may be able to find some of the information in news articles.
There are billions of records not available on Ancestry, either due to privacy restrictions (which vary by location, time period, and record type), or simply because they haven't manage to contract a deal with the record holders yet.
I'd be very surprised if actual full civil birth records from 1990 are available on Ancestry - an index, or a church baptism, maybe, but the actual civil record seems unlikely.
The two birth records I located from 1990 and 1992 were in the UK (yes, a registry, that includes place of birth and mother's maiden name). The 2002 record I could not locate was also in the UK. The 1998 record I could not locate was in Arizona in the US.
The UK seems to have more complete info available on Ancestry in terms of birth and death records via registry, places and names of parents, etc. My dad's birth and death dates are there only via Find a Grave, same for my mom. Even my own from 1972 isn't on there. I am listed once, as a 'public record' witih my address from 1993. Maybe taken from a phone book? Not sure. My dad and I both lived in Arizona our whole lives. My mom was born in South Dakota and moved to AZ when she was 9. Mom died in 2018 and dad died in 2013.
The two birth records I located from 1990 and 1992 were in the UK (yes, a registry, that includes place of birth and mother's maiden name). The 2002 record I could not locate was also in the UK. The 1998 record I could not locate was in Arizona in the US.
The England and Wales (not the whole of the UK) birth index goes up to 2007, so if you can't find a 2002 entry you may have the wrong details. Whatever details are included in the index, it's still just an index, those are not the original records/certificates. The index is intended only to help you order the original document more easily.
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The UK seems to have more complete info available on Ancestry in terms of birth and death records via registry, places and names of parents, etc.
The UK is a much smaller place with a much smaller population and more central government. They've also been keeping a civil registry since 1837, whereas most US states didn't begin issuing civil certificates statewide until around 1900 (give or take). And before mandatory statewide registration, it was left to even more local governments - county, or town/city - and it wasn't usually mandatory. As a results, records are spotty and spread out - there's multiple different departments to contact to obtain all available records, and sometimes they've been given to archives, sometimes they haven't and are still at the courthouse. That's the joy of "small government" in the US.
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My dad's birth and death dates are there only via Find a Grave, same for my mom. Even my own from 1972 isn't on there. I am listed once, as a 'public record' witih my address from 1993. Maybe taken from a phone book? Not sure. My dad and I both lived in Arizona our whole lives. My mom was born in South Dakota and moved to AZ when she was 9. Mom died in 2018 and dad died in 2013.
Yep, that's all pretty typical due to privacy laws in the US. Like I say, even if it was on Ancestry, it would only be an index, because you really don't want just anyone and everyone having access to private documents like that. Arizona only makes birth certificates public after 75 years. So unless your dad was born before 1945, his birth certificate can't be on Ancestry, and that's got nothing to do with Ancestry. It looks like Ancestry only has Arizona birth certificates up to 1935 though, and that's probably because they obtained them 10 years ago when the release date would have been 1935 by law, and their contract didn't include updates.
South Dakota appears to make birth certificates pubic after 100 years - at least, that's when they release an index for it.
My Ancestry use has really increased the last few months, and I've become more adept in the different ways to use the search to find information. A new thing I decided to test out today is to see what info, if any, is on Ancestry for younger adults (at least 18 years old) since almost all my research has been for records no more recent than the 1970s.
I have been able to find birth records from @1990, but searches for someone born in 1998 and one born in 2002 turned up nil. The first was in the US, the other in the UK, I have subscriptions for both versions of Ancestry.
Again, I didn't need this info specifically, it was a test run. But additionally, I was recently trying to find a UK death record for someone I know died in 2016, and haven't been able to track it at all. It's possible this person had an unknown remarriage and an unknown different last name, but I don't believe so.
I did another test with my own mother, in the US. My parent's marriage license registration is on Ancestry, but not her birth or her death record. Ancestry also randomly has one of her high school yearbook photos.
Does anyone have any feedback on why certain information isn't available?
Generally living persons are not profiled because of the information being available on line and privacy issues associated with that. The default on genealogy websites is not showing the given names or photos of living people.
I sometimes cheat and enter liivin people's names as deceased to see what I can get but you have to go back and tag them as living once you are done looking.
Ancestry is not the end all be all site. You will learn you have to look for clues in many many places for your information. Graves, headstones are invaluable - findagrave and billiongraves - often names of their family members are listed along with birth and death dates and photos of the headstones. Try usgenweb.org for your USA searching, GENUKI for United Kingdom. Also look for community history books usually written and publishd by local residents and you can find interesting first hand knowledge of family history therein.
The England and Wales (not the whole of the UK) birth index goes up to 2007, so if you can't find a 2002 entry you may have the wrong details. Whatever details are included in the index, it's still just an index, those are not the original records/certificates. The index is intended only to help you order the original document more easily.
The UK is a much smaller place with a much smaller population and more central government. They've also been keeping a civil registry since 1837, whereas most US states didn't begin issuing civil certificates statewide until around 1900 (give or take). And before mandatory statewide registration, it was left to even more local governments - county, or town/city - and it wasn't usually mandatory. As a results, records are spotty and spread out - there's multiple different departments to contact to obtain all available records, and sometimes they've been given to archives, sometimes they haven't and are still at the courthouse. That's the joy of "small government" in the US.
Yep, that's all pretty typical due to privacy laws in the US. Like I say, even if it was on Ancestry, it would only be an index, because you really don't want just anyone and everyone having access to private documents like that. Arizona only makes birth certificates public after 75 years. So unless your dad was born before 1945, his birth certificate can't be on Ancestry, and that's got nothing to do with Ancestry. It looks like Ancestry only has Arizona birth certificates up to 1935 though, and that's probably because they obtained them 10 years ago when the release date would have been 1935 by law, and their contract didn't include updates.
South Dakota appears to make birth certificates pubic after 100 years - at least, that's when they release an index for it.
Well that explains some of it. Dad was born in 1937. Mom was born in 1941.
What I find frustrating about Ancestry, is the publication of some information that I don't consider exactly "public record". It appears that somehow or other, Ancestry is getting possession of high school yearbooks, and now pulling the pictures of students, and tacking on them to the information that comes up when you do a search. I didn't give Ancestry the permission to post my picture.......
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