Deceased online – is it worth it?

[At home in NZ]

Until now, in my trees in Ancestry I have been entering this in the Description field:
Burial/cremation date obtained from the record in Ancestry which is linked to deceased online.
I have analysed my trees and found that only 36 people have those words in the Description field.

Because I don’t subscribe to Deceased Online I don’t have the name of the cemetery or any chance of finding the burial register. Therefore I am considering the purchase of a sub.

The annual sub is £89 but I am not sure I want to spend that much. Also, I am not sure whether there is any real benefit. I have looked at the coverage and it seems very Scotland orientated. I have randomly chosen people from my trees where there is no link from Ancestry and haven’t had any result.

What do you think? What is your experience with Deceased Online like?

 

[peter]

Very well worth it if you have relatives in the cemeteries they cover - in my case I was looking in the London area. You can see from their site which cemeteries they have records for and you can get quite a lot of information from a free search.

Without Deceased Online I wouldn't have been able to visit any of my ancestors' graves - although I know from parish registers where many ancestors from earlier generations were buried there are no headstones or other grave markers in the churchyards. But most people won't need a subscription - unless your ancestors had very common names, or you're trying to find everyone on your tree.

Tip: you might not need to buy a map - some cemeteries have free maps online.

 

[Heather]

I have subscribed to Deceased Online since 2014 and have found it very helpful. As Peter says it is well worth it if it covers the areas you are interested in, which in my case it does. Being able to look at the original entries in the burial registers and find out who is buried in the same grave is invaluable. You can look on the site to see which cemeteries and cremation records they hold and they add to them regularly. They also do have several different vouchers if you do not want to pay for a whole year.

 

[CarolB08]

I buy the pay per view vouchers, they get me where I want to be and recently I got an email offering me double vouchers for my £10 which I snapped up. They expire on 20th December 2020.

 

[At home in NZ]

Without Deceased Online I wouldn't have been able to visit any of my ancestors' graves - although I know from parish registers where many ancestors from earlier generations were buried there are no headstones or other grave markers in the churchyards. But most people won't need a subscription - unless your ancestors had very common names, or you're trying to find everyone on your tree.

I have no intention of visiting any of the graves, especially not now I can't travel without fear. Thanks to Covid 19.
I want to obtain the burial records for those ancestors who appear in deceased online.

I buy the pay per view vouchers, they get me where I want to be

Unfortunately I did not start to do that when deceased online started to appear in my Hints in Ancestry, now I have about 38 (and counting records) I would like to see in full. An average of £2 per record is £76 compared to an annual sub of £89 for 450 views makes it unattractive.

I think I'll pay for an annual sub now, then when it runs out maybe buy vouchers as and when I need them.

Thanks everybody for your input, we can close this discussion now.

 

[peter]

I have no intention of visiting any of the graves, especially not now I can't travel without fear.

It's not only people who intend to visit their ancestors' graves who might purchase a map of the cemetery, but even those who would like to see the final resting places of their ancestors don't have to go in person, they can ask one of their 'lost cousins' to visit on their behalf and take photos.

 

[canadianbeth]

My husband's ancestors settled in southern Quebec when they emigrated from Ireland and England. He has a fourth cousin who has travelled all around that area, taking pictures of the graves of as many of the family as he can find. I found him while poking about on genealogical sites and contacted him several years ago and now have a comprehensive addition to that branch of the family, as well as a book he published - The Descendants of Thomas Nutbrown, my husband's 6th gg. Unfortunately, I did not save the grave pictures to my FTM at the time, but have managed to find some since then and have done so. I have a picture of my Dad's grave, as well as both of my husband's parents.

 

[At home in NZ]

I have photos of my maternal grandparent's grave, and my parent's grave. I have photos of graves of other family members too.

My most precious one is for my brother who died when he was one year old, I was 4 at the time and can still vaguely remember him.
There were three more brothers after that, we all clubbed together a few years ago to have the grave refurbished. I visited it after the refurbishment but doubt I'll ever go there again.
I now own the grave having taken it over from my mum's estate, the brothers didn't want it as they weren't alive when brother number one died.

During one of my trips back to England I visited several graveyards in litte Suffolk villages where some of my maternal grandmother's ancestors are buried.
I took photos then.

Some of my Suffolk ancestors moved north and some while ago I came across 'wiganworld' which has indexes for 6 cemeteries.
Start here with Wigan then look at the left of the screen for links to the others.
I wish there were more websites like that.

FindaGrave and the GPR have been good sources for me and they are both free. I have even found obituaries in FindaGrave, especially in USA memorials.

 

[peter]

FindaGrave and the GPR have been good sources for me and they are both free. I have even found obituaries in FindaGrave, especially in USA memorials.

I've never found any of my ancestors on those sites, but that's probably because they were too poor to have headstones. Watch out for errors - see my recent article about Elsie Waters & her brother.

 

[At home in NZ]

see my recent article about Elsie Waters & her brother.

Initially it looks like somebody created a link from one to the others in error but I suggest you read the obit for the father Edward which explains why it's genuine.

EDIT: Jack Warner bio also provides his birth name here

 

[peter]

Initially it looks like somebody created a link from one to the others in error but I suggest you read the obit for the father Edward which explains why it's genuine.

EDIT: Jack Warner bio also provides his birth name here

I think we're talking at cross purposes - it was the birth years that were wrong in the two FindaGrave listings, but they've been corrected since I wrote the article (probably thanks to a LostCousins member). If there can be blatant errors like that in the entries for celebrities you have to wonder what other mistakes there might be in the database.