Ancestry - Is it worth it for only researching fifty missing years?

Our local library offers free use of Ancestry. I think this is something each county libraries arranges so may not be available everywhere.

I didn’t find ancestry very helpful I had done 20 years work all ancestry did was let me get in touch with people who had completely the wrong things on their tree Fir instance one had my mum with a brother my mum was an only child Another had my Nans date of birth and husband wrong.
No one I sent a message too bothered to answer so I was more happy with the hard work I d done in libraries, churches and graveyards before it all went on line

You can take a 14 day free trial. Then there are different membership levels depending on what you want access to. They are all “cancel anytime”. You can pause membership for two months if you need a break.

If I understand you, you just want to plug the gap between when you grandfather was born and now. Is that right?

Had your brother looked at the 1921 census, electoral rolls, military records?

Can you be confident your brother’s research was accurate and as thorough as it could possibly be? You might just find that paying for membership might set you on a whole new avenue of research.

If you believe your family history is confined to the the UK, then you may only be looking at £13.99 to do whatever it is you need to do in six weeks.

It’s also possible that through Member Connect, you might discover members with similar research interests.

If you haven't signed up previously you could probably get a free trial for Findmypast too.
I prefer them for some things especially the newspaper archive which can be very helpful for more recent information.
I also recommend the free Rootschat forum which has some incredibly helpful members who will help if you get stuck

The 14 day free trial is a good idea if you can set aside a fortnight to concentrate on researching.
You could probably manage to find documents relating to the missing 50 years.
You might just find that paying for membership might set you on a whole new avenue of research.

Yes, you could get 'hooked'. It's amazing what you could find out which your parents never knew or just didn't tell you.

I agree with Bluebelle about a lot of the information in family trees being wrong, poorly researched and some people do not want to know if you politely suggest something it not be correct in their tree.
It's best to stick to the records although some of the spelling mistakes with names and place names in the transcriptions are quite astonishing.

Thanks everyone. I need access to the 1911 census for details of where my grandparents lived after they were married.
Grandpa’s merchant navy service can be found on the National Maritime Museum’s website. He had eight brothers and three sisters so a lot to get through!!

What would you do if you were me?

Two suggestions:
1) Could you go on a visit to your brother and suggest that you take over the research, plus having all the boxes of information?
2) It clearly means a great deal to you, so I would think it would be worth paying out a certain amount to bring the research to a satisfactory conclusion. If it doesn't prove to be worth it, then you can stop, but at least you have tried to complete it.

There are free Births, Marriages and Deaths online
Some parish records are online too.
FamilySearch is free, I think, but you have to create an account. They are the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and have records on most of us!

I have all the necessary birth marriage and death certificates and my brother’s research was very thorough but the fifty year gap is frustrating because with two world wars there’s a lot to cover and it’s probably the most interesting period of all.

merlotgran

Thanks everyone. I need access to the 1911 census for details of where my grandparents lived after they were married.
Grandpa’s merchant navy service can be found on the National Maritime Museum’s website. He had eight brothers and three sisters so a lot to get through!!

In which case, take a 14 day free trial and maybe a month at £10.99 (£13.99 if you want the 1921 census too) to see how far you get.

Where merchant navy service is involved, Ancestry's shipping records can be very useful as a supplement to other records.