Dear Ian

Thank you for your email.

The 1911 census will  be coming to findmypast.com under subscription later in the year.

We have at no point claimed that the 1911 census will be available under the Explorer subscription.

Further details entailing what subscription this will be available under will be communicated once these have been determined.

Regards

So while, I agree, they did not specifically state that the 1911 Census would be available under the Explorer subscription, their email offering discounted subscriptions implied it.

Their email advertising the discounted subscriptions contained:

Why join now? 2009 is going to be a big year!

2009 will see us finish our new versions of the last two England & Wales censuses (1851, 1901), add images to the 1881 census, and most importantly, will see us add the brand-new 1911 census later in the year.

We will be the only website to include the 1911 census next year, meaning findmypast.com will be the only place to find the complete censuses 1841-1911.

This implies that a reason to join them will be to get access to the 1911 Census. As it will be available on a separate subscription, this is not a reason to take out a discounted subscription, therefore this is, in my opinion, confirmed false advertising.

Their (newly revised) subscription usage terms still state that “The Explorer subscription entitles you to unlimited access to all records on the findmypast.com website, excluding Living Relatives.”

I have now contacted Consumer Direct with the details and will await their response.

Many other people are commenting about this on the 1911 Census blog in the Pricing and Future subscriptions post. I have also commented here and so far been ignored. As far as I am concerned FindMyPast (or brightsolid as they are now) are very unprofessional in the way that they conned people out of their money and now are not responding to emails. I don’t have the opportunity to ring them during the day as they are only open during office hours Monday to Friday.

I will not be re-subscribing to them when my current subscription runs out. Hopefully a large number of other conned customers will do the same. As a business they will find it hard to survive with no customers.

Just after Christmas, I got an email offering 15% off any subscription before the 2nd January. The email went on:

Why join now? 2009 is going to be a big year!

2009 will see us finish our new versions of the last two England & Wales censuses (1851, 1901), add images to the 1881 census, and most importantly, will see us add the brand-new 1911 census later in the year.

We will be the only website to include the 1911 census next year, meaning findmypast.com will be the only place to find the complete censuses 1841-1911.

This implies that by subscribing, you will have access using your subscription during 2009 to the 1911 census.

From the subscription usage terms:

The Explorer subscription entitles you to unlimited access to all records on the findmypast.com website, excluding Living Relatives where you will have ten free searches per annum (or pro rata for a shorter subscription). The Explorer subscription does not cover access to the military memorial scrolls.

The Explorer subscription gave unlimited access to all records on the findmypast.com website and the 1911 census was coming in 2009 to the findmypast.com website, this meant that by subscribing I would have unlimited access to the 1911 census at some point in 2009. On this basis, I figured I couldn’t go wrong and so I invested in an Explorer subscription to give me access to the 1911 census later in 2009.

Today I received the January newsletter. This states the following:

The census will be available on findmypast.com later this year, as part of a brand new subscription package. Existing findmypast.com subscribers will be offered an add-on package at a preferential rate.

If this isn’t included in the Explorer subscription, this seems like blatant false advertising when I was sold the subscription. I have emailed findmypast for clarification.

I searched first for my grandfather Henry Hedges, who would have been 14 in the census. As it is in beta, the site doesn’t have all the counties available, even so it still returned four Henry Hedges’ aged 13-15. Unlike the 1901 Census results, there is no indication of where the person is born, so you have to buy a view of the transcription to see if it the correct one.

When the 1901 census was released, nearly 7 years ago, it cost 50 pence to see a transcription and 75 pence to see an actual image. If you buy the largest package of credits for the 1911 census available, it will cost you 10 credits (80 pence) to see a transcription and 30 credits (£2.40) to see an image.

Needless to say after a couple of hours of searching I had exhausted my 280 credits (£24.95), with next to nothing to show for the outlay. The thought of potentially repeating this for every person in my family tree, with the same results is just not financially viable.

I did find my grandmother on my mum’s side, and have a copy of the actual household return. It is different from previous censuses in that the original household returns have been scanned not the enumerators log. This means that I was looking at my great grandparents’ handwriting, Carrie Moulden I think. Much as I want to search for my relatives, I can see me waiting until this is available on one of the subscriptions rather than pay-per-view. For me this is just too expensive as it stands.

Common sense has prevailed. I searched for the person listed above him in the list, ‘H L Hall’, and once I had found him and confirmed it was the same image, I had my referance: Source Citation: Class: BT26; Piece: 811; Item: 76

Now all I need to do is find Henry returning in 1928 and 1930. This is when it starts to get frustrating!

Last week I did try finding him in 1928, but gave up when I hit two months that I expected him to be travelling where there were multiple incorrect images against the ship names. It made it impossible to search.

Searching in 1930, I was looking in March and April as these seemed to be the most likely months. I started checking the ships of the Elder Dempster Line, but came across the same problems. Here is an example of the problem:

Liverpool, March 1930, M.V. Apapa. There are 13 images in the set; they comprise of M.S. Apapa page 2, 4, 6, 5, 1, T.M.V. Aba (Apr 1930) page 9, 8, 10, 12, 11, M.S. Apapa page 14, 13 and 15. So not only are they out of order and pages missing, they are not even all the same ship or month. I have reported the errors to Ancestry like I did last week. The really annoying thing is, Henry would have been on page 3 if he was travelling on the Apapa in March 1930.

While the image quality of the scans is good, the quality control on the indexing is appalling for some months. I think it was March and April 1928 that were particularly bad last week, I gave up reporting in the end because almost every image was wrong. I guess this has been outsourced, but there should have been better supervision or quality inspection. I have also contacted Ancestry Support detailing the problems with examples and asking if reporting individual errors was the best way when there were so many.

• Appam of Elder Dempster & Co Ltd from Lagos to Liverpool via Teneriffe, Sekondi, Sierra Leone, Freetown, Bathurst, Accra and Plymouth arrived in Plymouth on 3rd March 1924. Source Citation: Class: BT26; Piece: 758; Item: 16. Henry Hedges, age 27 was landed at Plymouth. He boarded in Lagos, had a proposed UK address of 68 Walton St, Chelsea, London and travelled 1st class. His occupation is listed as Reader. His country of last permanent residence is listed as ‘Nigeria’. His country of intended future permanent residence is marked as ‘British Possessions’.
• Adda of African Steamship Company Ltd from Lagos to Liverpool arrived in Plymouth on 22nd February 1926. H Hedges, age 29 was landed at Plymouth. He boarded in Lagos, had a proposed UK address of 68 Walton St, Chelsea, London and travelled 1st class. His occupation is listed as Reader. His country of last permanent residence is listed as ‘Nigeria’. His country of intended future permanent residence is marked as ‘British Possessions’.
• Adda of African Steamship Company Ltd from Port Harcourt to Liverpool via Port Harcourt, Lagos, Accra, Takoradi, Freetown, Plymouth arrived in Plymouth on 16th December 1931. Source Citation: Class: BT26; Piece: 960; Item: 40. H Hedges, age 34 was landed at Plymouth. He boarded in Lagos, had a proposed UK address of 243 Acton Lane, Acton ?????, London and travelled 1st class. His occupation is listed as Printer. His country of last permanent residence is listed as ‘Nigeria’. His country of intended future permanent residence is marked as ‘Other parts of the British Empire’.
• Appam of Elder Dempster Lines Ltd from Port Harcourt to Liverpool via Lagos, Accra, Takoradi, Freetown, Las Palmas and Plymouth arrived in Plymouth on 13th November 1933. Source Citation: Class: BT26; Piece: 1014; Item: 79. Henry Hedges, age 36, was landed at Plymouth. He boarded in Lagos, had a proposed UK address of 24 Actors lane, London W4 and travelled 1st class. His occupation is listed as Printer (G.T.)His country of last permanent residence is listed as ‘British Possession’. His country of intended future permanent residence is marked as ‘Other parts of the British Empire’.
• Accra of Elder Dempster Lines Ltd from Calabar to Liverpool via Port Harcourt, Lagos, Accra, Takoradi, Monrovia, Freetown, Bathurst, Madeira, Las Palmas and Plymouth arrived in Plymouth on 2nd June 1935. Source Citation: Class: BT26; Piece: 1063; Item: 62. Mrs H Hedges, age 27 was landed at Plymouth. She boarded in Accra( i think that’s what it says), had a proposed UK address of Queen’s Head, Long Marston, Tring, Herts and travelled 1st class. She has no listed occupation. Her country of last permanent residence is listed as ‘BP’. Her country of intended future permanent residence is marked as ‘Other parts of the British Empire’.
• Accra of Elder Dempster Lines Ltd from Port Harcourt to Liverpool via Port Harcourt, Lagos, Accra, Takoradi, Freetown, Madeira, Las Palmas and Plymouth arrived in Plymouth on 7th January 1936. Source Citation: Class: BT26; Piece: 1087; Item: 143. H Hedges, age 38 was landed at Plymouth. He boarded in Lagos, had a proposed UK address of Queen’s Head, Long Marston, Tring, Herts and travelled 1st class. His occupation is listed as Civil Servant. His country of last permanent residence is listed as ‘Nigeria’. His country of intended future permanent residence is marked as ‘Other parts of the British Empire’.
• M.S. Adda of Elder Dempster Lines Ltd from Calabar to Liverpool via Lagos, Accra, Takoradi, Freetown, Madeira, Las Palmas and Plymouth arrived in Plymouth on 4th January 1938. Source Citation: Class: BT26; Piece: 1144; Item: 43. H Hedges, age 40 was landed at Plymouth. He boarded in Lagos, had a proposed UK address of Queens Head, Long Marston, Tring and travelled 1st class. His occupation is listed as Printer. His country of last permanent residence is listed as ‘Nigeria’. His country of intended future permanent residence is marked as ‘Other parts of the British Empire’. Also on this voyage is his wife, Lillian aged 30 and my father Peter aged 2. They both also boarded in Lagos, had a proposed UK address of Queens Head, Long Marston, Tring and travelled 1st class. Neither had an occupation listed. Their country of last permanent residence is listed as ‘England’. Their country of intended future permanent residence is marked as ‘England’.

Combining it with the outgoing trips I already had, this gives me the following trips:

• October 1922. Liverpool to Lagos, Nigeria. Henry Hedges, age 25, Proof Reader.
• March 1924 Lagos to Plymouth. Henry Hedges, age 27, Reader.
• June 1924. Liverpool to Lagos, Nigeria. Henry Hedges, age 27, Reader.
• February 1926 Lagos to Plymouth. Henry Hedges, age 29, Reader.
• July 1926. Liverpool to Lagos, Nigeria. Henry Hedges, age 29, Reader.
• August 1928. Liverpool to Lagos, Nigeria. Henry Hedges, age 31, Proof Reader.
• August 1930. Liverpool to Lagos, Nigeria. Henry Hedges, age 33, proof reader.
• December 1931 Port Harcourt to Plymouth. H Hedges, age 34, Printer.
• April 1932. Liverpool to Lagos, Nigeria. Henry Hedges, age 34, printer.
• November 1933 Port Harcourt to Plymouth. Henry Hedges, age 36,  Printer (G.T.)
• April 1934. Liverpool to Lagos, Nigeria. Henry Hedges, age 37, printer. Lillian Hedges, age 26.
• June 1935 Calabar to Plymouth. Mrs H Hedges, age 27.
• January 1936 Port Harcourt to Plymouth. H Hedges, age 38, Civil Servant.
• June 1936. Liverpool to Lagos, Nigeria. Henry Hedges, age 39, printer.
• April 1937. Liverpool to Lagos, Nigeria. Mrs H Hedges, age 29 and P H Hedges, age 1.5.
• January 1938 Calabar to Plymouth. H Hedges, age 40, Printer. Mrs H Hedges (Lillian) aged 30 and Mstr P Hedges (Peter) aged 2.
• May 1938. Liverpool to Lagos, Nigeria. Henry Hedges, age 41, printer.

Although I have some return trips missing at the moment, it looks like Henry served for about 18 months abroad and then after travelling time had about 4 months in the UK before returning to Nigeria. In April 1937, when my grandmother and my father travelled to Nigeria, they listed their country of future permanent residence as Nigeria, so it looks like they were all intending to stay. However, my father contracted malaria while there and they came back in January 1938 and listed their future residence as England.

The certificates arrived yesterday and have provided a feast of information:

Henry Hedges and Louisa Copp

16 Jul 1894
Register Office, Marylebone, London
Henry Hedges, 27, Bachelor, Carriage Gas Man Railway, 39 Grove Road, Marylebone
Louisa Copp, 25, Spinster, 484 Edgeware Road, Marylebone
Groom’s father, John Hedges (deceased), cab driver
Bride’s father, – Copp (deceased), gold worker

Thomas Harper and Emma Edge

10 Oct 1844
unreadable, Acton under Edgmond, Salop
Thomas Harper, 26, Bachelor, Servant, Pave Lane
Emma Edge, 23, Spinster, Servant, Pave Lane
Groom’s father, John Harper, Labourer
Bride’s father, John Edge, Miner
Witnesses John Harper & Sarah Edge

Alfred Cakebread and Annie Collins

3 Nov 1867
District Church, Wareside, Ware, Herts
Alfred Cakebread, 21, Bachelor, Labourer, Wareside
Annie Collins, 18, Spinster, Wareside
Groom’s father, James Arbour, Labourer
Bride’s father, John Collins, Labourer

James Arbour and Sarah Cakebread

18 Sep 1852
District Church, Wareside, Ware, Herts
James Arbour, 26, Bachelor, Labourer, Wareside
Sarah Cakebread, 23, Spinster, Servant, Wareside
Groom’s father, George Arbour, Labourer
Bride’s father, Thomas Cakebread, Carter

I have entered all of this into my family tree and updated my online database. I’m fast concluding that I will drop the pages created by Ged4Web in favour of the online database.

I have renamed the ‘My Brick Wall’ page on my site to ‘Henry Hedges’ and created a redirect to catch any links to the old page.

For anyone interested in the technical, I have added the following to my .htaccess file:

redirect 301 /my_brick_wall.htm http://family.ijhedges.com/henry-hedges
redirect 301 /crown_agents.htm http://family.ijhedges.com/henry-hedges/crown-agents
redirect 301 /northern_provinces_news.htm http://family.ijhedges.com/henry-hedges/northern-provinces-news
RedirectMatch 301 ^/my-brick-wall/(.*)$ http://family.ijhedges.com/henry-hedges/$1

The first 3 lines are to catch any really old links to my original site. The next line redirects any page in the my-brick-wall set of pages to the corresponding henry-hedges page.

The M.V. Accra that Henry travelled on was the second ship of that name, launched in 1926 and owned by the British & African Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., later Elder Dempster Lines Ltd. She was 9337 gross tons, 450.8 feet in length and registered in Liverpool. She had accommodation for 243 first class and 76 second class passengers. She was later torpedoed and sunk on 26th July 1940.

After looking closer at the postcard, which I should have done before I bought it, it is of the third M.V. Accra, which entered service in 1947.

As I said earlier, Henry travelled to Nigeria twice on the M.V. Accra.

• 6th April 1932. Travelled on ship MV Accra of the Elder Dempster Lines under master J.C. Shooter from Liverpool to Lagos, Nigeria. He travelled 1st Class. His address in the United Kingdom was 243 Giston Lane, Aston W4. He was age 34 and his occupation was a printer.
• 4th April 1934. Travelled on ship MV Accra of the Elder Dempster Lines under master J.C. Shooter from Liverpool to Lagos, Nigeria. He travelled 1st Class. His address in the United Kingdom was Long Marston, Tring. He was age 37 and his occupation was a printer. He is travelling this time with Lillian age 26. This must be their honeymoon as they were married on the 1st April 1934.

So, its back to searching for the correct ship images as I work on the new page.

The link on my website has been updated to http://familydb1.ijhedges.com/phpgedview/index.php and the existing accounts have been notified of the change.