Who Do You Think You Are?
Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine is produced by the BBC. Click here to subscribe.Census Searching Online: A Comparative Study
TheGenealogist Shows Remarkable Progress
Over the past two years, there have been significant developments in online census searching capabilities. In the latest independent round of testing conducted between October and December 2024, we've seen TheGenealogist emerge as the clear leader in this field, particularly due to recent enhancements.
1901 Census Transcript plus Map at TheGenealogist.co.uk
Key Findings
Image Quality: "The difference in image clarity is quite remarkable," notes Sarah Williams from Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine. "Pages that were practically illegible elsewhere were crystal clear on TheGenealogist's platform."
Search Functionality: Recent updates to TheGenealogist's search algorithms have produced notably superior results. "The website that performed best overall was TheGenealogist," the magazine reports.
Mapping Integration: A standout feature introduced in late 2023 is the historical mapping overlay. The magazine particularly praised how "all results come with location marked on a historic map," allowing researchers to precisely pinpoint ancestral residences.
Particularly Impressive: The magazine's testing revealed a striking example: "One household in 1871 we could only find initially using TheGenealogist. We had to then scroll through the census on Ancestry to find the same page, which was so poorly scanned it was practically illegible. Trying to do the same on Findmypast we discovered that there were pages missing."
Recent Improvements at TheGenealogist
- Enhanced High Resolution Images
- Census households pinned to historic & modern maps
- Improved mobile interface
- Advanced family group search capabilities
VERDICT
TheGenealogist has made remarkable strides in the past 18 months. As Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine concludes, the platform offers "Clear images; flexible search options; easy to use; excellent keyword search with occupation transcribed across all censuses."
Particularly noteworthy is the ability to "search by person or family, making it easy to group people together by first name" - a feature that proves invaluable when dealing with Victorian-era handwriting variations.
BEST BUY
TheGenealogist's recent developments have positioned it as our top recommendation for census searching. The combination of superior image quality, innovative mapping features, and robust search capabilities makes it an invaluable tool for both seasoned genealogists and family history newcomers.