Ancestry.co.uk Reviews 

Ancestry has allowed me to find out in detail the past lives of my family. The information I have gathered has given me an insight of where my ancestors lived, their jobs, their relationships and in some cases how they excelled and contributed to society.

Excellent service at all times.
Been a member for many years.
ALWAYS UPDATING AND IMPROVING THE RECORDS.
Prepared to discus renewal subscription costs.

I've been with ancestry for 6 years now and while the journey has been difficult at times I feel I have a good framework on my paternal and maternal sides. With no parents, aunts or uncles to draw on the journey has been eye opening with the help of census information etc. The hints system has helped solve some discrepancies along with the release of new records. The ability to share and contact other family tree owners is also very useful, as one kind person commented on a wrong date for a relative on my maternal side and with the new date I was able to remove that brick wall. That kind person also happens to be a half cousin as confirmed from my recent dna results. I found out I had a first cousin on my paternal side during a recent cross referencing of the family tree and my dna results put him at the very top of my living ancestors - we are due to meet up soon. Famous ancestors being flagged up by ancestry have been a revelation and, apart from being quite exciting, put a whole different aspect in to how the families have developed over time. I have been surprised at the number of cousins that are out there and their global spread and this is more impetus to carry on and engage my children and their children with the information.

Available databases are excellent but the AI generated hints are not great - I've been getting suggestions of census matches for after people were dead and it seems to think Patrick and Peter are the same name. Where there are twins in my family tree the hints appear on the wrong one even though the christian names are not similar.

I have been on Ancestry for over 20 years. But I am considering moving to another F.H. site. IMO the system developers appear to be too obsessed with making changes, just for change sake. These changes do not appear to have made the site any more stable and have caused functionality to be lost. Its real shame as it used to be brilliant.

Fed up of Ancestry sending me ‘Hints’ regarding my daughter who sadly died in 2021.
I do not need to be reminded of her birth, marriage or death and I have messaged Ancestry more than once asking them not to send these ‘Hints’ which are upsetting and in my opinion heartless.
There must be some way these hints can be disregarded when I have particularly requested this.
It spoils my enjoyment of family history, many of my ancestors lost children but I’m sure others will agree that I certainly do NOT need a reminder.

The numerous new hints helped to confirm what, in some cases, is passed down as family story and, in one case, informed of a death.

Building on my initial research at Taunton Records Office, I used Ancestry.Co.Uk and Newspapers.com to trace my paternal line back to my 4th great grandmother who was transported to Sydney, Australia! She left behind 3 children, the baby being my 3rd gt grandmother.
One of my daughters lives in Sidney, and her research soon revealed positive outcomes. More children were born after she'd done her time. The females went on to marry significant men in the development and infrastructure of Sydney. Consequently, much is written about them, providing a fascinating insight into their lives.
As is the way, as we are descendants of the baby left behind, no riches, land or status passed our way.

I have been a member now for over 15 years. Each time there is an update to the site it seems to make researching more difficult and less user friendly. They seem to change things for the sake of change, usually for the worse in my experience.
There are so many errors in people's trees which the system then promotes as hints, so perpetuating errors.
Ditch the AI and leave humans to do their own research with the good set of proper records available.

There seems to be more information available in the form of documentation. I can then use it to research the background of ancestors and build a more detailed picture of their lives. Eg. Irish tenancy valuation reports.

A couple of years ago it would have been 5 stars but not now as the website modifications make things more complicated and things I used to have included now have to be paid for which makes my research less affordable. One thing that would be useful is missing, a function to return to the top of a page at just a click. I was thrilled with my initial DNA report as it fitted well with my family tree but updates I've received in some cases bear no likeness to my knowledge of my roots .No way do I have roots in Eastern England or the north.I loved Ancestry when I first subscribed but don't find it as loveable as I did any more. Sorry but I am being honest and as an oap with limited income don't find it good value for money as much as it was. Sometimes a backward move is an improvement.

I have been a member for many years - researching as and when time permitted. Now retired, I am endeavouring to complete my research, when out of the blue, about a month ago, came many more hints about my paternal line, with information going back to the Norman Conquest and the role some of my ancestors played!!! Unbelievable I know. Now I am busier than ever researching their lives and history. Will I ever be able to stop??? Enjoy your search.....

Hints can be useful. But, you have to be very careful what you accept and save to your tree. There are many incidents where it has been a wrong path, and then it is a pain re-filtering the information and correcting where it has led me on false or incorrect information.

Found my family in Australia on my Dad's side, actually my Dad's sister that I didn't know he had. Have spent 2 holidays with them in Australia now. 15 of us went on days out and having meals together. Sadly when my Mum and Dad split up I wasn't allowed any contact with his family. My first connection when to Brisbane to a daughter of one of my half brothers who had emigrated there and married an Australia lady.

I have been with you many years and its been My hobby for more than 20 years. Ancestry has helped me not have to go to every place to find information. New things come up all the time, sometimes at my age takes me a while to get use to them. My beef is all the add ons can start to make it very dear. DNA has helped and also very interesting.

Easy to follow at finding information it’s really helped build my family tree thank you

Ancestry DNA revealed the most unexpected of results and has lead to all new family history discoveries that simply would not have been expected and certainly not possible without those results and corresponding matches.

My mother always thought there was something “funny” about her mother’s family and thought it might be connected to Ireland. My grandmother was a strong Catholic, it turns out she did have Irish roots, her mother was Irish although she was living in London. All my grandmothers siblings were strong catholics too, her younger brother was the Catholic Bishop of Nottingham and I remember him well. It turns out their father was born Jewish, but because their surname was Ellis, none of us had a clue, Granny never let on, when she met and subsequently married my grandfather, both her parents were already dead. I doubt my grandfather knew his dead father in law was born Jewish, it was bad enough she was a Catholic and his parents were Congregationalists, as was he! My great grandfather Abraham Ellis was given a Christian burial, but on one census there was a person from his family visiting them, so he obviously kept in touch with them. I found the revelation absolutely fascinating and without the Ancestry DNA test I’d never have found out.

I'm on a mission to go as far back with my surname as possible trying to confirm, or de-bunk, a long held potential family connection. I haven't made it far enough yet, but so much more has been revealed via Ancestry's detailed and fascinating "Hints". These must not be automatically accepted, but are VERY helpful. The DNA coding, which has been 'shaped' by revisions over time as more ancestors are logged, has been most illuminating.
For me, the subscription has been very worthwhile.

I began researching my family in the 1970's using microfiche at the library. I came to a holt because records had been destroyed in a fire at the church. Later I joined Ancestry and they have made some amazing discoveries. My 4th ggf was a gardener for the George family at their Bryanston home. There he met and married their daughter Susanna. Her mother Elizabeth was a Seymour so I am directly related to the Dukes of Somerset. My ancestry goes back via them, Lady Catherine Grey and the Brandon family to King Henry V11 who is my 12th ggf. My earliest record so far King Henry 1V 1366.
I have also discovered through Ancestry that for the past 52 years I have been living a couple of miles away from Berry Pomeroy Castle. Once owned by my ancestors. Lord Edward Seymour 1529/1593 and his family have their tombs in the Seymour Chapel in the local church.
All these discoveries have been with the amazing help of Ancestry.