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Archiver > WARBRIDES > 2007-01 > 1169126706


From: "Debbie Beavis" <>
Subject: [WARBRIDES] British War Bride Passenger Lists
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 00:25:06 +1100


There have been a few messages recently about passenger lists. I've seen the
American New York arrival lists for warbrides and they are extremely
disappointing as they give so little information compared to the British
ones, but I guess they are better than nothing.

The British outbound passenger lists are shortly to go on line too - there
has been a hiccup, and it will be later in the year before they are ready.
For warbrides they have a range of very helpful information usually
including addresses. The downside is the cost! It is necessary to purchase
units - the more units you buy, the cheaper pro rata is becomes. For those
people just wanting their own entry, or perhaps I should say people who just
want a page showing one particular passenger, the cost is reasonable though
the minimum purchase is 5 pounds worth of units which is far more than you
need for your own ship list!

For queries such as Ivy Kellam's who wanted a Queen Mary list, and for the
person who contacted Michele asking how to obtain the whole list for the
January sailing of the Queen Mary in 1946, the cost would be absolutely
enormous! I did some sums...for example (and incidentally the Queen Mary
list requested by Margret Shultz answered by Michele was early Feb not
January) to obtain a copy of that whole list would cost a huge 400 pounds to
purchase - that is nearly $800 US.... yes, you read that right... EIGHT
HUNDRED US dollars!

You will also be paying for umpteen pages of irrelevant memos too, which
have also been filmed and which you cannot opt not to receive.

For people who want a list for an individual but the name is a common one,
there are more problems as it's impossible to know which of umpteen Mary
Smiths who sailed to the US or Canada or wherever in 1946 is the correct
one. That could well mean that lots of your initial purchase of 5
pounds-worth of units will be eaten up by looking at each entry so you can
figure out which is the one you need. OK, so we are not all looking for Mary
Smith, but you might be surprised at how many people do exist with a far
more unusual name. You are also at the mercy of their transcribers. I have
already been involved in some fairly heated debate with them about what I
see as the immorality of charging people to view records which have been
wrongly transcribed and therefore not of any use whatsoever. In time, they
plan to allow shipname searches too. That will help. (If you know the ship
name!)

Once the 1946 lists go online, I shall be adding a facility to my search
engine on my own site which will provide a way to ensure that the list
purchased from this very expensive site is actually the correct one. Just a
checking procedure. It won't be a totally free service, but it will be
hugely cheaper than paying the extortionate charges of this website.
(www.ancestorsonboard.com) only to discover that it's the wrong entry.

Debbie Beavis
www.warbrides.co.uk









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