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Archiver > WARBRIDES > 2007-01 > 1169240681


From: "Ivy Kellam" <>
Subject: Re: [WARBRIDES] British War Bride Passenger Lists
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:04:41 -0500
References: <00df01c73b04$11a2fa30$0301a8c0@Graeme>


Dear Debbie, Thank you for the explanation regarding the Queen Mary lists.
The cost of the information I was looking for does sound ridiculous when
you realize that we are living in the age when information seems to be at
everyone's finger tip. Obviously that assumption is a myth. I know, it is
the process that costs the money.
I appreciate your efforts on behalf of all we War Brides and families.
IK
----- Original Message -----
From: "Debbie Beavis" <>
To: <>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 8:25 AM
Subject: [WARBRIDES] British War Bride Passenger Lists


> 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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>
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