WW1 Pension Ledgers - Fold3
 

There is an index on ancestry but of course they have put the actual images on Fold3.

https://search.ancestry.co.uk/search...4&sf93253345=1

They do give free access to Fold3 from time to time, and I wouldn't be surprised if they do one next month, so here's hoping.

I have just seen on Facebook that this is just a very small section of the full database and there is a much larger release coming in November. Glad to hear that as I was very disappointed when I searched it.

This has finally had an update but is still not complete. I think it was previously 37% complete and is now 54% after being updated on 13/9/19.

I don't think the data on Ancestry has been updated yet.

Link to Fold3 here https://www.fold3.com/title/1019/uk-...ards-1914-1923

The index on ancestry was last updated in Nov 2018 and has 1.9 million records, while the Fold3 database (updated 12 Sep 2019) has 2 million, so it doesn't look as though many records were added in the latest update, unless the two sites count records differently.

Lots more to come, but it's a slow process!

The index on Ancestry has just been updated and there are now over 4.2 million records. Fold3 says 2.79 million records, 54% completed, and says updated May 14 2020, so I am a bit confused! But anyway, if you looked for someone before and didn't find them, it would be worth having another look.

The index on Ancestry has been updated again and it now says over 6.5 million records. And Fold3 says over 4.6 million records, 55% complete. Doesn't quite fit if it was 54% complete last time!

Ooh, there are some records for my great-uncle at last! They only come up on Fold3, not Ancestry, so it seems the index on Ancestry isn't as up-to-date as the one on Fold3, despite the higher number of records. I guess Ancestry is counting the name of each relative of a soldier as a separate record and Fold3 isn't?

Unfortunately Fold3 is saying I need a premium membership to view the images, so I will wait until they have a free weekend or whatever. Maybe they will make the records free for Remembrance Day very soon?

The index on Ancestry has been updated and it says over 9.1 million records. Fold3 says 7.5 million records, 58% complete. I'm not sure the percentage complete actually means much.

My great-uncle is now shown in the index on Ancestry, and it is the first time I have ever seen the information from his two separate medal index cards combined on one record. It also includes an extra regiment which I never knew he had served in.

It looks as though they have managed to muddle up some of the dates, treating them as though they were in the American month day year format instead of our day month year - my great-uncle's death is coming up as 9 Aug instead of 8 Sep, for instance.

The latest issue of WDYTYA magazine says that the project has been completed.

Fold3 is now showing a total of 7,523,526 records, 100% complete. Ancestry says 9,106,819 records.