Technical Problem with England census.
Answers
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There appear to be at least two separate issues here. One involves accessing these census records via the App, the other with the general problems of accessing the 1871 census indexes from via a FS public account. There are currently comparitively few 1871 census indexed records available and there seems no clear explanation of why some are still available. On the one hand, there is the suggestion that this relates to contractual issues (probably with Find My Past), but there has been a suggestion that there is a technical problem involved.
Regardless, I believe further comments in this thread should relate to Ken's fundamental issue - in using the Android App. There are threads elsewhere on the general problems users have in accessing the 1871 census records - usually relating to the indexed ones, not the issue with viewing images. Hopefully, the general problem will be sorted in time, though I fear the 1871 indexed collection may soon entirely disappear (already 90%+ appears to have vanished) and limited access to the other England & Wales census collections may start disappearing, too. (More of a problem for us "non-LDS" users, as Church members have their free access to FMP and Ancestry to get around the general record access issues.)
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Sorry if I have missed comments previously made, but:
(1) Have you found Clara in the 1871 census by using a PC / Mac? I cannot find her record in the 1871 census collection. I also notice nobody has attached a 1871 census source to her ID (LB6D-4VD).
(2) Have you tried a variety of other names / locations in similar searches from your Android device? To test if the problem is general (cannot find a record under any circumstances) or specific (problem might relate to hardware / browser, etc.) I usually try the "John Smith" test. In this case, I would input "John Smith" as the name; "England" as both place of birth and residence; "1871-1871" as the residence date range. If there are no (John Smith) results using those search inputs, you can be sure the problem is "App specific". Otherwise, it could be a general problem (relating to how few 1871 census records now remain in the FamilySearch database).
Again, my apologies if this avenue has already been explored, but nowadays (using my PC) I am rarely finding any results involving my relatives' records, which relate to the 1871 census.
See https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&q.birthLikePlace=england&q.birthLikePlace.exact=on&q.givenName=john&q.residenceDate.from=1871&q.residenceDate.to=1871&q.residencePlace=england&q.residencePlace.exact=on&q.surname=smith for a search on John Smith, compared to:
https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&q.birthLikePlace=england&q.birthLikePlace.exact=on&q.givenName=clara&q.residenceDate.from=1871&q.residenceDate.to=1871&q.residencePlace=england&q.residencePlace.exact=on&q.surname=ralph for a search on Clara Ralph.
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If you read my previous comments, I have interacted with 16000+ entries on Familysearch in the past year. This is a general fault that I reported to Support with various examples.
I only use a public account so I only see transcripts.
If you check what i have written you will understand the problem.
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I have already posted my attempts at duplicating the issue from a public account on Android platform with Family Tree app. It appears there are still some differences between access here in USA versus UK with a public account - which indicates possible differences in 'contractual requirements'. I haven't heard since posting if Ken is now getting the same notice 'access at FHC/AL or findmypast' - which change occurred for me - on the example person MSRC-XD3 - during this posting process.
General Comment on related relevant problem: What about those 1871 census records that were attached in the past to persons in the Tree - under the previous contract's terms? Obviously if those were attached when index/image were viewable and not under exclusive contract - it appears the contract retroactively overrides those and now all links are not viewable - that's a contract problem? A permanent/sharable link to the image copy needs to be allowed even if the contract changes (because it wasn't limited prior to change in contract?). The availability currently however - might depend on the Findmypast PERMISSION being found in the FamilySearch Settings for your account - but this doesn't help those without that permission.
Proposal or discussion (which would further complicate contracts/image accessibility): IF images were attached to persons in the Tree prior to change in contract (or even for example a limited time period subscription) - allow them to remain viewable (after all there was no exclusion at that point). If record custodians have any interest in attaching records to individuals in the Tree to whom they belong this would show good faith. I think what is being done instead is removing the image copy (makes contractual sense) and allowing the index - but for some reason reducing the index at FamilySearch - which causes further problems with searching. So there are several considerations which have to be taken into account during contract negotiations - it appears some are detrimental to records attached in the Tree.
Workaround(s): I think the main point here - that has been mentioned multiple times - use the licensed distribution party (findmypast.com) for best access.
Example:
Laurette Smyth PID: MSRC-XD3 (mentioned previously in thread)
On a public account at Find my past you can find 1910 results
But to access them - either index/images - a subscription is needed.
At FamilySearch Family Tree app (or web) with public account on Android:
For her previously attached 1871 Census source - instead of the error I initially received I am able to view the index and receive the notice 'access at FHC/AL' when attempting to view the image.
Further suggested workaround for FamilySearch Tree researchers: Create a transcription of the index/image and include it in the notes for the attached source. That way whether the contract removes access for either/both - you can retain that transcript (a non-commercial genealogical transcript is generally considered fair use).
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In my initial post, and further comments, I stated this has nothing to do with images. It is general access from a public account, via the App, that would allow transcripts to be viewed, as on all other England and Wales censuses.
Please read my initial post.
On the last update the Search interface changed totally and certain options have gone, but let's try and get this looked at first.
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I was merely asking whether it was your wish (as you instigated this thread - under the title "Technical Problem with England census") that further discussion continued under the general theme, or whether you would prefer it to concentrate on your specific Android App problem. I believe you have now made it clear that you would prefer attention to be given, primarily, to the specific App issue.
However, just as the "Error" pages produced when using the PC version can sometimes be misleading, my other point was in asking you to kindly confirm whether the issue arose whatever name was the subject of the search. Other users do not appear to be experiencing a similar problem, so it might be difficult for the engineers to replicate yours. (Even the error page @genthusiast has reported seeing - the "Something went wrong" one - is one that appears on the PC version, too, but does not match the screenshots that you have posted, of course.)
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I sent several screenshots of the problem for various entries to Support but they did not seem to understand and told me to it post on the noticeboards.
I have made more than one post regarding this and only restarted on this thread because I received what I thought was a reply from someone from LDS tech.
On the other threads, people replied confirming they could not access this census and were getting the same error screen for Tasks and searches.
I do not use the website much as the App is much quicker, so I cannot speak for whether it affects that.
I received a reply on the previous post that there was a known fault which was being worked on. The post was moved elsewhere and I heard no more.
I added the fact that since the last update you cannot access the 1871 census from Collections and the Sources/ Search page has changed drastically and the Search by spouse or parent option has gone.
Evety time a new feature is added something else vanishes, I wish people would leave things alone.
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I reported this problem to Support by email for several 1871 census entries. They did not seem to understand and asked me to post here.
On my post several people replied saying they had the same problem.
I received a reply saying it was a known fault being worked on.
I do not use the website much and work on the App so cannot comment on the website access.
I only replied on this thread because I thought the comment was an update.
The Search on the App changed drastically after its last update. No Search by spouse or parent option. Also no access to the1871 via Collections via Historical Records Search. Every time it updates something seems to be affected.
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