FamilyRelatives will be back

A few days ago I blogged that a reader had informed me that the genealogy records site Family Relatives (www.familyrelatives.com) had seemingly disappeared from the internet. At that point, I posted a short guide on how to access the overseas GRO records, that I have personally found of use on the site, at alternative locations (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/familyrelativescom-and-gro-overseas-bmd.html). Since then, I have also been trying to find out what has happened to the site itself, and have now obtained an answer.

I've managed to contact a representative from the Jersey based company, and have just had a phone conversation with him to ask what has been happening with the platform. I have been told the following:

I have been informed that the site's online storage servers were enduring some major technical problems, and that in the period leading up to five weeks ago, various users of the site were enduring intermittent access to the records, caused by the fact that the data was stored on several servers which kept going down. The decision was taken about five weeks ago to close it down altogether on a temporary basis, and for a new storage solution to be found and utilised. The site is now being re-hosted on an alternative platform.

I have also been told that it is believed that the site should be back up and running in the next 7-10 days, and that it will be accessible at www.familyrelatives.com as before. Once the site is back online, current subscribers will be contacted to discuss their subscriptions, with a view to possible extensions. It was also stated that the new version of the platform should hopefully have increased search speeds, to improve the user experience.

NB: Please note that I do not work for FamilyRelatives, and I am simply responding to a reader's request to try to find out what has happened to the site...! Hopefully it should be back up and running soon, and that the platform's owners can resolve any queries or issues with subscribers in due course.

(With thanks to FamilyRelatives)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. My Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.