Searching Deeper into Ancestry

Ancestry has one of the largest databases of genealogical records available, but do you take full advantage of what the database has to offer?  Hidden amongst the bigger, shinier records like BMDs, Census and Convict records are many smaller record collections that are often overlooked.  These records often don't show up in the first few pages of results when we are researching, and so we often fail to locate them until we dive deeper, narrow our results, to go exploring areas like the card catalogue and somehow stumble across them.

For example, did you know that Ancestry includes Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers 1567-1936?  The card catalogue contains the following description of these records :

About England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1936
This collection is mainly comprised of birth, marriage, and death registers from non-conformist congregations and churches in England and Wales that were turned over to the Registrar General following the Non-Parochial Register Act of 1840 and a later request in 1857. It also includes non-parochial registers from the Church of England at St Petersburg, Chelsea and Greenwich Hospitals, and registers from burial grounds and non-denominational cemeteries. You will also find Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist birth certificates. Details found in the records will vary depending on the event and the time period.

After locating this set of records in the Ancestry Card Catalogue (the dataset includes some 5.7 million records), you can then search this set of records specifically.  By drilling down in this manner I have located a number of relevant records, and my family tree now included Methodists, Quakers and Baptists that I never knew about and had not found in my general searches. 

Similarly, I regularly browse the card catalogue to see what new record sets have been added and what smaller sets of records I have overlooked.  By drilling down in the card catalogue to look only at records for Victoria, Australia I have found several record sets I had not known were available.  These include the following :
Australia, Army Militia Service Records, 1901-1940
Australia, Royal Australian Air Force Personnel Files, 1921-1948
Victoria, Australia, Battle to Farm, 1919-1935
Victoria, Australia, Divorce Records, 1860-1940
Victoria, Australia, Coroner Inquest Deposition Files, 1840-1925
Victoria, Australia, Asylum Records, 1853-1940
Victoria, Australia, Wills and Probate Records, 1841-2009
Victoria, Australia, Cemetery Records and Headstone Transcriptions, 1844-1997

Each of these records sets, when searched individually, gave me new information about my family I had previously failed to find.  Several I had previously only located indexes - such as asylum and divorce records - so locating the full record files was particularly exciting.

So take a closer look at Ancestry, drill down through the records, and see what specific record sets are available - you never know what you might find!