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Archiver > Bristol_and_Somerset > 2007-04 > 1175419386


From: "Polly Rubery" <>
Subject: Re: [B&S] New information to be made available
Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 10:23:06 +0100
References: <000001c7743c$81e9ee40$0201a8c0@DiningRoomPC>


Hi Mike

Well done! I know the date.....!!!!

And actually buying certificates would be cheaper than an application under
the FoI Act which is usually at least £10, and more often like £25 or £50!

But actually this is not quite so far-fetched as it seems as the original
"Modernising Registration" proposals included setting up "life histories"
for people, with work to do this going back retrospectively, so as they say
"many a true word spoken in jest"!
Best wishes
Polly
not April fooled (yet)!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Gould" <>
To: <>
Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2007 10:02 AM
Subject: [B&S] New information to be made available



Viewers of the UK television programme "Who Do You Think You Are ?" may have
been surprised at the way in which the celebrities were able to go into a
Record Office and come out with the birth, marriage and death certificates
of their ancestors, especially as it takes the rest of us months or even
years to do the same thing. Now under the Freedom of Information Act, it
has been revealed that the government holds family trees for the whole of
the UK population. The BBC had negotiated access to this information, but
after details of this leaked out, it became apparent that we all have a
right to this information.

It is not clear when this information will be made available. Since civil
registration started in 1837, some believe that we have had the right to
access it since 1938, but the closure rules are unclear. It has been
suggested that we all sign a petition to get access to this data. It will
certainly make a big difference to family historians. And this is just the
first step. Once the Parish Register information that the government holds
becomes available, we will be able to demand our complete family tree right
back to the sixteenth century.

We live in exciting times, don't we. Every day brings new promises,
especially today ;-)

Mike Gould
Leicestershire



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