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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 2002-08 > 1029262672


From: Renia <>
Subject: Re: Royal Descents: England vs. Continental Europe
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 19:17:52 +0100
References: <9bb1d741.0208111901.45e6dc32@posting.google.com> <3D577BC2.1050501@noaddress.com> <3D580541.25ADA788@ntlworld.com> <3D58DE73.3080605@noaddress.com>


Jonas Kuschner wrote:

> Renia wrote:
> > Jonas Kuschner wrote:
> >
> <snip>
> >>
> >>Is Rosvall completely wrong in his assessment of English archives (or
> >>the FRC in particular)?
> >
> >
> > Yes, he is wrong. I was at the Family Records Centre (previously at St
> > Catherine's House, and prior to that at Somerset House) only on Friday and
> > the place abounds with computers from which you can get free access to many
> > of the CDs (Vital Records, 1881 Census, etc, etc) which are on sale from
> > various places. Other computers are set up to access the 1901 census (where
> > was my grandfather in 1901 then?).
> >
> > The indexes for the births, deaths, marriages, adoptions, army births,
> > deaths and marriages, colonial births, deaths and marriages, from 1837, runs
> > into billions of names. It is a huge project (currently being undertaken by
> > FreeBMD) to get those names on to computer, and then online. For some
> > inexplicable reason, lazy people expect everything to be on the internet
> > these days.
> >
> > It is not such a medieval thing to have to search through original indexes
> > for one's ancestor. I've being doing it for 25 years. In these online days,
> > it's a bit of a relief to be doing "proper research" rather than covering
> > what someone else has done.
> >
> > The cost for a certificate, either for collecting it yourself, or having it
> > posted to you, is £6.50 (six pounds fifty). I think this is a drop in price,
> > as I seem to remember it being £12 at one point.
> >
> > And no, you don't get a microfilmed print-out of the data. You get official
> > certificates of birth, death and marriage, as they appear in the originals,
> > although written out in a modern hand, with an officially-embossed stamp.
> >
> > Rosvall doesn't know what he is talking about.
> >
>
> Thanks for the information! I have been planning to go there sometime,
> but have never had the time when in London.
>
> Can you access microfilms of the original records as well? Can you take
> them immediately from open shelfs or boxes and just put them in a reader
> or do you have to order them and wait for some time? After all, unless
> one is out to prove something legally, one really doesn't need the
> official certificate as long as one can cite the source.
>
> Jonas

You access the civil registers' quarterly indexes and search for the birth, death
or marriage of your ancestor as far back as 1837. In the case of multiple choice
(everyone's hazard) there is the option, on the back of the application form, to
specify the parentage or other precise details of the ancestor. I've never used
this, but I think that if the details don't match up on the expected certificate,
you don't get the certificate, and I don't think you pay, either. You can either
call back a few days later, or have the cert posted to you. This does, of course,
prolong the exercise. If you need to prove something legally, yes, you do need the
official certificate. Citing the source is not enough.

Otherwise, you takes your chances.

The original records belong to the government, so you can't access them. There are
billions of them, as I said.

Renia


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