LONDON-L Archives

Archiver > LONDON > 1999-08 > 0933787720


From: William Bryant <>
Subject: Re: 10 things I didn't know when starting out - incl GRO...;-)
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 13:28:40 -0400


Bless you Elli.
I am keeping this on file here for anyone else that shows up new.
Hopefully they will speak up (like I didn't). I, like John, had a bad
experience with the first question I asked. Thank you again so much for
all us newbies.
Sincerely,
Leslie
Hamden, CT

Eleanor Kliffen wrote:
>
> Dear List
> Those with ample gen-experience, please skip on to the next posting... in
> the spirit of compromise, here are a few things I wish I had known when
> starting out on the family trail...
> 1 - The GRO (General Register Office), St Catherine's (after the name of
> their former home) and BMD indexes are one and the same thing, for England &
> Wales;
> 2 - When you search the indexes, you will not find an exact date, just the
> quarter within which the event was registered (occasionally not the quarter
> in which the event occurred). In fact, the indexes are not much use unless
> you know what you are looking for...
> 3 - The first census with names included was in 1841; the most recent census
> you can access is for 1891;
> 4 - The Scottish GRO is available online - at a reasonable price. Again,
> unless you know what you are looking for, it is of limited use. The census
> is supposedly also available, but I couldn't seem to get anything of use
> from it when I tried a couple of months back (any advice?);
> 5 - There are heaps of mailing lists like this one, and the archives of many
> are searchable - http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl -
> always a good idea to search the archive before posting
> your query; I found the information I was looking for (re: Hare St, Bethnal
> Green) without having to post a query on this list;
> 6 - FRC means Family Records Centre; SoG means Society of Genealogists; PRO
> means Public Record Office. All are located in London, the first two in the
> same neighbourhood. All have excellent, informative websites - can't find
> the SoG one, but I seem to recall it exists - (but not searchable archives
> online);
> 7 - Do not attempt to visit the FRC with an 18-month-old toddler, on your
> own ...;-) A year-old baby who falls asleep in her pushchair, on the other
> hand, is ideal - a great icebreaker, too. Seriously, the facilities (ramps,
> lift, plenty of loos, baby-changing / feeding room, large lunch room,
> lockers) there are excellent - if you are in the UK, within day-trip reach
> of London, I would warmly recommend the experience.
> 8 - The London Metropolitan Archive is also just around the corner from the
> FRC. It used to be known as the Greater London Archive, and offers a search
> service. The staff are (in my experience) both knowledgeable and friendly.
> Their telephone number is (0171) 332 3820 - Minicom (0171) 278 8703 - Fax
> (0171) 833 9136 (no website last time I checked);
> 9 - Liz is quite right that Genuki and Cyndi's List - www.cyndislist.com -
> (and I would add Rootsweb - www.rootsweb.com - , though that is easily
> accessible through Cyndi's List) are the websites to visit, as they will
> tell you all. I can also recommend an idle surf through a few search
> engines, such as Alta Vista, Yahoo - if your name is unusual, you may be
> surprised by what you find...
> 10 - All these wonderful mailing lists are courtesy of Rootsweb, which is
> maintained by voluntary donations - so, feel good about yourself - give! -
> http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html
>
> Hope this helps someone
> Best wishes
> Elli
> Tottenham, North London
>
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