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Archiver > SOUTH-AFRICA > 2007-08 > 1188471309


From: Richard Ball <>
Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Humansdorp Baptism Register.
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:55:20 +0100
References: <!~!UENERkVCMDkAAQACAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgAAAAAAAAAlF1eZWTUnkuqd7B92lo1usKAAAAQAAAA/yISpMPsEkuHNS5Q0XK0EQEAAAAA@elisanet.fi><42852c3f64b92c0d0f7624f1f0642364@audioio.com><3a6c51fcc46e0555b589600dd85c2194@audioio.com>
In-Reply-To: <3a6c51fcc46e0555b589600dd85c2194@audioio.com>


Hello Andrew,

AR> Old Parish Registers in Scotland are a public record. I believe
AR> the same is true of Parish Records in England

I believe not. I understand that they are the property of the
individual churches but that they are encouraged to deposit them with
the local (usually County) Record Office (archive) for use by any
visitor to that record office. The Record Offices retain copyright on
material they store.

AR> in the days before compulsory registration with the Civil
AR> authorities of all Births, Marriages and Deaths (1855 for Births,
AR> I forget the dates for other events).

1855 is the date for Scotland.

Civil Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages was began for
England and Wales in 1837, but, I believe, not made compulsory until
the 1880s.

>> All sorts of things that used to be more or less free are now
>> charged for. Even where information is in the public domain, one
>> may end up having to pay for it. For example, the Scottish Records
>> office, under the name of scotlandspeople, charges for on-line
>> access

Digitization of the records and the housing of those images and
indexes on a web site where they can be downloaded is anything but
cheap, the charges are really very modest. And all the documents can
be consulted free of charge at the General Register Office in
Edinburgh.

The same goes for the Public Record Office (England and Wales)
digitization of the Census and PCC (Canterbury) Wills - the charges
are extremely modest compared even with a rail ticket to Kew from most
parts of Britain. At Kew the documents can be viewed free of charge
but photocopies are still charged for.

Cheers,

Richard
--
Richard Ball,
Norfolk, England

http://www.ballfamilyrecords.co.uk



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