Find Ancestors

Hi Gwyneth from Kent and Sam from Stoke and Everyone Else Thank you so much for explaining everything to me. It now has clicked what I must do. My grandmother lived in Liverpool and I have a newspaper cutting of her wedding and thought I could track marriages through the Parish Registers as there might be a chance her sister married in the same church too. Many thanks again for all your help Kind Regards Diana

Any copies from a Register Office will cost the full price, ie £7 but if your research shows that your family stayed in an area for a long time you can sometimes guess at the likely church, ( easier in rural districts) and get a copy of the marriage entry from the parish registers, taken from the microfiche at a Record Office. These will have exactly the same information as a GRO certificate. Copies have usually cost me about 50p. There is no GRO index at any library within miles of me in the south east so check before you visit your's. Main libraries often have copies of parish registers from their immediate area. You can order films from the LDS family research centres for a small fee and they will keep the film for you to view for the following few weeks. Gwyn

Hi Di Yes I was referring to getting a photocopy of the parish records. At the Archives in Stoke they charge 55p (sorry, I quoted the wrong price in my original message!) but it may be slighly more in other offices. This is also when I visit and print it myself, if you requested them to do a copy via post or something, there may be an extra charge. You will need to know the Church where the marriage and/or christening took place but as long as you do, they don't take long to find. The parish records will be held at the County Records Office or local Archives for the area in question. Also I believe that you can order them in to view at a Family History Centre but have never used this myself so I can't advise. The marriages are exactly the same as can be found on a certificate but christenings don't hold much information. Hope this helps Sam x

Hi Reg Thank you for replying to my posting. I am sometimes not very bright so please can you tell me where to go to view Parish Registers? Is the best place the local library for the area I am interested in or the Records Office of the area? Does this apply to before 1837 and after 1837? Many thanks for your help Diana

As Sam stated in her first reply, the copies she/he has are of Parish registers. They are not copies of certs............. And to find the parish record, you have to know the church in which the marriage took place. Reg

not sure about what Sam means either about photo copies fopr 10 p I know in the past I have been able to print stuff from a microfilm at the library and that cost 10p a copy so maybe she was referring to that otherwise I still have a lot to learn. lol

Hi Sam from Stoke Could you please check that I have picked you up right. If I have a marriage after 1837 I can get a 10p photocopy of this at a Records Office? I am quite new to genealogy and have only used Scotlandspeople and New Register House. Do I contact the Records Office for the area I am interested in and they will send me a 10p copy. This is presumably so long as I have the name of the church where the marriage took place. Can I get copies of christenings in the Parish records too? Sorry to keep asking questions but I am trying to get my head round the English system. Many thanks Diana

Hi Anne I did not realise that the library had the GRO indexes - thank you for the info. I already use the free indexes on Ancestry but it is the next step when I can see the actual images to read all the details that I am interested in. However I learrn something new everyday! There is so much information to get and it all costs money! I know what I would like for my next birthday - vouchers to buy certificates! Aren't I sad! Diana

Diana, your local library may already have the GRO indexes on microfiche. If you are going to the library for the indexes it is actually quicker to look through the microfiche than to use Ancestry. The main advantage of Ancestry is you can use it at home and the GRO index is still free on there. As I say it is quicker on the microfiche once you get the hang of it! Anne

Hi Sam and Little Lost Cousin Thank you both for your information. How can GRO etc charge these prices when it only costs 50p for a photocopy? I find New Register House in Edinburgh great as I don't mind paying 50p to get the whole certificate. Unfortunately I can only afford to go every six months but have a whale of a time when I go! I shall just have to save up for the certificates I really want and I can't wait for our local library to get Ancestry so I can search for my English rellies for free! Diana

Parish records of marriages are exactly the same as you would find on a certificate after 1837. You would need to know which church it took place at but I have many photocopies which cost me 10p each rather than £7 for the cert. For births and deaths unfortunately the answer is no. You will have to pay £7 and get the certificate. Sam x

yes it does make sense lol I spent a whole day at Edinburgh last year and had a whale of a time......... But sadly not the same back in England. If you are searching for any around the medway area then medwaycityark website has many digital photos of theparish records which saves a fortune.

Hi Everyone Please could someone tell me if you can buy photocopies of certificates if you actually visit Record Offices in England? In Scotland if I go to New Register House in Edinburgh to do research I can get a copy of a certifcate for 50p. I know you can send for certificates for a cost of £7 from ONS but was wondering if there is a cheaper way of getting a copy of the certificate. Hope this makes sense! Diana