Genealogy Chat

The ref. used to order a certificate from the GRO is different from the ref when I looked at the Lancashire website.

Would the certs be exactly the same, ie. the hand writting?

Kathlyn

The GRO have their own coding system and local authorities wouldn't have a clue what you were talking about if you tried to give them the ref.

In my experience though, I have had both copies of the original handwriting and newly written out ones from the GRO - I think it is pot luck.

I hope this helps.

Ellie

it is pot luck as to whether you get hand written or typed from either GRO or the registry office


BUT even the hand written one from either place is very unlikely to be your ancestor's handwriting ..... if a photocopy it will more likely be the handwriting of a clerk in the Office at that time. If a copy, then the handwriting of a modern-day clerk.


and also some registry offices are not sending certificates out!


I have also discovered that it is much more expensive and time consuming for me to get a certificate from a local registry office than to get it from GRO ..............


I live overseas, and am therefore

....... unable to send a stamped address envelope, so I have to add £1 to the cost of EACH certificate I am ordering.

...... unable to buy size A4 envelope, so have to find something close

....... am unable to pay by credit card, and do not have a UK bank account, so I have to buy a money order from the bank for the total amount required PLUS a transaction fee.

....... have to put everything in an envelope and pay a large amount for an overseas stamp.




By contrast ................ filling out the form online, adding my credit card number for a charge of £7 per certificate, and clicking on the button is far easier and cheaper!!!




sylvia

Sylvia in Canada suprises me, I am not aware of any register offices not sending out certificates. I order them frequently so wonder if I have missed something.

Being overseas might be a problem, but in the UK a first class letter and sae costs pence, the fee is still £7 but if you specify information, e.g. father must be George, or birth must be in the first quarter, and it is not, you pay NOTHING AT ALL. Cheshire BMD now offer ordering online where you are sure of the information (but still need a postal application where there are things to be checked). Certificates arrive in 2-3 working days as opposed to the GRO's 7-10 (and sometimes more) working days.

A local register office needs a different reference number, but many will manage with no reference number at all if you just write them a letter with all the info you have. Even if they are not a bmd office,. I recently wrote to Leicester office with basic info and got a cert back in 4 days.

And the office in North Wales are stars to be commended. I sent a request for a birth cert, it wasn't right, and they spent the next fortnight looking up possible alternatives and ringing me up to see if they had found the right person. Sadly they didn't, but what service!

Love to all

Margaret

Margaret

are you doubting me??



I have seen it mentioned many times over the last 2 or 3 years on these boards that some (or many ..... depends on who was doing the posting) local registry offices are no longer supplying certificates to people wanting them for genealogical purposes.

The presumed (by others, not me) reason is that too many people were requesting them and thus occupying too much time by the staff


I can assure you that the cost of postage from Canada to the UK is not "pence", nor is the cost of an overseas stamp in the UK mere "pence"


I can also assure you that the few times I have requested a certificate from a lcoal registry office, they have TOLD me to add £1 to cover the cost of postage.

I am quite aware that £1 is more than the cost of an English overseas stamp, but that is what they say. So they made a profit out of me!!


I also have to say that the certificates I got from the registry office were folded ..... as we do not have A4 or similar size, the addressed envelope I had to send was slightly too small for the certificates.



sylvia

Sylvia, even in UK we get our certificates folded now, it is to do with the postal charges system, the larger the envelope, the more the charge, even if it weighs just a few grammes.

I agree with Sylvia in Canada. The local offices charge for postage etc. Being overseas myself its not easy getting local office certs. Some dont do online. I expect overseas folk get it postage free because they wont be paying VAT.

Keith my certs from GRO have been folded for quite awhile.

Keith,

I must admit I haven't ordered any certificates from GRO for some time ..... I have a long list waiting!!

But I remember seeing somewhere on a board a comment that they were now being folded.




Margaret ......... the certificates I did order online came from Oldham Registry Office (Lancashire), and you could not order online. You could download the form, but it had to be mailed to them.



sylvia

I live overseas. A couple of years back, I sent a cheque for £7.50 for a cert, the 50p to cover the cost of the postage. I received the cert a few days later together with a 50p coin enclosed !!!!!

Terry

To summarise

1) The GRO and Local Registers are completely separate. Some would argue the local register may be more accurate, as it has suffered fewer transcriptions.

2) As stated, GRO references mean nothing to the local registry, and vice versa.

3) Some local register offices will not issue certs for genealogical purposes. This includes a number in the London area. Others treat as low priority, and suggest delivery times of up to a month. Many, particularly the smaller ones will post out the next day.

4) Only a few larger local offices will provide copies of the original entry in their custody. Most supply a handwritten copy done by the current clerk

5) I understand that, exceptionally, a copy provided by a local office will be an image of the original register and bear the actual handwriting and signatures. Some claim to have seen this, but I can't speak from personal experience, as all mine are handwritten.

6) The GRO post all certs in A5 envelopes, folded once, in half. Many local registry offices use smaller envelopes, such as 110mm x 220mm which means the cert is folded twice

7) Never order other than from the GRO or local Registry Office, otherwise you are likely to pay highly inflated charges.

records I have obtained from Oldham Registry office have cost me £7 each, and I have waited in the reception area for about 20 mins and watched the clerk get the register, and copy (handwrite) the information onto paper.

Many of the Parish records are available for viewing for free and copying at a fraction of the cost, and you get to see the original handwriting, signatures.

Kathlyn, what area in Lancashire are you looking at? Someone may be able to look it up at their local library.

Sylvia - I thought you were coming over to do some research this summer. I offered to look at Oldham records for you and could have e-mailed them to you to save you the money (and the time awaiting for them to arrive in the post)

Hi Crystal

I do remember you offering that.


We did come over in June, but never even went to Oldham .................. we had to make some choices, and unfortunately that was one of the wishes that had to go overboard.

We ended up doing some graveyard searches for husband's family near Kendal and in North Wales instead ....... but they solved some death dates!


Those certificates were ordered from the Registry Office a couple of years ago, and then I changed to ordering them from GRO.


However, there is one thing that you might be able to help me with, it was what I was really hoping to look for if we had got to Oldham


It could be very tedious though ............ reading microfiches at the Oldham Chron!




sylvia

It would have been good to meet up with you Sylvia!
As you know I don't mind doing lookups, but depends on how much time it takes - p.m. me with what you are looking for - don't want to hijack Kathlyn's thread! x

Thank you!!

I will do that ..... probably tomorrow as I've been suffering from a migraine today, and am a bit muddle headed at the moment! Not to sure I could marshal the facts in a lucid manner.


sylvia