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Ancestry - Removal of original GRO birth indexes

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Lord Martyn

Lord Martyn Report 14 Feb 2009 11:05

Hi all,

Ancestry have removed the images of the GRO birth indexes.

They tell me that they have no intention of reinstating them as they believe that the FreeBMD project has transcribed all the entries and so images of original records is not needed.

Ancestry will not guarentee that FreeBMD is 100% complete or 100% accurate. EVERY transcription on the web is someone's opinion of what they thought they saw. One should always go back to original records to confirm accuracy of transcription.

Ancestry tell me that they have received no complaints about the orriginal records being removed.

If you are a serious genealogist you must agree that these records must be reinstated.

I beg you to contact ancestry to get them back

Email or a phone call will do
Their number is 0800 404 9723 - and it is free!!

Regards
Lord Martyn

Elaine

Elaine Report 14 Feb 2009 11:35

They are still there but you need to access each year at a time, click on the first letter of the surname and scroll through.

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/rectype/vital/freebmd/bmd.aspx
-click on freeBMD births and scroll down page for 1837-1915 images
- click on Complete BMD Indexes 1984-2005 and scroll down for 1916-1983 images

Thelma

Thelma Report 14 Feb 2009 12:11

Ancestry have NOT removed images,they have provided transcriptions from 1837-2005 and images from 1837-1883.
The records are split:-
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916-2005
Click on either,from the main search box, and you will get a search box where you can enter the quarter,the year and a name and from there you will find the images.

Potty

Potty Report 14 Feb 2009 13:29

I have posted a reply to the same thread on the Records board, pointing out that you can still search the images but would also like to point out that the original indexes are somebody's transcription of the entries sent from local Registrar Offices and also are not complete (some local office returns never reached the GRO) and do include errors. It is even possible that the copies sent to the GRO could contain errors.