Genealogy Chat

Can anyone give advice/ help on how I get hold of Certificates for records before 1837? I've done all of my research pre- 1837 on line and it has been relatively plain sailing. Now I'm getting very frustrated because even though in some instances I have the right info. on ancestors, I don't know how to order certificates. e.g. I've just ordered some 'print-offs' of records from St James Westminster but they don't sell the certificates and have referred me to the Family Records Centre - but the FRC don't have pre-1837 stuff do they? I know for a lot of people half the fun of research is in visiting the actual parishes/ record archives - but I'm not that mobile and it would be great if there was a solution on line...... thanks Eileen

Hi, I've had loads of pre 1837 stuff from this site... www(.)familysearch(.)org/ remove brackets. Not everything is on there but its worth a try xx

Hi, Pre 1837 stuff is at the county record office for the area (usually on microfiche or film). You can either visit in person or you can contact the record office and ask for lookups. There would be a charge for this service so you need to give as accurate information as possible. I don't think they will do blanket searching. Cheers, Horatia

The print offs from the parish registers are probably all you will get pre 1837 . I have seen forms from that period where the vicar issued a 'certified copy' of a baptism or marriage entry (probably needed to prove identity or age) but if the registers have been lodged at the records office and the people in them all long dead there would be no need for such certificates to be issued any more. Although some years ago my sister in law couldn't find her baptism certificate before being confirmed. As she came from a busy London parish the register had been deposited at the LMA which DID issue her with a baptism certificate :-) To make some of my pre 1837 records more certificate-like I scanned the photocopied page and then cut and pasted the relevant entry into a new page with a nice heading showing the name of parish, and source of information.

Thanks everyone - I knew you'd help ! Eileen

Hi Eileen. On the Records Office site just along from Tips you can find people willing to do parish records look-ups at their local records office. They can either then just give you the info. or have a copy taken of the fiche page. I do look-ups for Hampshire for example, and always scour these boards looking for people offering similar for other counties too far away for me to get to.

The LDS (Latter Day Saints) have Records Centres all over. If you have a look on the familysearch website you can find the nearest one to you.Again on the website, you will be able to check if they have filmed the Parish Records for the area you want. You can visit your local LDS office and order a copy of the film (£2.70 I think). They take a couple of weeks to arrive and they will keep it for a month to give you plenty of chance to view it. I use the Sheffield LDS Office quite a lot as I have young children and can't just whizz off all round the country to records offices.

You won't get any official certificate for anything prior to 1837 however some record offices will send you copis of the entries. Remember that the birth, marriage and death certificates are only certified copies of the register entry anyway. What is in the register is going to be the most accurate.