Genealogy Chat

I haven't yet started to buy certificates and wanted to know whether it is cheaper to order them on line or to go to local reg office and order them. I live in Kent and all my rellies are so far from London and Ireland. Loz :-)

Im overseas and have to order online.The local offices request a stamped addressed envelope.I dont pay for any postage ordering online so it is the best way

I order online from the GRO website. Still £7 but you don't pay for a stamp and envelope. Kath. x

Thanks to All, for the info Loz :-)

If you go to http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/ and look at the Local BMD list, there are some local offices which also have some of their records searchable online. Sometimes the outcome gives more data than, say, 1837 (particularly marriages) in that the info is more specific. They have their own refs and these are often made into a link to a partially-completed application form. The prices are still the same, but the info is the source-data for the GRO info, so you're one transcription better off. In my experience the service is as least as quick. Good hunting! Christine

One point to consider, when you buy from the GRO you get a photocopy type certificate of the cert they hold on record, if you buy from a local record office - I'm lead to believe - they hand copy the entry they hold, which of course is always open to human transcription errors. I know the photocpy ones from the GRO can sometimes be a bit feint, but at least the deciphering is up to you, and not a mistake by someone else. Sioux

I agree about the hand wriiten ones. The first one I ordered form the relevent record office looked really nice but I think a mistake was made with the occupation. On the marriage cert the mans occupation was given as 'farmer' but all his previous and later entires in census were given as 'turner', which could be misread if the writing on the original was not very clear. I am not near enough to go and look at the original. Also it was dearer because the reference number from online doesn't help at the local offices, so you do need to know all the details. Good luck anyway, Jean

All certificates before photocopiers came in were all copied by hand. When they married in church they then copied for the local records office then it would have been copied again for London. I think the Church records are the ones that would be correct. I have checked the certificates I have with the church records, the most common error is their age anything from 1-10 years different. ggg gramddad died aged 49 in the church burials, but the certificate said 58. Irene

The local certs are, indeed, transcriptions but (theoretically) they spend a lot of their time looking at the same lots of handwriting so should be able to read it. There are suggestions in the "mistranscriptions" threads that some records didn't make it through the quarterly data-capture process so never appeared on the GRO index. Yer pays yer money and yer takes yer choice, I suppose. If you're looking for a marriage, the local office sites often allow you to match names, even for dates earlier than 1911, and also mention the actual wedding place (i.e. Church name or Register Office name). I'm less certain about the birth records, but I think that they, too, can be more specific about places than GRO. Christine PS - If GRO reckons that the copying process doesn't render a clear enough cert, then they're likely to transcribe, too.

Do you need all the reference material to order a certificate or can you request one if you only know the names date and place? Loz:-)

I think it tells you on the GRO site - in the bit about fees. You can get a cert with name, date and place - usually - but if the birth got registered late for any reason, you may find there's a bigger search fee. I think you may have to pay £11.50 instead of £7 or something. Christine

Local offices are often more helpful than the GRO and will perhaps search a bit more than they are required. I have had EMails asking for confirmation which is the right certificate of a couple of possibilities. Also they usually are happy for you to send a "NOT TO EXCEED .... POUNDS" cheque and then only deduct the amount required with no charge for failures or incorrect matches (if you specify some details because of some ambiguity). MB

In my experience, the register office staff have been very helpful and quick. Some of the London ones will not supply them though. Joy

I have "typed" death certificates dated 1942 and 1954. They were not always handwritten.