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Free BMD question

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Sam

Sam Report 31 Oct 2004 23:17

Thanks to both of you. Now I think that if I don't have any joy on staffs BMD site then i should check FreeBMD as well, which up until now, I haven't been doing. Thanks again Sam

Christine in Herts

Christine in Herts Report 31 Oct 2004 23:05

FreeBMD/Ancestry is based on the GRO (central) records. These are quarterly transcriptions of the local office info. Not all local offices have websites - not all are updated regularly (see West Midlands!). You can get at the same records by going to a Records Library. In summary - there is some overlap, but while transcriptions are in progress there will be info on one & not the other. Ultimately, there's always a risk of records disappearing down the cracks of the quarterly transcriptions - or getting garbled -so the local records are more reliable - but you have to know which one is local! Christine

Geoff

Geoff Report 31 Oct 2004 22:58

Staffs BMD says this: "The Register Offices in the county of Staffordshire, England, hold records of Local births, marriages and deaths back to the start of civil registration in 1837. The county's Family History Societies are collaborating with the Local Authority Registration Services to make the indexes to these records freely searchable via the Internet. Although the indexes are not yet complete for all years and districts, the database will eventually cover Staffordshire births, marriages and deaths for the years 1837 to 1950 and beyond." It would seem that the two sites are being transcribed by different groups, so are unlikely to contain the same data at any given time.

Sam

Sam Report 31 Oct 2004 22:47

Hi I have found that each county seems to have it's own BMD site, for example I am using www.staffordshirebmd.org.uk alot and the same for Lancashire. If I have no joy on these is there any point using freebmd or are they using the same data? Does anyone know? Sam