Genealogy Chat

On behalf of my wife who has been recommended this web site. Does anyone have an idea if they are: A) Genuine B) Useful Thanks Andy And this is it. http://www.1837online.com/Trace2web/

Hi They are definately genuine, and can be very useful. But you can use a lot of credits searching. Definately try to narrow down the search timeframe if possible and check FreeBMD first. Diane

do what? surely we can ask about other sites I thought that was part of tips. anyway 1837 has solved a lot of my queries but you do have to try to narrow search to as few years as possibel. It is searched by 1st 3 letters and there are 4 quaters to each year 10p a time to look at pages. I have been known to spend a couple of pound but thats much cheaper than travelling to London to search. sandra

FreeBMD is here - http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/ - do NOT click on the advert at the top - the link for a search is near the bottom of the page. To see how far the transcribing has got, click on the link just above "FreeBMD is very busy".

This is a genuine service. It offers the opportunity to search the GRO indexes on line - what you see in the books in the Family Record Centre is what you get online. However, you have to pay for each page you view. If you have a rare name - Chowns for example, and you are looking for a death in say Aylesbury in 1815, you will probably only need to look at a maximum of 4 pages (years are divided into quarters). If you know the quarter as well, that helps. But if you are looking for a common name, say, William Brown, and you don't know which year, but it could be say 1871-1879, then you have at least 8 x 4 pages, and in practice each quarter could have 2 or more pages of just William Browns, which can be hard work on the eyes as well as expensive. I use FreeBMD when I can, and try to go up to london to the FRC when I can't, as I prefer the big books and I'm not far away - the fare is probably no more expensive than the amount I would spend on 1837 online I have used 1837 online on occasion though and its fine, as long as you have a good idea of what you are looking for first. LN

Nell - is 1815 online now???? ;)

1815 how when the records only started in 1837 hence 1837(.)com. This is a genuine site the offical Books for Births marriages and deaths. 1837-2004. They are scanned copies what you see if what you get in the Books in London. Very useful if you have any idea of the year. If not it could cost a bit hunting through the qtrs. You can also save each page so its not wasted. Just make sure you save each one with the year, name and qtr. If you get the chance to visit the Records Office in Myddleton Street London do, it is worth it and you will be able to see how they are done. They also have census upstairs 1841-1891. One thing to remember the births before 1875 is not complete, many were missed as the register use to go around and record birth from 1837 when they realised this was not working they made it law so parents had to record births. This was from 1875. From mid 1911 in the birth indexing you will get the mothers maiden name, also mid 1911 they started to put the partners surname so you could find a match by looking in the same qtr of the same year until you find the right surname and details (district, vol and page number) to match you will then have a first name to go with the surname. You will have 45 days to use your credits (55 credits cost £5.00) use them or lose them. But it is worth it. Irene

Check with your local library, they will know the nearest archives which will carry the Birth,marriage death indexes on microfiche/film. If you can get there its free to view and you can then order the certificates online for £7.I wouldn't recommend the pre 1850's on fiche though as they can be quite taxing to read (badly filmed and written in flourishing longhand.)