Genealogy Chat

Can anyone please tell me if there is any advantage in ordering certs from the GRO, or if it is better to go to the district office where the birth was registered. Also would it be quicker and /or cheaper? I now need to order certs to prove the info I have from census records.Thank you for reading this,
Val

I find it easier to order them from GRO online cos if you have a number of them all over the place ................ Also most of the London reg districts only pass you on to the GRO anyway.

The local offices used to be quicker to send them out but I think the GRO is now much the same (we had an awful back log of weeks when the Who do you think you are programme first started).

I dont think local offices are cheaper - £7 on GRO with the GRO ref. I think local offices charge that or a bit more.

Thanks Heather, I live in Wales and a number of my ancestors lived in and around the area I now live in so it is fairly easy for me to go to the actual offices, would they issue them on the spot, so to speak or would I still have to wait. I am not good at waiting ............Mind you I have waited this long Val

Hi Valerie,

If you have a 'bulk order' to do, big enough to justify the cost of the trip to the relevant records office and spending the whole day there, then do it that way.

I relocated with my job to where I'm currently living, so my local record office won't have anything I'm looking for. I would need to want at least 5 certs to exceed the cost of a single rail trip to the main London office. Hopefully the equation is somewhat better for you.

The important thing:- Phone the records office in advance and ask them what they charge for copies* of certs, with and without you doing your own searching. Some might not allow the public to do the search and will charge the same £3 per lookup that GRO online does.

* I extend the meaning of this word even as far as being allowed to merely view a cert and write down the details in your notes.




Mark

Val, I have had lots of certificates from my local area. My local one will print it out for you while you wait and have always been very helpful. They will also photocopy the original register for you. Why don't you try phoning or emailing them first.

I have only ever been charged £7.

Thank you all for your help. I will now have to get my hubby to take me there . If anybody out there needs any help in the West Wales area and it is possible for me to help, please let me know.