Genealogy Chat

Hi,

How do you go about getting certified copies of scottish birth & marriage certs?

Thanks

Gillian

Look at Scotlands people website...............

Thanks Reggie

I thought you could only get images but have looked and can see they call them extracts!

Gillian

Most folk don't buy certified images of the registration. They buy uncertified images at abt 1.40 GBP. However, if you needed to prove in a court or passport office that a parent was born in Scotland, then you'ld need a certified copy of the same image - the cost is 10 times as much. Also, if the event is too recent, then you can only buy the certified extracts.

Hi mgnv,

Yes I need actual certified copies of certs which are more costly than images!
Thanks

gillian

When I started researching my Scottish heritage I ordered a death certificate for my 4 x great grandfather for 1856 and when it arrived it was just the extract printed on certificate paper. I can still remember how disappointed I was because I'd spent money unnecessarily.

Tooty Fruity - not quite sure what you mean. Did it not have all the information you needed, or was it something else?

Denis

Tooty Fruity means that she could have downloaded exactly the same entry onto her computer for less money. The only difference was that it was printed on 'official' paper certifying that it was a true extract.

If you only need the information for FH purposes, a download (if availbale) is cheapest and has the same info.

Earlier I said "Also, if the event is too recent, then you can only buy the certified extracts." The exact definition of "too recent" is 100/75/50 y for B/M/D's.

An official extract is 'normally' the same uncertified image you get for 1-2 quid, but printed on paper with an official seal on it. the paper says:
The above particulars are extracted from a Register of Marriages for the *Aberdeen District* of *Old Machar Parish* in the *County* of *Aberdeen*
Given under the seal of the General Register Office, New Register House, Edingurgh on *13th January 1995*
[the starred bits are filled into the pre-printed blanks (without the stars)]
This extract has the image.

I've also got a copy from a local office issued just just 10m earlier. This one is not an image, but copied out from the rego in 1994.
This extract is headed:
Extract of an Entry in the Register of Marriages Kept in the Undermentioned Parish or District.
The above particulars ... bit is the same as the GROS one, but there's no mention of seals - that line is omitted.

You can also get certified extracts of Old Parish Registers - the ones I own have the standard SP image..

I said 'normally' the same above. The GROS extract goes on to say:
The above particulars incorporate and subsequent corrections or amendments to the original entry made with the authority of the Registrar General.
[This extract is issued under the Registration of Births Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965.]

This makes me think if your original image has an RCE notation in the margin, then the official extract will be cobbled together for you from the original entry and the correction(s).
It's conceivable that some info could be lost in this process - e.g., SP's example of an RCE entry is a death in the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879. I didn't know, but when a body's found, it's the date of finding that's recorded on the d.cert when it's initially rego'ed. This body had been in the water for 7-8 wks. It's up to the coroner to determine d.o.d - I think maybe the Procurator-fiscal in Scotland, but in this case, a royal commission made the determinaion. I've not seen the final official extract for this death - maybe the finding of the body info has gotten lost. [There's another victim, found the same day, rego'ed on the same page]
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Content/Help/index.aspx?r=554&404


Not that it's anything to do with this topic, but you can also get cheaper uncertified images of BMD certs in Ireland, but there you only save 40% (with no date restictions), unlike SP's 90ish%. Still, it's worth knowing what savings can be gotten. Check out:
http://www.groireland.ie/