Genealogy Chat

For those who are interested, the GRO indexes were moved from Somerset House in 1970.....!

The only reason I mentioned Somerset house was because my gran went there in the 60s to get a birth cert so she could apply for a passport.

There was no reason for me to know that it had shut down, I have not been interested in family history since a child...just the last 4 years.

I bet if I ask my mum or dad where would you get a replacement cert from, they would probably say the same.

So what I am saying is why should I know Ancestry was not the place to get certs from, as that was the 1st site I used?

Jax

you wouldn't know!

Just as I did not know that getting certificates from the Local Registry Office using forms printed from freebmd would be a very expensive way fro someone living outside the UK to get certificates.


It was doing it and then reading on GR about GRO that taught me otherwise


It is also why I post my experience with Registry Offices that leads me to post about the cost whenever I see a thread where someone in the UK says that ROs are (or were!) a good alternative place to buy.


NOT if it costs almost twice the cost!

It is interesting that I have never yet seen someone from the UK recommending using the Local Registry Office adding the caution "but not if you live overseas" :-D

I have just purchased copies of my parents marriage cert, and a long form of my birth cert, as I only have a short one, as I have to prove my parentage for a project.
I ordered them from local RO's, Preston and Carlisle, over the phone, and it was very nice to speak to pleasant people at the other end. I paid a bit more than £9.25, probably includes postage. One cert came next day first class.

grannyfranny

the cost from an RO is about £9.50 or so plus p&p, IN THE UK ................ and that is somewhat comparable to the cost from GRO of £9.25 including p&p

I think the delivery time is also comparable.


It does not apply to those of us who live overseas, and have to pay for money orders in UK sterling (including conversion charges), plus £1 per certificate ordered, as well as the extra cost of having to buy special size envelopes because our countries do not have A4 stationery!


It should also be noted that more and more ROs are no longer supplying certificates for genealogical purposes because of the time such orders take.

As I stated earlier, cost from an RO has now gone up to £10 and depending on the RO they can be other charges too.

So even if ordering from the UK, currently, the GRO is cheaper.