Genealogy Chat

nudged for Kathlyn.

http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Business/Business_and_street_trading_licences/Other_licenses/Registrar/index.asp http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Images/tcm21-31909.pdf For you, Lorraine.

What a great idea. How would i obtain the address of a Liverpool Register office the birth would have be circa 1891? I have already used your letter to send to Wolverhampton office for my nans certificate not showing on gro index. Heres hoping they have it. many thanks Lorraine

I have used Tower Hamlets R Office many times and always found them very helpful. They have always returned my £7 cheque when the info I have given does not match the certificate and sent a covering letter explaining why they have returned the cheque. The certificates requested usually arrive within under a week of ordering. Great service. Irene

Great info. Nudged for further reference. Bx

nudge want to read this again later chris

When ordering from the GRO what you get is a scanned copy of a transcription of the original cert so is just as likely to be wrong as the transcription of a present day clerk. Some local offices send scanned copies of the original document which is great when your ancestor has actually signed it.

Can I just add a word of warning to newbys. I searched for the Camden R.O. to find if there was any info on ordering certs. The page came up headed up Camden etc.etc. and gave 3 paragraphs of info on ordering certs. The last one sounded great Capitals letters - 'order Camden Registrry Office birth certificate.' Going further into the site it is for a private company -BMD.Certificates.co.uk. and is charging ridiculous prices for their certs. It would be so easy if you are a newcomer to genealogy to think this is an official government site the way it reads. I have also had this happen when trying to access the Barnet Registry office. I hope none of you get caught out by these shysters.

Hi all, Remember one important thing when ordering from the local register office. The clerk copies details from an orriginal handwritten source, ie you get a transcription of what the clerk THOUGHT they saw and NOT a direct copy of the orriginal entry. Buying from the GRO, you will get a scanned copy of the orriginal for you to make your own transcription. I have had several certificates in the past where the clerk has misread the orriginal doccument. EG in old poor quality handwriting the name Ivy can look like Joy, believe it or not! Also inexperienced clerks guess at names, some of our ancestors had names which to us seem very odd. Hepzibar, Levi, Kezia for example Stay with the GRO and make you own mind up about what the cerificate says rather than rely on someone else to do it.

Hi Everyone This is a great tip and the format of the letter really helps. I have been mainly researching Scottish ancestors so far but now starting on the English side and it seems so much more complicated than up here. Happy Hunting Diana

just reading your note ive always gone to the gro online great tip thankyou didnt realise they could do it saffronx

just reading your note ive always gone to the gro online great tip thankyou didnt realise they could do it saffronx

As someone who works in a Register Office I just want to say the letter is great. I only wish more people had this sort of format, although I do appreciate for many of our enquirers it is a 'one off' request. Honestly we sometimes get so much information it is really hard to find which certificate they actually require and other times we get a name only!!! A telephone number (office hours) is really helpful as we all hate to be beaten and sometimes we can elicit that little extra nuggett of information which assists us. Turn around time does depend on how busy we are. Please remember we deal with currrent Registrations and Marriages and have lots of in person enqiries. We always return payment if unsuccessful and separate cheques for each enquiry does make it easier if we send on one enquiry to another office. Finally a thank you to all who appreciate we are only human and trying to do our best.

Hi Cindy If you let me know what names you're looking for, I can see if I can find them on there. I might be able to find churches in that area from what you've found on Family Search. Sometimes if you put the church name into a search engine you occasionally come across sites where people have transcribed the parish records for themselves and they can be really useful.

Thanks but I did find it on family search but dont know what parish it would be or if whats on that site is the only info from the wedding, would there be more info in the reg at the parish? does any one know the parish name or address as I dont know the area, it may be my last line in finding my ggggranddad I need to know were born and parent to carry on. Cheers

Hi Cindy There are no certificates prior to 1837 because registration was only introduced then, but you might be able to find a marriage record in the local parish records. Some of them are on the Family Search site, but not all and apparently not if they are Roman Catholic records.

Hi from Australia, could you tell me if I could get a copy of a marriage Cert from 1811 , fromWolverhampton Stafford or would it be somewhere else (church), another county, I dont know the counties in England or where they are, would there be an online site? sorry for all the questions.

Found this really good as so far only needed Scottish info which is easy, it seems more complicated south of the border but now I've found English links I'll have to get used to your system. Thanks for all the useful info. Helena

Hi I want to order a marriage certificate from Willesden London, but i am not sure now after reading this thread. My question is should i or shudn't i, and should i do it online or not. Thankyou Pat

nudge