Genealogy Chat

Staffordshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, parts of Yorkshire, and North Wales.

These sites were set up by local Family History Societies and although they are only partial indexes they are frequently being updated.

I have found them to be an excellent source of information...apart from the registration districts you will also find the sub districts....making research a lot easier. They are also excellent for cross checking with GRO index references for marriages....both the names of the couple are indexed together and also the church where they married.

Staffordshire http://www.bmsgh.org/staffsbmd/index.html

Cheshire http://www.cheshirebmd.org.uk/

Lancashire http://lancashirebmd.org.uk/

Yorkshire http://yorkshirebmd.org.uk/

North Wales http://northwalesbmd.org.uk/

Linda

OR

just go to www.ukbmd.org.uk


...... and click on the county you want


sylvia

Unfortunately very few counties have this facility.

Thankfully the Cheshire FHS realised there was such a need....and a few counties followed.

I can add...

West Midlands http://bmsgh.org/wmbmd/

Bath http://bathbmd.org.uk/

Wiltshire (somewhat limited) http://wiltshirebmd.org.uk/

What a pity other counties do not follow suit.

Linda

Iv`e found that certs ordered through Lancashire and cheshire BMD usually are delivered by return of post.....far quicker than the GRO.


Nicky

Only wish:

1. more counties followed Cheshire's lead

2. I had Cheshire ancestors

Have to say also that Lancashire have a really good site as well. Hint, there is a church in Dalton in Furness.

LOL Dingbat...my husband's ancestors are mostly from Cheshire...so the site was really handy!!

My paternal family hail from Lancashire so I had the best of both worlds...so to speak! Another real good source of information.

Lol I googled Dalton in Furness....I am a nosy person!!

So true Nicky!!

I just wanted other folk to realise there were other sources of information for certain counties.

Linda x

Thanks Linda...Bookmarking this for future reference.

Jean x.

If you use the sites to obtain certificates then the certs are issued by the local offices, they are not only quicker but take the details from the original register (and in most cases copy the original register so you get your rellies signatures too).

Also bear in mind that there are thousands of events that never made ot to the GRO index but are still available via local offices. Relying solely on the GRO for the index and source of certs means lots of folks will never find all the certs they want or need.

I always use the local offices and if i didn't i know that at least 12 of my certs (from a collection of 80) that would never be available frm the GRO.

The online order facilities from local offices is increasing making overseas orders easier (currency problems don't arise with credit card paymens for example).

Glen

Heartily agree Glen, I spent years trying to find Gr grandfather Charles Furniss marriage cert, the nearest I could find on the GRO was a Charles Francis /Margaret Leslie Marriage 1875, The wifes name was correct, so I ordered it, everything fitted except the mans name......... some time later going through Lancashire BMD found an entry Charles Furniss/Margaret Leslie 1875, so I ordered that one, and it is the correct one, meaning that the GRO actually mis transcribed his name, and as Lancashire had the original their details were correct. , we all tend to take GRO entries as gospel, but as my experiece shows.... they don`t always get it right..


Nicky

Thanks for site info I have relatives in Cheshire and Lancashire

May be very usefull

Ann

I am giving this thread a nudge, just incase, for anyone looking in today.

Linda x

n

Linda

Thanks a million for this site. I have been looking for my great grandfather's death and I think I have found it!

I have printed the appication form off and I was wondering if anyone can tell me if they will return the cheque if they can't find the certificate. The reason I am asking is because I am sure someone on here said local offices will return your fee if they can't match all the criteria. I was thinking of adding as much extra information as I can so they can make doubly sure it is the right one.

Sorry I am a canny Scot and find £7 a lot to pay for one certificate whereas with Scotlandspeople it seems to work out so much cheaper.

Diana

Diana

A local office will only charge if they supply a certificate, there is no search fee or extra charge for reference checking.

If you ever need the contact details for a local office then google for the local council website and search the site for "registrar".
This should bring up the registrars pages and local office details, googling an office tends to bring up the bmd certificate sites (who charge around £50 per cert).

Alternatively you can also find England, Wales and Scottish reg office address, phone, e-mail and url details (listed by county ) at

http://www.familytreeforum.com/wiki/index.php/The_British_Isles

There are around 300 or so offices listed including the London offices which do supply family history certs.
Glen

Glen

Thank you for that information . I shall have a look at that familytreeforum website.

Do you think therefore I am doing the right thing by printing off this appication form from the Cheshire BMD site? It seems to be the Wirral Register Office I need to send the form to - sorry if this is a daft question but I am finding it hard to come to grips with CRO whereas I tend to use one main office for the whole of Scotland.(i.e. New Register House, Edinburgh)

Thank you again

Diana

Glen

Me again! Just looked at the familytreeforum website.Thank you very much that- it is a great source for looking up English Record Offices. I have put it in my favourites.

Diana

Hi Linda

Nice to be able to give credit where credit's due.

Could comment about Herefordshire records but I might be banned!!

David

Diana

the areas have changed slightly over the years but the Cheshire service covers the area you need.

Glad you found the link useful, the listings for archives, libraries and reg offices took a lot of work to gather together and input but the results are easy to use.

The wiki section of FTF is a goldmine of info and links along with visual guides and tutorials for all manner of family tree research.

Glen

Glen & Linda

Thank you again. Your information has been very useful and appreciated.

Diana

just to say thanx for the info :)



luv sue