Genealogy Chat

Bump for those who haven't seen :-)

access to the images will be free in the ERO Searchroom.

Would anyone fancy a permenant job of sitting there and doing look ups:-)

free of course !!!!

Just noticed on the SEAX site that it says what the charges will be.

I have since edited them out as they are no longer on that site (edited 6 Aug 2011 at 22:17)

http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/default.asp

Ken

If you consider the Dartford Tolls is £1.50 each way + Petrol + parking (possibly) + a snack, £5 for a day of intensive searching is quite good value for money.

And all from the comfort of your own home!

Yes, long stay parking (exceeding 3 hours) at Wharf Road is £3.90.

I don't know how access to the information is going to differ from the present setup. It might therefore be worthwhile if potential users register with SEAX and familiarise themselves with what is available and how to access it.

If you have not seen parish records (as opposed to transcripts of records) before, Barking St Margaret is a good place to start as it has a images from 1558 to 1991 available now. so you can see how the format has changed over time.

When you select a parish and a set of images, there may well be a hundred images in that set and it will speed your searches if you can work out which image to start at. When using microfiche at a record office you can usually locate the image you want in a few seconds but on a PC each image takes a second or two to load and then you have to move around the image to see the part you want. For the old records (before forms were used) sometimes baptisms, burials and marriages are grouped together and sometimes separated. Hopefully there will be a better index to access the records.

Ken

The subscription figures have vanished from the link I gave on the 1st August. I hope they aren't going to increase them already.

23 days to go
got stuck on a marraige
fingers crossed the records will be there !!!!!

I've just noticed the starting date has been put back to 3rd October.

Hi KenSE,

I've read your post and I am interested in information about baptism, marriages and deaths in the West Ham area. I never used the Seax site before so I thought give it a go.

Unfortunatley I seem to be missing the point somewhat because I have not manage to actually see any records yet just document references numbers. These I presume are held at the Essex records office.

Am I doing something wrong?

Regards
Steve

Hello Steve,
After you select a parish and church you get a list of BMD documents. If a document has 'digital images' against it then you can see the record on line. It looks like West Ham only has records on line for part of the 17th century. You will have to go to the ERO to see the microfiches of the other documents or wait until October 3rd.
Ken

Hi KenSE,

Thanks for that.

Regards
Steve

Just a reminder that they are supposed to go on-line next Monday (3rd October).

17th October now, with the following...

Seax will be unavailable from 8 a.m. (BST) on 17 October for approximately one hour.

Chris :)

Thanks for the update Chris.

Ken

The following information is from the latest ERO Newsletter:


The go-live date for Essex Ancestors, our new pay-to-browse subscription service for parish registers and wills has been re-scheduled for 17 October. We apologise for any disappointment caused to customers eager to register for this long-awaited upgrade to Seax.


Essex Ancestors will offer all parish registers for the historic county of Essex 1538-1837 and parishes A-F from 1837-date and many of our wills from go-live date. Parishes G-Z and the remainder of our wills will follow in coming months after the recruitment of a second digitiser. Marriages for the last 50 years will be excluded, in conformity with Stationery Office guidelines.


Access will be free in the ERO public searchroom and at Saffron Walden Archive Access Point. Subscriptions are 1 day £5.00, 1 week £15.00, 1 month £25.00, 6 months £50.00 and 1 year £75.00


We look forward to receiving your feedback and suggestions for future service improvements.

Typical - I wanted an L parish :-0

Thanks for the update

The site is now displaying the following:

On 24 October Essex Record Office will be launching Essex Ancestors, a new online service giving unlimited access to Essex parish registers and wills. Use of Essex Ancestors will be subject to payment of a subscription for a chosen period ranging from one day to one year. Access to this online resource will be free in the Essex Record Office searchroom. Seax will be unavailable from 8 a.m. (BST) on 24 October for approximately one hour.

Rollo, some of the places you mention have Archive Access Points where parish records are available on microfiche.
See:
http://www.essex.gov.uk/Libraries-Archives/Record-Office/Visiting-Essex-Record-Office/Pages/Archive-Access-Points.aspx
If you can visit a site which has such records on microfiche it is usually quicker to access them on microfiche than paging through images on a PC. The on-line images are most useful when you cannot get to the site or if you know exactly which images to access.

Since a day's parking next to the RO at Chelmsford is £3.90, the £5 per day charge for on-line access is not unreasonable. If you use the Park and Ride it is £2.20 and free for concessionaries after 9am.

Ken

Looks like it's slipped again.