Genealogy Chat

I'm off to bed early tonight. Any last minute queries before 10 o'clock, please!

Ann's just shown that Kew IS exciting. Lots of people are nervous about that first visit, simply because they don’t know what to expect. On my very first visit to Kew, a couple of friends met me there and gently nudged me in the direction of the records I needed. It was brilliant and I can never be sufficiently grateful to them. Each time I go to a new record office the system is slightly different and I have to learn the ropes all over again, but I’m no longer so embarrassed about asking the stupid question. Is anyone interested in a meetup at Kew one Saturday? I’m not suggesting anything major: perhaps half a dozen of us, and I’m not setting myself us as an expert – Kew is too big for that – but I can thread a microfilm reader and know where the help desks are. The idea is more to have a face you recognise there and a chance to discuss what to do next over lunch. If you think this would be a good idea, please add your name to this. B

I have never been and I think the idear is wondwefull please put me down for a possible. Margaret

Brenda Like Babara I can't visit at present. But, I too, think what you are suggesting is a great idea! I can only hope there will be something like this offered when I can visit for the first time...........First Time at anything is always the worst :( Chris

Is 5th March suitable for anybody? I could do 19th February, but I suspect that is rather short notice. B

That's fine, June. I can find any excuse to go to Kew. Having just been to a talk about Royal Navy ratings, it has reminded me of all those little loose ends I've never quite tied up. The boards (or my computer?) are playing up tonight, so I'm saying good night for this evening, but will be back tomorrow to see if anyone else is interested.

19th Feb looks good for me

What a kind offer Brenda. Unfortunately its my birthday - but I will take you up if you do another tour in the summer.

Brenda Would love to go. Both dates are suitable for me. Let me know which date you choose. Karen

I would love to. Unfortunately will not be able to do until after March 26th, as eldest Son getting married then. Too much to do until then Linda

Hi Brenda, I'd be happy to meet up on the 5th March - I'm having a 3 week trip to London - must be something there for me. Christine

Hope you all have a wonderful time together and make lots of discoveries, how I would love to meet up with you all. Hope you enjoy your trip Chris so please let us know how you go. Hoping to get back to visit Kew and the uk sometime next year Grace

Where are you from Grace?

Hi Brenda I've only just caught up with your thread. Heather and I share a birthday, as mine's on the 19th February as well, but I'd be happy to go as a 'birthday treat' to myself!! 5th March looks okay too, so I'm a DEFINITE whichever date you go for. Thanks so much for helping us to team up in this way! Looking forward to it! Love Natalie

Hi, I love Kew but work Saturdays, sadly. It isn't so scary if you take the tour and write down exactly what you want to find before you get there. I always look through the online catalogue and make a note of the ref numbers of the documents I want before I get there. The staff are very helpful and will point you in the right direction but won't do it for you. There are lots of useful leaflets you can download as well. I find it very dry so take some water with you. Gwynne

Kew isn't scary at all. I was pleasantly surprised when I got there to find a bright, spacious building with helpful staff, signs and materials. You can pre-register in advance of your visit and pre-order your documents so they will be ready when you arrive. After getting your readers' ticket (which you can use with computers all over the building to check the status of documents you've ordered) go straight past the fantastic bookshop or you will never make it to the search rooms! The ground floor also has a restaurant which does lovely hot lunches and puddings, as well as the usual sandwiches etc. But taking a bottle of water is a good idea. Upstairs there's helpdesks with friendly staff who don't bite, and a room with the IGI on microfiche, ditto medal rolls index, plus lots of other military stuff including Army Lists. Up another set of stairs is the Map Room for looking at large documents and also trial records - which for 1862 when I was researching are all bundled into card boxes and tied with pink - though presumably once red - ribbon. All folded as they had been when first put in, and some are quite frail now - lists of jurors, lists of witnesses, a book with the court cases written in with the time the trial started - everything except the actual trial transcript, which for my case wasn't in the box! nell

As Chris proposes travelling rather further than the rest of us, shall we say 5th March for an initial visit? If we enjoy ourselves, there is no reason to confine ourselves to a single meetup, or one on a Saturday, though anything during the week would have to be organised by someone else. Gwynne is right: record offices are very thirsty places and Helen is right that Kew isn’t scary at all. The main things to remember if you don’t want to be thrown out, and I’m sure you all know this already, is that you can’t take food and drink into the search rooms with you (and this includes cough sweets etc) and you mustn’t use pens, rubbers or pencil sharpeners anywhere near the documents. These rules are to protect documents created long before we were born, to help ensure they last long after we are dead. The National Archives at Kew hold masses of records, but they are not the first port of call if you are interested in civil registration or censuses. They have some things (and by the time of our visit should have free access to some of the Ancestry census indexes) but the best place for this is the Family Record Centre. If you’ve not done so already, visit their website at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ to find out whether they have the records you want, if there is a research guide on the subject, and WHAT PROOFS OF IDENTITY YOU NEED TO OBTAIN A READER’S TICKET. I apologise if I am teaching my grandmother to suck eggs here, but I have known the mortification of arriving at a record office without adequate proofs of identity! B

Good information thanks it will be my 1st visit

Hi Brenda 5th March is okay for me, too, so count me in!! I'm now going to see what I need to look up on their website. Do you think it is worth pre-booking the documents I need to look at? That is, of course, if I can work out which ones I need!! Looking forward to it. Natalie

Hi Natalie There's quite a lot of info on microfilm etc on a self help basis, but it takes on average 30 minutes between putting in a request and a document arriving. Unless you are good at dovetailing, it is sensible to order documents in advance. If you follow the screens, it will tell you whether the info is on microfilm or not. B