Genealogy Chat

Samantha Tired replying but it sid there was something wrong with your address so... i'm sure that the experts will reply if i have got it wrong. But... Gro is the thing you can access by going to Islington and physically in person searching indexes.It is different in Scotland, reading other peoples messages, there are different things available if you are searching for records for Scotland. More seems to be online, free and more complete. But for England and Wales, I think Gro is available via the local records office and some local history societies (In addition to Family Records Centre mentioned above).Look in Links, if it is there, I think Genuki will explain all of this, more professionally. It is also the thing that Free BDM is transcribing (Civil Registration) Available online and for free, it is a service reliant on volunteer effort (Hurrah for volunteers)and as yet is a not complete transcription of the gro. See previous messages re free bdm and getting the best from it. Volunteer if you can! We all should, we all benefit! Also available is the 1837 online, a pay for version of GRO, obviously available online, I think it is an online photo / microfiche version of the original indexes. As previous messages have said, you have to pay for it, it is in handwriting which can be difficult to read and it can be costly depending on whether you know what you are searching for and have a fairly good starting point. (It is not one for random searching,but can help to confirm something in order to send for a cert)I ordered records having first done a BDM search then, having got references and correct timescale, used 1837, with minimal searching, then ordered the certs, having confirmed the info using 2 sources. I wouldn't have been able to use 1837 on its own, I would have used all my credits instantly!I was lucky to find a BDM record first. I think there is also a St Catherines House site, again paid for. Haven't used this. Hope this helps, sorry to experts if I've got any of it wrong.. just trying to help. I am a relative beginner, I'm sure someone will correct me if I have got details wrong. any extra info from others will help me too! Good luck. Amanda