General Chat

A bit of information for all that want to order certs from the Registrar at the place where the birth, death, marriage happened. Some are willing to take credit cards, others ask for cheques to be sent along with the search details Here is a site that will tell you who/where to find the registrar area: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big//eng/RegOffice/ Hope this helps. Joan

Thanks for all replies! I have ONLY ordered online form ONS and the first two times I was delighted - all certs present and correct, within the time stated, and if I got the wrong ones it was entirely my fault- I hadn't specified father's name or age of deceased or summat! But last time! What a difference! First, 10 days later than stated. Second - 'wrong' certs sent (fathers not as stated on 'check references' detail. Third - I am still awaiting 3 of the 5 marriage certs ordered - the two I have were, (I think) - only received because I (politely) made a nuisance of myself. I have an October list - I want the Certs - the local regisration office for them is one of the very busy ones that refer me back to the ONS - so I am stuck with doing it all over again. Will it be Christmas before they arrive? Will they arrive at all if the protests re the Disclosure of Information are ignored? If we don't write and protest before 23rd October we may not be able to get helpful certs at all - see previous thread on this. Rosi

I can't complain. I ordered certs last Thursday and they arrived on Tuesday All present and correct. Have you tried ordering online like I did may be that is the difference - who knows??

I never bother with ONS , prefaring instead to use the local registry offices, I have never had a problem obtaining certs and have found them all very helpful,,,in fact the one in North Shields is brilliant..!! Iv never been asked for a church when requesting a marriage either,,,,just been lucky i guess

Hi, Remember that many local Register Offices will not do searches for marriages unless you can give them the name of the church. Also some very busy Register Offices return cheques and refer all requests to the ONS. Gwynne

I used to order certificates from ONS, but on hearing how good Local Register Offices are I decided to try them out. I posted my request on Monday, (together with a cheque and a sae) and there it was, waiting for me when I got home from work on Wednesday! I don't think I'll bother with the ONS any more! The address for all the local offices can be found on Genuki Rachel

Thanks all, and, Ann, I followed your tip and put GQ in the subject line and also addressed it to a named person who had previously been very helpful. A new set of certs has been promised - I am not holding my breath! I am compiling a list of my October certs - but am reluctant to order them until the September ones are safely in my hot little hands! If I don't receive them in the near future I wil telephone as you suggest. Rosi

Rosi, Aah!! You will only get an automated reply from certificate services if you do not put GQ as part of the subject line. I forgot and got an automated response so I re-sent the same e mail and added GQ to the subject and got a very prompt and good response the following day. Ann Glos

I had a problem with the ONS saying that they couldnt find the certs with the info I sent them but on resubmitting the same info they sent the certs! I photocopied all the info I was sending, as they kept sending back my cheques with £4 deducted for the unsucessful search, and after many telephone calls(They just sent out standard replies to any mail to me as well) they sent me 5 certs for no extra charge.(Id already paid for them with all the deducted cheques!)Try ringing them, I dont think they read past the first few lines of a letter before sending out a form letter back.

Rosi, Never had a problem with certs but most concerned about your thinking everyone hates you. Just remember your sparkly neice and all will be right with the world again. LOVE Your half sister in law (or something) Janet

Thanks Sue- never thort I was standing on the doorsstep! :) Rosi

Rosi Threshhold? Sue

ONS seem to be having problems - I ordered some certs, quite a lot of them, on 10th September and the promised despatch date was given as 15th September. Eventually, several days later than expected, I received the births - 3 of which were wrong as the fathers were not the man I specified, BUT I am still awaiting the marriages ones. Contacting ONS seems to only generate an 'auto response' letter. Is this only happening to me - or have other people had probs. too? Am I being paranoid? Does everybody hate me? Are my certs. being deliberately withheld? Is there any other word with a double 'h' in the middle? sniff, gulp, Rosi