Genealogy Chat

hi
my ancestors are all from these areas
london/kent devon / cornwall oxfordshire suffolk
how do i find the archives addresses please
if i write to the distict offices what do they need to know for them to post ancestors details to me & at what cost ??
i live in nottingham with my partner she was born here i was born in kent
i went to the notts archives with her it was very interesting
but cannot search my ancestors details from there
any info appreciated

Hi David

Firstly, use a search engine such as Google to find the addresses - enter KENT RECORDS OFFICE or similar and you should find the addresses.

Secondly, it depends what information you are looking for. If you know the exact date that something happened and can tell them where, they may sent you a photocopy of the register for a few pence. If you are asking them to actually look things up for you, they will most liekly charge you anything upto £30 an hour and then it depends how long it takes them to find what you want.

What sort of information were you thinking of?

Sam x

Hi David,

I've just posted the following reply on Sky's thread where you first asked about this:-

You could order filmed copies of parish records for whichever counties you are interested in from your nearest LDS Family History Centre (addresses on www.familysearch.org) for just a few pounds. This will probably work out cheaper than getting the relevant records offices to do the look-ups for you.

Kath. x

sam

i require thier bdm details [expensive }
i will google for the addreses also ask what the cost would be
thanks sam
david

kath
thank you
i will do that
david

This is a useful site for Archive addresses.

http://www.familybmd.com/recordoffices.htm

Jennifer

You can't look at birth or death certificates if that's what you mean. All you can do is look up the reference in the indexes, which you can do online (for free is you use freeBMD). You would still have to pay £7 and send off to the GRO to get the actual certificate.

Marriages are slightly different, you can look at the entry in the parish register and this is exactly the same as a certificate. For this though, you would need to know which church the couple married in otherwise it would be a long search and would cost a fortune.

For BMD before civil registration began in 1837, you would be looking for baptisms, marriages and burials and again you would need to know when and which church.

Kaths suggestion is a good one, most people have a Family History Centre nearby and you can order the relevant films for about £3 each.

Sam x

sam
thank you for your info and advice
its appreciated
i will contact the Lds family history center
thank you

jennifer
thank you

how do i read the films ?

You go to the LDS FHC, order the film(s) and they tell you when it comes in, then you go and view it there on one of their viewers. Ask them about making digital copies of the images - some centres wil make one for a small donation, but I don't think all have the capability.

mgnv
thank you for the info
its appreciated i will do that
david

hi
i am going to lds fhc later to ask them to order film copies for my ancestors
some i have as ipswich {cosford} is that the parish ?? some i just have as ipswich does anyone know the parishes for ipswich please & how many are there??
if i cant trace the ancestors that just states ipswivh any idea how?
once i have the neccasary details i can visit the lds fhc to order
thank you for your time

Hi David,

It depends what dates you are talking about. A lot of places that are large towns or cities were only small in the 1800's and only had one parish - so the parish church was known as just that - "the parish church".

If you are looking for births marriages and deaths after 1837 then these are all together in the BMD index and are usually on microfishe. The LDS family history centres have readers for you to use with these.

If you just go along and tell the volunteers there what you want to look up they will help you. The volunteers at my local centre were very helpful and very knowledgeable. I used to go there before I had access to a computer and when I knew absolutely nothing about family history and they showed me what records to look at and also how to load the films into the machines.

They don't charge anything (although they don't mind a small donation now and again which goes to the Family History Centres and not the church) and they will not mention their religion to you unless you ask a specific question.

It's best to ring them up first because most are only open on certain days of the week and they usually keep one day just for Church members.

Good luck.

Kath. x

kath
thank you very much
i wiil phone them as like you say my local one is only open 4 days a week
i will explain i dont know much about parishes etc
the first ones im searching for are the 17th /18th century
thank you kath
i will phone them now
happy hunting to you
david

Are you talking about pre-1837 or post-1837? If post, then you need to consult the indexes to civil registers, which I think are on this site. For the 19th century, you can also consult the census records here for every decade between 1841 and 1901. If pre, then the information you need will be in parish registers. These are held in county record offices. The best listing of addresses for your purposes is provided by `English Record Offices and Archives on the Web' at www.oz.net/~markhow/englishros.htm. Many registers have been transcribed on the internet, so it is worth using Google to search for particular places online. Many other registers have been printed, or are avilable on microfiche, and you should check this out too. Before you go very much further, you really need to read a decent introductory guide to researching family history, which would explain what resources are available, and warn you of the pitfalls. Otherwise you are likely to find yourself floundering and spending money unnecessarily. There are lots of introductions available in bookshops and libraries. There are a few good introductory articles on the web as well, but books tend to offer much better information.

stuart
thank you

kath
thank you
i phoned lds fhc i have to go there on weds next week with parish details they will then send that off to birmingham they will send the film to lds fhc
when they have them they phone me i go in read them on thier readers they keep them there for i month
for that i pay a total cost of £2 -70p not bad
thanks kath
and thanks to all that replied to me
david

You're welcome David. I hope you find some of what you are looking for. Just want to warn you that the time goes really fast so don't expect to find too much, especially on your first visit. You also tend to get sidetracked looking through all the records. Make sure you take some change with you in case you want to get photocopies of anything you find as they have to be paid for at the time you order them.

I'm sure you will enjoy the experience.

Kath. x

kath
thank you
yes im sure i wll
when i went to records office with my partner for nottingham {mine are from london kent oxfordshire suffolk devon cornwall} we was there 3 hours and it seemed half that time
best wihes
david