Genealogy Chat

ditto

Jacqueline

Just signed

Lesley

I'm sure I saw somewhere in the last couple of days that you needed at least a certain number of signatories to an online petition for it to be considered. I know it was a high figure (more than 20k) but can't remember how many. (Typically, can't find the reference either)

I did hear that a paper petition is counted as one signature for each sheet submitted to eradicate fraudulent signings.

signed
Cannot understand why this has not already been done surely if its allowed in Scotland then it should be a formality.

Jackie

I think nudge is all I need to say. Apart from..........

Australian's can't register on this petition.

However the more of you that register the more of us what will benefit from your hard work. And I'm all for benefitting from the work of others.

Register, register, whip crack, whip, whip!!

This is what the starter of the petition says:

Having full and open access to the registers of births, marriages and deaths from 1837 to 1908 will make it easier for genealogists to research the records and ensure they get the copies they require. If copies were put on the internet this would simplify the process.

These records are over a hundred years old and should now be accessible to all with a small fee to cover the cost of copying the originals.

May last year, this was the Government’s response
The law is very clear about how the public are able to obtain copies of certificates and also what fees should be charged. The Government understands that many family researchers don’t actually want to purchase a certificate but they do want to have access to the information. The Government is also aware of the need to strike a balance between privacy and openness in the use of registration records.

In 2004 the Government tried to make a change to the law to allow the public easier and cheaper access to information but unfortunately the parliamentary committees who looked at the proposal, did not agree with the way this had been taken forward.

The Government recognises that the existing arrangements would benefit from a review and has made a commitment to change the law should parliamentary time allow.

http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page15425




And August last year:
http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page16661

BMDonline - epetition response
We received a petition asking:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure that the General Register Office of the ONS completes asap, as promised, the digitisation of, and online index to, the national BMD ledgers dating back to 1837 previously held in the Family Records Centre in London.”

Details of Petition:

“The GRO’s project to put 170 years of national BMD data online is at least twelve months behind schedule. Due to budgetary constraints and overspend on this and other IT projects, the GRO is now also unlikely to find funding in the near future to create the online index search facility that users of the new service will need to access it. The closure of the Public Search Room facilities at the Family Records Centre building in Myddleton Street in October 2007 and the end of access to the 6,550 physical ledgers held there was intended to go hand in hand with the arrival of online indexes to birth, marriages and death records, a promise that is now in the process of being broken.”

the Government’s response
The General Register Office (GRO) has a statutory obligation to make index data for registration records publicly available. Since the closure of the Family Records Centre in March 2008, it has provided copies of the indexes in microfiche format at several libraries and record offices across England and Wales. Many people who would previously have had to visit London to view the indexes are now able to do so much closer to home. Further details on where to search the full range of GRO indexes from 1837 to 2008 can be found at http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/research/groindexes/holders_of_the_gro_indexes.asp

GRO recognises that the creation of a publicly-accessible online index will be of even greater value to many family historians. GRO was transferred on 1 April 2008 from the Office for National Statistics to the Identity and Passport Service (IPS). IPS has confirmed that the creation of an accessible online index is a commitment which GRO will continue to work towards.

A necessary pre-requisite is that all the registration records from 1837 must be created in a digitised format. The project to achieve this has encountered delays, with about half the records currently digitised. IPS is investigating a new project to complete the work and to address the requirement for an online index. At this stage options for the best method of implementation are being reviewed, and new timescales will be announced as soon as decisions based on the outcome of the review can be taken.

signed!

I know petition's like this have failed before.........but in the 2 and a half years I've been researching, there seems to have been a large increase of people of all ages getting into geneology.

I was 22 when I started and people thought I was soooo boring! Now a number of my friends have got into it. The government has to give us an easier (and cheaper) way to access records that we should have access to anyway!

Sorry.........rant over!

Vicky X

I understand now, we will all be signing it, do you think we will get anywhere? If I wanted to buy every certificate it would atually probably cost about £470 odd! We have loads of direct relatives.

Hi,

Thanks to everyone for bumping up this thread.

This is the statement off the petition site:

"Having full and open access to the registers of births, marriages and deaths from 1837 to 1908 will make it easier for genealogists to research the records and ensure they get the copies they require. If copies were put on the internet this would simplify the process.
These records are over a hundred years old and should now be accessible to all with a small fee to cover the cost of copying the originals"

I totally agree with the above.......at the moment we do have access, but we have to pay £7 a certificate which is far too expensive if you think about what you are getting for it. Not to mention the amount of wrong certs I'm sure everyone must have! (I think I've got about 10 so far in 2 and a half years!)

Thanks

Vicky X

Signed

Sorry to put a damper on things, but it has been tried before and been rejected.




The government's own project collapsed last year.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/16/genealogy.records

An attempt to scan, index and digitise 250m records of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales from 1837 to the present day was supposed to result in a new public website that would let people trace their ancestors at the touch of a button next February. Now, three years after the government awarded the £16m contract to German computer giant Siemens, the deal has been terminated with only half the work done.

It was hoped that the online record would slash costs and speed up the process of tracing ancestry. The collapse means family tree enthusiasts must continue asking for copies of documents by post, which can take seven days and costs £7 or £10 a time.

The failure drew strong criticism from genealogists who were already dismayed that last October the government removed access to paper ledgers that contained indexes of births marriages and deaths at the family records centre in London when it decided to launch the website.

The General Register Office (GRO), which is responsible for the records, said only 130m had been scanned, and plans to make the index public had been shelved. Missing are details of birth records from 1837 to 1934 and death records from 1837 to 1957. The Identity and Passport Service (IPS), which runs the GRO, said it had only paid half the fee as a result.

Yesterday, the IPS were unable to say when the project would be completed and how it would pay for the rest of it.

Hello
I just began the 5252 person to sign

just signed

All done.......

Please would someone tell em abit more about this please?

Sorry fi this sounds daft, but do you mean available to the public in libraries etc... as I can view the BMD indexes for that period at my local library.

Nudge for me for later.

signed.
Leni