Genealogy Chat

From what I understand the records were removed from public access because the GRO were re-indexing them and making a new online access system to search the records and buy certificates. This was project DOVE which failed some time ago.

Project DOVE has been replaced by the D&I Project which isn't even kicking off until 2011.

http://www.ips.gov.uk/cps/rde/xchg/ips_live/hs.xsl/1090.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Register_Office_for_England_and_Wales

Mark.

I probably am mis remembering what was in the books, particularly as I was looking mainly at the marriages and only briefly looked my self and sister up in the birth books.

I remember many shelves with books titled by quarter and aphabetically there were several for each quarter and I had to find the one with the J's and H's in for my names for the marriage. You took them off the shelves and read them on a unit beside the shelves. I think the B, M, & D books were coloured differently like red for births, green for marriages and black for deaths.

I was convinced up until this thread that the mothers name was in the birth book that I could look for the surname and check to see the mothers full namd, but I stand corrected, it would have been useful tho! , lol

Sadly, the Family Records Centre closed in March 2008. I still miss it very much. We used to really enjoy the journey, train and then bus, searching the film, village by village; then lifting down the heavy books, searching, making a note, in pencil, of course :-), of which quarter and which year had been checked, putting the big book back, getting back ache, then finding an entry and completing the form to order the certificate, and then on occasions reaching the ordering desk only to find had forgotten the volume number and going back again, rushing to get there before closing time!

Yes, the books were put in storage, if I remember correctly, somewhere in Christchurch.

I posted that it was closing - http://www.genesreunited.co.za/boards.asp?wci=thread&tk=1008099

Having just watched the flm "Organges and Sunshine" it reminded me of this thread. In the film the lead character sits and goes through the books that I was trying to locate - not much help in getting access to them now but it was good to see 'proof' of what I remembered!

Somerset House held the index ledgers that eventually went to Family Records @ St Catherines, at Aldwych ,from there they were transerfed to Family Records in Myddleton St,,,,,,those only ever gave a maiden surname of mother.

You can still view the whole page/s per surname from each quarter on Ancestry.

most archives have micro fiche of the indexed ledgers,,by surname and quarter,

When Myddleton St shut all materail was shipped to Kew and was avaliable there but with the advent of the same online records these ledgers have been stored as archived material.

The online GRO records are the ones from the BIG books so you can still look at them

Spent many hours at the LRO Islington lugging the big books on and off the shelves and sometimes finding someone had taken your place at the wooden ledges and using your pencil and notepad that you had left there poised to record GRO refs so you could order a cert at the counters. Whenever we went with out Family History Soc . a day out from Kent, It always had loads of researchers doing their lookups .

I used to enjoy the trip out.

I use to love going to FRC as i was born up the road from it.

You use to always get chatting to someone. Most of the staff went to TNA in Kew. Not many of them stayed there tho, but few are and we always get talking about the FRC. The good old days :-D

I was taken back in time watching Minder and wished I could still go to the Family Records Centre in London - Arthur was tracing his family tree in St Catherine's House :-)

It was brilliant and the excitement on Arthur's face really took me back to when we used to go to the Family Records Centre. When his nephew Ray found the registration for Arthur's parents, Arthur was SO excited! - that's my Mum and Dad! he said. And then the expressions on the face of both of them when they saw the gravestone for Grace Daley! a real picture! Oh how I can empathise with them. That programme was real tracing family :-)

It really took me back to the days of lifting the heavy books off the shelves, searching quarter by quarter, year by year, having an aching shoulder and back later, but oh it was so worth it with the finds! :-) And the staff were so helpful, too.

The big books are stored out of sight somewhere in Christchurch (Dorset).

Oh Joy,if you never took in the delights of Somerset House you missed a real treat,,,it was like a shussssher's gallery and any minute you expected Heap to come looming from somewhere it was so formal.

:-D