Genealogy Chat

I agree with what Margaret said - if I am sending for a certificate for a birth or a death registration, then I always apply to the register office, from which the cheque for £7 is returned if the registration cannot be found. In my experience, superintendent registrars have been extremely helpful and ''gone the extra'' mile for me. And nine times out of ten, the certificate has been sent to me by return of post. :-) Joy

What I like about GRO is that regardless of where you live, the GBP 7 is the same and you don't get charged extra for postage. Most sites want you to get a reply thingie from your post office if you live abroad. Pam

Margaret Margareto If you know where she was born, apply to the local registrar. If it doesnt match with the details you give them they will return your cheque. Margaret

Richard - Prioraty or expess services, were more expencive where offered. Some of the prioriy prices are listed on a copy of this thred on the general board, they are in the bottem half of page 1.

How can a service that 'isnt straight fro the horses mouth' be a prioity service? what i mean is, if you apply to them, they must in turn apply to the GRO- it couldn't be quicker, could it? Jess x

Lunar Were any of those sites offering a priority service for that amount? They should be!! Certs from the GRO site using their priority service are £23 with ref or £27.50 without ref. Not that I've ever used the priority service, am patient enough (just!) to wait a few more days for the sake of £16 !! Richard

I've never bought a certificate from GRO, I've always contacted the Register Office direct. If I haven't been exactly sure of the year I have asked for a search to be done, so far I've been lucky and they've always found the right one. Most of the Register Offices I have been in touch with (about 10 in total) will do a five year search and all have been very helpful.

All the certs I have purchased, and it must be coming up for a dozen so far, have come from GRO - £7 each. I guess I have been lucky as a newbie to have found them from the off on 1837. It's mind boggling what they're asking on some sites. I never realised. Lin XX

shall we set up a web site , and share the profits? what do you think? £20 for a cert £10 per person per census look up? heaven help those that had 13 offspring!! jess x

I think these certificate sites work on a similar basis to the ones that offer personalised number plates. In that case you can find the number on the DVLA website, nine times out of ten, and at a few hundred pounds less cost... and these sites sometimes offer the plate-renewal at about double price or so, as well! I suppose they claim the margin's a sort of ''service charge''! Christine

Lunar, if I am sending for a certificate for a birth or a death registration, then I always apply to the register office, from which the cheque for £7 is returned if the registration cannot be found. In my experience, superintendent registrars have been extremely helpful and ''gone the extra'' mile for me. And nine times out of ten, the certificate has been sent to me by return of post. :-) Joy

Hi Nelly, This is a good point, and common practise in all the local register offices I've used so far. One word of warning there though - which I fell foul of early on. If you are ordering more than one certificate this way, pay using at least 2 cheques. Most offices won't actually issue a refund, so when I ordered 2 certs, with checking points, one didn't match. Because they don't issue refunds, just return your cheque - I didn't get either cert, and had to start over! I now send one cheque for the value of on cert, and another cheque for the remaining amount. Debbie

Merry - have ammended and will do the others ASAP.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this but- I went to Birmingham registry office today to order a birth certificate- I wasn't sure of the exact year, or the exact place, or the mother's maiden name. In view of this I thought I would have to pay a little more than £7- but they were so helpful. They told me that they search 2 and half years either side of the date you give them- and if they can't find a match they refund all your money!! I was thrilled- especially as they found the certificate I want for 7 quid. Great service.

Hi, I agree with you there Andrew thats what i call going over board. How do they get away with then prices. Helen

£50 is just disgusting.

Nope, I've only ever ordered certs from the GRO, originally in person, and nowadays online. I'm simply shocked at the prices being asked for!

I've been lucky enough not to have had to buy any yet so thanks for the warning.Christine

Andrew - Let me guess you've ordered from somewhere other than the GRO?!? Or just shocked at the price differences?

Cripes!!