Genealogy Chat

Any body else waiting for a certificate and affected by the postal strikes? I am waiting for one from Salford that could potentially answer so many questions if it turns out to be the right one and I am really fed up. This family has had me pulling my hair out for months. It's Jones and I have been missing the mother from 1881 and 1891 and the father is widowed in 1901. This birth should give me details enough to find them on the 1871 Census. Very inconsiderate these posties! Mel

I am in Plymouth, and as far as I know, they are still working here, though, this morning, all we got this morning was junk mail.

I forgot to say...... we haven't had any post for 2 days now. Mel

Waiting for 4 certificates and when 2 didn't turn up when I thought they should I rang Southport & they told me there was problem with them, but they would explain by letter, which was in the post, that was monday and the letter still isn't here AAAAARGH. Please go back to work Postmen/ladies just for us!! Lynda

So annoying isn't it ! I had planned a visit back to the South East next week on the strength of my information being right according to certificates. Don't know what to do now as everything was set up, hubby has taken time off work and the cats will be taken care of. I was going to visit the village and church my great great grandfather lived and married in.

It's just laziness. I live near London and it's getting ridiculous. As for all these sympathy-strikers in Coventry, Bristol, etc, I would not shed any tears if the whole lot were sacked. My friend is meant to be going on holiday next week - her plane tickets are in the post, half the Tube is closed and there's a threatened baggage handlers' strike next week as well. It makes my certificates look insignificant, really!

Yup! I'm not a happy bunny! I've been waiting over two weeks for five certificates - and placed an order earlier this week for a set of VRI CDs. I was told they would be sent on Tuesday by 1st Class post... but we haven't had any post here since Monday! I'm off on holiday tomorrow. Have a got a cosy Cornish cottage booked and had hoped to take all my family tree papers with me and also the VRI so I could blitz all my brick walls. Seems like I'll just have to chill out instead! Mind you, on a more serious note, the strike is a real pain. I work in a hospital and we can't send out any appointment letters, discharge summaries or other important reports. All this will have serious implications for some people... as it will for a whole host of other professions and businesses.

We live in London and have had no post for over a week now! All the legal papers about Tony's accident are in a sorting office somewhere and there's naff all we can do about it! It's also the time of year I send out "begging letters" to businesses on behalf of my childrens primary school for donations for the christmas fair ( in 3 weeks time!!) not much hope of us getting much this year which sadly will make a big dent in our usual fundraising total. Roll on them sorting it out! Pamela, if I were you I'd go ahead with your trip anyway, and have a good time! You never know, the certs may arrive in time yet! Good luck Eleanor xx

Kathryn S I guess you don't have anyone in your family who is lazy enough to work for Royal Mail do you?

I have booked a holiday for New York for a few weeks time. I hope my bleeding tickets arrive. Mind you I also booked train tickets and they arrived the next day. So not all postmen are slacking.

Hey i know your all niffed off about the strike, but my husband is a postman and its no fun for us either..... its all internal bulls, and as normal the fat cats get to sit on their big pay cheques and the workers get more work and less pay!!!! At least they have loyalites and morals to stand by each other at any cost.... how many people can say their collegues would risk their jobs for them!!!!

Heatwaves, snowstorms, gales and whatever the postman still delivers all my bills !!!!

Does that mean my certificate that I ordered on the 25th will be delayed too, or do they still handle overseas mail. Dream on Di!!! Rotten mailmen, don't they know the mailman's motto?! Di.

Reminds me of 1979.

Nothing to do with genealogy, and the tips board is not really the place for this thread, but feel I have to put my views!! I reckon we have the best postal service in the world in this country at the cheapest price. But PostComm will not allow the cost of a stamp to be increased by a reasonable amount and this has led to the Post Office running at an enormous loss, and being forced to try and cut costs and make savings. Postman receive a pitifully small wage for working a 6 day week and unsocial hours. Working practices are about to be altered so that second deliveries will be stopped and the posties will have to do one delivery spanning several hours with no break or access to toilet facilities. Most posties are now recruited on a casual basis, so they are easy to lay off should the need arise. Doesn't make for a loyal and satisfied workforce does it? I'd be interested to see how the public will whinge and moan if the service is broken up and farmed out to private enterprise. D'you think those of you living in hard to reach areas, say in Scotland etc. will get any delivery? If you haven't any tears to shed for the striking postman, save them to shed at the passing of Royal Mail. Because your service will be nothing like as good as it is now, however bad you think it is!!!

I'll shed tears when they strike legally. If I rang up my employer and said I'm not coming in for 2 weeks because I'm on strike, I'd be sacked before the day was out. Not all postal workers are striking over the one-delivery daily possibility - some are striking because they don't want to do the work their striking colleagues have lumbered them with.

I am in Portsmouth, no mail for two days now, I am waiting for a marriage certificate from the British Library of my gg grandparents who married in India in 1893. PLUS it's my son's birthday on Monday, not very happy that he won't get some of his birthday cards!

I live on one of Orkney's islands - None of the couriers deliver to the houses just drop it on the small island ferry - Not even a phone call to say go pick it up from the pier yourself - They just rely on someone picking it up and delivering it for them - Only Royal Mail deliver to the houses and it will leave all the remoter parts of the country cut off if ever we lose them.

I did realise after I posted the message that it probably wasn't appropriate for this board. I don't really use the others so forget that they are there. I do sympathise with the post workers; I wouldn't like to be out in the weather conditions they have to face plus the vicious dogs that they occasionally meet. I was just a bit frustrated about my certificate and didn't mean this thread to get quite so serious. Just wanted a light hearted moan. Sorry post people! Mel

Im waiting on certificates too no mail here in a village in Essex for a week! The posties arent collecting/emptying either, can you imagine the delays when they do go back!!!