Genealogy Chat

The only info I have managed to obtain about my g/father is his full name, year of birth, place of birth & his father's name. Is this enough to apply for a birth cert. Alternatively, does anyone have bmd info for Lincolnshire & who would be willing to do a search for me. My efforts appear to have come up against the preverbial brick wall. Many thanks. Terry - Gibraltar

Hi Terry, I would have thought that should be enough. I know that if I were running a lookup service like the PRO and a professional researcher couldn't find the correct individual from the info you have I would seriously consider that they were incompetent enough to leave my employ. However, we are dealing with the "Civil Service" which is usually notorious for its lack of value for taxpayers money. Good luck, Jim, Gosport, HAM.

Terence, I'm having trouble finding my grandfather who was born in Lincolnshire, when I looked on BMD to see how much information had been input for Lincs., it was very low indeed. I phoned up Southport GRO, all the information I had was, where he was born (from the 1881 census) his age and his father's name from the marriage certificate. They said I would have to pay £3 search fee and it could take up to 4 weeks. I am now waiting hopefully! June,Preston.Lan.

Thanks very much for getting back to me. Advice much appreciated. Terry

Yes, it's true that Southport will charge an extra £3 (on top of the £8.50 certificate fee) unless you have the GRO Ref. I have been advised to try the local register office as they are more flexible although I haven't done so yet, I have always supplied the Ref. It may be worth a try though. Maybe someone else will add to this? Lynne Sale CHS

I have found Local Register Offices very helpful and have bought all my certificates from them so far. Trying phoning the appropriate one to see if they can help. Maggy, Featherstone, West Yorkshire