Sunday, March 9, 2014

The Campaign to Open Historic Registers and Eliminate Additional Fees Is Underway

The Campaign to Open Historic Registers and Eliminate Additional Fees Is Underway

Ordering of birth , marriage and death records is currently under the control of the General Register Office in England.  The GRO charges for these records and there is an additional charge if they are sent Priority mail. There are many who believe that these items are their rightful heritage and that they should have  access to them at no expense. They are campaigning to have the records transferred to the National Archives where they can be more freely accessed.
Many of us have used the U.K resources of the National Archives "Access to Archives"
 website for the locating and ordering of wills, deeds, and vital records. I have frequently found the answers to many genealogical questions by ordering documents here and have been pleased with the service and the results.  . http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/
Photo by William Hoiles, Baskin NJ


The Rootsweb list 'Legal England and Wales' reports:


"There is a campaign to get the Historic Birth, Marriage and Death registers
open to the public without having to purchase certificates.
This could be done by either transferring the centralized registers held by
the GRO to the National Archive or by transferring the registers held by
superintendent registrars to the County Record Offices.
In addition a number of commercial companies would be willing to digitise
the registers allowing them to be available online and also available at the
archives free of charge."


The goal is to make these records free and accessible and they urge genealogists to spread the word. If you live in the UK and have an interest, they recommend that you contact your local MP.

More information from the campaigns website can be accessed  HERE


Thank you for stopping by!
The Glamorous Genealogist

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