Genealogy Chat

Hi all.. really quick question for ya and you've heard it 100 times before but, where do you recommend buying birth certificates from? Online i mean. Just went to get one from the gro and they charging 10.00 now. Is this the norm now ? Have they gone up? I thought they were 7 quid.. Not being tight but i need a few lol xXx Cheers Rachel xxx

They are £7 online from the GRO. But, you need to make sure you tick the box near the bottom of the first page to say that you have the GRO reference otherwise you are charged £10.

Local offices also charge £7 (but can vary as some add P&P to this but you have to order by post, although some accept telephone requests.

Thankyou Peter ;o) I must have missed the box bit in my haste to order it .. Exciting aint it lol.. Good Luck . Rachel .. xXx

This is the full list of GRO charges, for those who are interested.

Online fees

Standard Service

Full certificate £10.00
Full certificate with GRO Index reference supplied £7.00

Priority Service

Certificates will be despatched the next working day, provided your order has been taken or received before 4pm

Full certificate £26.00
Full certificate with GRO Index reference supplied £23.00

Note: Short birth certificates cannot be ordered online

Postal / Phone / Fax fees

Standard Service

Full / short certificate £11.50
Full / short certificate with GRO Index reference supplied £8.50

Priority Service

Certificates will be despatched the next working day, provided your order has been taken or received before 4pm

Full / short certificate £27.50
Full / short certificate with GRO Index reference supplied £24.50

It's always good to check with the local register office as they may be able to provide a copy of the original certificate signed on the day.

You get to see the actual signature(s) and it also has the benefit that it isn't a transcribed copy like GRO certificates which may be subject to a mistake by the person copying the details.

Birmingham RO provide copies of the original and also a very quick turnaround.

Rachel, if you are in doubt as to parentage or date of whatever, and you know the local register office, you can submit your application to them with as much information as possible, and if you specify, say "mother must be Mary" and it is not, they will send back your cheque for £7 or cancel your credit card payment and you will pay nothing. Ideal if you are searching for the birth cert of a particular individual with 7 possibilities.

Just a tip, if you are wanting certs for two different people and paying by cheque, send two cheques for £7 each, not a single cheque for £14, as they are not allowed to give refunds, only to return an unused cheque.

Hope this helps. Local offices are more helpful than you might imagine.

Regards

Margaret

Lots of the local offices now offer an online order option, if they don't an e-mail request or phone call is another option.

The phone/postal/e-mail option lets you specify additional info more easily.

Don't forget if you want a ref check (for example name of a parent is known) a local office don't charge extra for looking and they use a bit of common sense too.

The GRO would not supply a cert if you specified the father as George and the cert said Geo for example. A local office would likely check with you first and ask if you want the cert.

If you reject the cert then they don't charge anything for searching.

No cert=No charge.

In a lot of cases the local offices are as quick or often quicker than the GRO too.

Contrary to popular belief even most London offices can supply family history certs,

99 times out of a hundred i will use a local office in preference to the GRO.



There is a list of UK register offices with address, e-mail, telephone and url hyperlinks on the wiki reference section of the FTF website. Listed on a county basis along with record office, library and also countywide and local websites, sources online parish records, family history societies etc the county listings can be useful when you want to find sites, information and advice about a county or area of the country.

Follow the link below, select the country you want and then a county for all the links and advice.

http://www.familytreeforum.com/wiki/index.php/The_British_Isles

There is also a world index with links for those researching non UK countries, information and advice for close to 50 contries can be found at;

http://www.familytreeforum.com/wiki/index.php/World_Index_Page


Glen