General Chat

OMG can't wait for the 15 Feb. Going up to the Family Records Office in Islington and spend the whole day there looking for FREE!!!!! My god how sad am I! Got this Geneology bug real bad, LOL

Welcome to the mad house... Bev

One of my favourite places. Have a look at the name of the road opposite - makes me think of Only Fools and Horses! Joy

Will do Joy. Have you bin there before? Wat a stupid thing to say!!!! You must have bin to know wat the road opposite is!!! hehehehehe

Bernice, Make sure you take photo's of yourself and some form of identification, plenty of pencils reading glasses and a note pad and paper, maybe a packed lunch and cardigan or jumper I find that you need extra clothing on in some of them Good luck Sue

Hiya! You don't need ID for the FRC, but you will need £1 for a locker (you won't want to lug your bag and coat all day) and may want to take your own lunch. You can get sarnies and drinks from a machine. Cafe and cloakroom are on the ground floor. You will get hot looking at the index books - they are heavy to lift about - but cold sitting in one spot studying the census. The staff are VERY helpful, don't hesitate to ask if there is anything you are unsure of. Don't forget to note which books you have looked in, so you don't check any twice! And keep that note until you have received and verified your certs. Have fun! Maz. XX

Yes, Bernice!! I think the road opposite is Joseph Trotter Close! (or something like that) - always amuses me. This is the advice given to me when I first went there (bus from Waterloo Station) 5 years ago: "The entrance is on the right of the wedge-shaped building.; go up the steps or the ramp to the front door. Best to go down to the basement to start with; here are toilets, refreshment area and cloakroom to leave coat (it gets warm upstairs) - one pound coin needed for locker (refundable later). Then go back up to where you came in. There is an attendant who will want to check your bag and then you walk through past the shop into big room dealing with BMD certificates. There is an information desk, also the counter where eventually you will fill out coloured request forms and pay for your orders. The main part of this floor contains three areas of registers, births, marriages, and deaths. You just get as close as you can to the dates you want to start with, and then take down a file at a time and see what you can find. All the registers are alphabetical by surname, you will see by the area given which name is the right one for you. Jot down the year, quarter, district, volume and page number; this is what goes on the request forms. Just a matter of working round all the other people, and getting through the years you want. Keep a record of files done, to avoid confusion. After a time you will want to take a break to fill up some request forms or take a walk downstairs. The floor above deals with census data; worth looking at, but not needed for BMD searches." Happy hunting! Joy

Bernice!! I am making my first visit the week after you :O) Now I have got to knuckle down and suss out exactly what I need to look for. I am going with a seasoned researcher, so I will be well looked after. Hope you have fun. Anne