Genealogy Chat

My local council say that I can't look in my local records office, that I can only order copy certificates. Does that sound wrong to anyone else - it's the first time I've tried to go to an office! Newcastle under Lyme. :-(

Sounds like they are talking about the office that holds BMD,s rather than the local records office that holds old documents etc

Try asking at the the local main library as to where parish records etc are held

Try google too

This is one that comes up


Newcastle City Library
Archon Code : 1185

Contact Details
Local Studies Library
Charles Avison Building
33 New Bridge St. West
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 8AX
England

Tel: 0191 2774100
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/librarieslocalstudies?opendocument
Online map: streetmap
Local Studies Centre Manager : Ms Dilys Harding
Access information
Wheelchair access

NRA information for this repository
The NRA indexes contain the following entries for this repository :
NRA catalogues (1)
Businesses (1)
Organisations (1)
Persons (6)
Other (1)
Last amended : 02-Dec-2009 16:16

Do you mean that you thought you could go to the local Register Office where births. marriages or deaths had been registered and look at the entries in their records? If so, then no, you can't do that.

If you want to see the information written on a certificate you have to buy the certificate. The best way to do this is to order online from the General Register Office:-

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/default.asp

The certificates will cost £9.25p each.

Family history is an expensive hobby!!

Kath. x

Do you mean the Registry Office? I thought the archives were at Hanley.

Wrong Newcastle, Shirley!

It's possible that the local archive office is here:

http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/leisure/archives/contact/stoke/home.aspx

Denis

Joanne, you might find this site useful:

http://www.staffordshirebmd.org.uk/

although it doesn't give much more info than the GRO index, it does tie up couples in a marriage.

You obviously mean the Register Office............not the same as the Records Office.

You can view records at your County Records Office...............but not at a local Register Office

Staffs records office is in Eastgate Street, Stafford

I keep forgetting there is more than one Newcastle :-(

It's always worth checking if there's a local registrar's index online - these will only deal with events from 1837q3 on - see http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/local_bmd
In this case http://www.staffordshirebmd.org.uk/
Because of the way certs are stored at the local level, the local index has to give difft info from the GRO index, specifically the subdistrict or church register that holds the event.
(This info may be coded, although StaffsBMD decodes it for you).
The local index may contain info that's not in the GRO index, like mum's maiden surname for births pre-1911q3, age at death pre-1866, spouse on pre-1912 marrs.
StaffsBMD does have some examples of these, but not for all subdistricts.

Staffordshire Birth indexes for the years: 1841
Surname Forename(s) Sub-District Registers At Mother's Maiden Name Reference
SALMON Mary Audley Newcastle-Under-Lyme NEWTON AUD/2/222
SALT Caroline Lichfield (held at Newcastle RO) Newcastle-Under-Lyme L/4/130
SALT Charles Fazeley Newcastle-Under-Lyme F/2/8

Staffordshire Death indexes for the years: 1841
Surname Forename(s) Age Sub-District Registers At Reference
SANDERS Martha 63 Cannock (old Penkridge Rural District) Newcastle-Under-Lyme CAN/001/363
SANDERS Sarah 78 Rugeley Newcastle-Under-Lyme RUG/002/9
SANDFORD John - Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-Under-Lyme NUL/003/073
SANDLAND Kate - Lichfield (held at Newcastle RO) Newcastle-Under-Lyme L/2/367
SANSOME Elizabeth - Brewood Newcastle-Under-Lyme BRE/01/074
SIMPSON Eliza 0 Whitmore Newcastle-Under-Lyme WHIT/1/073

Staffordshire Marriage indexes for the years: 1841
Surname Forename(s) Surname Forename(s) Church / Register Office Registers At Reference
SAWYER Charlotte HARRISON William Wolstanton, St Margaret Newcastle-Under-Lyme C30/2/382
SCOTT Barbara HOOD Joseph Keele, St John the Baptist Newcastle-Under-Lyme C12/1/83
SCOTT Elizabeth NUGENT Joseph Civil Marriage (Tamworth) Newcastle-Under-Lyme ROT/1/7
SCOTT Elizabeth SEABRIDGE Francis Audley, St James Newcastle-Under-Lyme C3/1/123


Kath isn't quite right when she says "If you want to see the information written on a certificate you have to buy the certificate."
That is true of B's & D's, but only some M's, namely those recorded in the registrar's own register.

If the marr took place in a church, then the parish register is usually deposited in the local records office, where it can be viewed.
A copy of this rego was sent to the local rego office and thence a copy went to the GRO, and you have to buy a copy of these to view these copies.
However, one can view the original at the local records office, and in this case, it really helps to know what church you want, and where the entry is in that rego.
That's where the local index is helpful - consider the localo ref "C30/2/382" given above.
The first part is the church code - C30 - which is decoded for you here as Wolstanton, St Margaret;
the second part is the register number - 2 - this rego was used from mid-1839q4 to mid-1842q4;
and the third part is the entry # - since entry # is used in the index, one can match entry #s in the index to decide who wed whom.

Pre-1898, only C of E, jews, quakers, and the registrar were authorized to keep official marr rego's.
However, the superintendent rigistrar could authorize other buildings as places where marrs could take place, such as non-conformist churches and chapels.
So a couple could wed in a non-conformist church, but the registrar would have to attend so the couple could sign his official rego, so these church marrs are mixed in with all the rego office marrs.
The church might record the event in their own unofficial rego, which likely would be deposited in some archive somewhere.
I've got a GRO copy of such a marr - this took place in the Wesley Methodist Church on Standishgate, Wigan in 1901 - this church was only approved to keep official marr regos in 1902.
The m.cert says:
Married in the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel according to the Rites and ceremonies of the Wesleyan Methodist by A.L.Bailey Wesleyan Minister
but it's countersigned by Robert Halliwell Registrar, and the last 3 cols of its local index (at LancsBMD) read:

Church / Register Office Registers At Reference
Wigan, Register Office or Registrar Attended Wigan & Leigh ROW/100/44

I don't know if that church maintained it's own marr rego pre-1902, although I have seen some RC ones - RC regos are often deposited in the diocesan archive, rather than the county record office, although the latter often has a filmed copy.

mgnv is correct about some marriage certificates being viewed at County Record Offices.

However I really meant that they couldn't be viewed at local Register Offices - which I assumed (although I know I shouldn't assume anything) that is the place that Joanne meant.

Kath. x

Hello Joanne and welcome to the Community Boards... :-)







I'll send Joanne a message on how to return to her thread. :-)

Well you have all provided lots of useful information

What a shame the OP has not bothered to reply.

THANKYOU costs nothing..

Far too many posts like this these days.....

I'm not sure that it is lack of manners, DC. I think it is more lack of understanding of how the site works and that new posters expect to be advised of postings to their thread. We will have to wait and see what Cynthia's pm results in.

Thank you all so much for your advice and help. And for Dazed Confused, I WAS expecting notification from GR, and I've not been online since I posted the message, I've been working! :-P Thanks to Cynthia for the PM, and to Potty for having some faith in human kind!!! I really appreciate all your time everyone, and I will sit and read more thoroughly what you've said, and make sense of it.
CHEERS. Jo.

Joanne there was no need to be rude

I have a big problem with people asking for help and getting lots of advice, and never coming back to their post or just reading the advice and not commenting to say thankyou.



:-|

DazedC - you're correct - there was no need for Joanne to be rude, and she wasn't.

Many other boards do email folk when posts are added to their threads, e.g., Lancsgen list, and the rootsweb boards.

Interesting.comments.

As a result of lobbying from the band of some 'GR experienced members' GR did in fact implement the facility of emailing members when postings were added to their threads.

If I remember, it was soon removed because other 'GR experienced members' complained that they were receiving too many emails and their in boxes were getting clogged up.

IGP

As far as I am aware if you tick the watched Threads box you get an email if there is any replies

It wasn't working properly for a while, but I believe it is now

see below

Add to My Watched Threads
(Ticking this box means we will notify you by email when someone replies to this post, we will also add it to your Watched Threads so that it is easy to find.)