Northern Ireland BMDs

[BobG]

Don't know if this has been mentioned previously but you may want to sharpen your credit cards... we can now purchase on-line BMDs from Northern Ireland. That's Northern Ireland only. Costs, 11 pounds each with an 8 day turn around service. The site address is…

www.groni.gov.uk

BobG

[nelmit]

Don't know if this has been mentioned previously but you may want to sharpen your credit cards... we can now purchase on-line BMDs from Northern Ireland. That's Northern Ireland only. Costs, 11 pounds each with an 8 day turn around service. The site address is…

www.groni.gov.uk

BobG

Thanks for that BobG - a wee step forward.
Unfortunately I don't know exactly where most of mine lived except the families in Donegal.

Regards,
Annette M

[Cathy]

I had a cert. a couple of weeks ago from GRONI.
It was £7 by post!

[BobG]

Cathy,
Did you order on-line? If not, how?

BobG

[Tom-W]

I ordered a couple of Northern Ireland certs a few years back and was advised to use the Dublin GRO. They cost me 6 euros each for a photocopy rather than an official certificate, but it contained the same information. Dublin hold all the certificates for all Ireland before 1921 - worth bearing in mind if you're researching pre 1921.

I did have the full reference numbers which I looked up at my local LDS centre - I'm not sure how the costs compare if you don't.

Tom

[Cathy]

Hi Bob,
I downloaded the form and posted it.
I downloaded another a few days later. Having now picked it up, it states
£11. So it must have just gone up in the last week or so. What in increase!

[BobG]

As more and more people have become involved in genealogy over the past three or four years, many local, state and country governments have experienced a dramatic increase for vital record searches and the purchase of BMD certificates. The powers that be quickly recognized an opportunity to increase cash receivables with very little expenditure on their part. My hometown went from $5 dollars to $10. The State of Massachusetts went from $6.to $18. The State of Pennsylvania $3. to $9. New Jersey went from $4. to $9. The US Social Security Administration went from $7. to $28. for a copy of a person's application for a Social Security Card. The list goes on and on.

When I started my genealogy project in 1998, I purchased many BMDs because they are "source" documents and considered the Holy Grail of genealogy. Back then I considered the documents inexpensive and well worth the cost for the information they contained. The BMDs validated my research. Future generations of my family would not be able to question my results or conclusions. The BMDs took me to the "next generation".

Now, due to these dramatic increases, I have been forced to pick and choose who gets full coverage and who doesn't. I've set a price level I'm willing to pay for an immediate relation's BMD and for those of a more distant relative. In addition, to save money, I do as much transcribing of records as possible.

As for the future, I fear prices will continue to increase and will contribute significantly to "unverifiable" genealogy, especially "trees" that are posted on the net, which are already a problem. Be careful out there!

Just some thoughts.

BobG