NOT SP !!!

[mallog]

I don't know how anyone finds their English relatives. It's very time consuming trawling through indices and I would imagine very expensive when you start ordering possible certificates. SP it certainly is NOT !!!

[momat]

I know what you mean.
I am trying to buy a death Certificate from Yorkshire and they don't have credit card facility that I can see.
Would cost me far too much to get a bank cheque !!!!!!!!!!.
Why England has not got a similar site to S P beats me.

[LesleyB]

Hi all

Why England has not got a similar site to S P beats me.

From what I head on the radio the other day, they are working on it... but it will be a few years yet. England has always had a much larger population, so it follows that it is a much larger task. I'm sure a lot of family historians out there will be glad of it when/if it does happen as it does seem a much harder task when working with English records, not only because of having to send for each individual certificate, but also because the certificates tend not to give as much information as we are used to seeing. We're just spoilt!

Best wishes
Lesley

[mallog]

Sending off for the certificates is bad enough but acceptable but it seems so hard to narrow down the choices on the index especially if your relative has moved around or you don't have a narrow timespan

[momat]

Can't wait for that.
I will probably be one of the long gone ancestors before then !
My problem is that I don't even know if the record I want is the CORRECT one!
I have the index number and date ,but is it who I am searching for.
They give you no clues.

[trish58]

Hi Momat

I don't have credit card either, but they do accept debit card, not sure if this helps at all.

When ordering you just enter the details as you would credit card- card number, security code, & expiry date, this goes through just the same as a credit except comes from you savings or whatever.

This is all I use since I retired and cancelled all credit cards. Works well for me.

Good Luck

Tricia

[Tracey]

I know what you mean.
I am trying to buy a death Certificate from Yorkshire and they don't have credit card facility that I can see.
Would cost me far too much to get a bank cheque !!!!!!!!!!.
Why England has not got a similar site to S P beats me.

Hi Maureen

Sa far as i am aware you can order this certificate through the GRO
http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/death ... oapply.asp and pay by credit card.

My problem is that I don't even know if the record I want is the CORRECT one!

How many of us have wasted credits on SP not knowing if its the right person ? Same problem just instant slightly cheaper mistakes

[garibaldired]

I know this probably isn't much use to you out in Australia but if you ring the local record office they will help you narrow down the "right" one eg check father's name/occupation.

Meg

[davran]

There are pros and cons to both systems. I have only one branch of the family in Scotland and usually end up with just a few credits left on SP and feel compelled to use them up on trivia, so it works out expensive for me. The information on SP is fantastic, though.

On the other hand, in England we have access to FREE info (albeit still incomplete) in the form of FreeBMD, FreeCEN and FreeReg. This does mean you can have a browse around and sometimes pick up incidental relatives you may not realise you had. There is also FamilyHistoryonline, which only costs a few pence at a time (though you have to buy about £5 worth of credit). You do have to do a lot more delving around, but that is also part of the fun!

[momat]

Thanks for all your replies.
Being so far away in NEW ZEALAND makes it difficult even to Phone their office as I would have to stay up till the early hours to get them as we are 13 hours ahead of UK.

Will go back to the sites and have another look at what I can do.