Genealogy Chat

Hi does anyone know is there anywhere I can pay to view my ancestors birth certificates online? Thanks.

Just wondering if anyone knows of any sites that offer this service.

No you have to buy them. I,m afraid

We would all save a fortune if we didn't have to buy certs to back up our research

What does help sometimes is to find baptism records . Some vicars would record the actual birth date on the parish record

If you find the gro ref for a birth you can now go to the site and look at the record that will show mmn

I'm not aware of any.

The only way to see the certificate is to buy a copy.
That's assuming you're talking about England / Wales.

Scottish birth certs dating from more than 100 years ago can be viewed online for the cost of a few credits on Scotlands People. For births more recent than that you have to buy a copy of the cert.

As Shirley says parish records can help. If you say what parish (or county) and an approximate date I am sure someone will be able to tell you if the records are on line.

You can also check the Freereg site https://www.freereg.org.uk/ for transcriptions of parish records.

Hi all thanks. Shirley i don't mind paying just wondered really if I could get a copy online rather than paper copy. I know you day about baptism record. That sounds useful. I have the volume no. And page ref from the birth index for mybrelative just not sire how I go about finding the baptism record. Am a member of ancestry and archives.com but not sure how to search baptism directly? Any help appreciated.

The problem with parishes is that
(a) your relative has to be nominally CofE
(b) knowing what parish it was.

Using freeBMD, if you find the birth entry and then click on the location, it may give you a list of parishes associated with that location. The composition of the districts changes over time and that is also explained.

See also
http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/general_chat/thread/1364976

Also worth remembering you can find mother's maiden name for most births (pre 1911) by searching the GRO- this is a great help to ensure you're ordering the correct certificate.

You have to register (free) to see the results:

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

GRO in the UK were actually trialling/ about to trial exactly that- digital copies. I dont know what is happening with it., will look and see.

They do it in Vic and NSW in Australia, where you pay and can have instant digital copy (pay about equivalent to £12). It is the BEST thing and makes all other systems look redundant.


Well, until all the computers crash, that is. ;-)

Margaret .................

GRO did trial that ................. you got the certificate fast, but I think it cost more than the £9.25 p&p paid for getting the paper certificate through the mail from GRO.

I think that Trina was actually looking at being able to see the certificate online, without having to pay the full amount.

In Phase 1 of the trial a PDF of the certificate information cost £6.
in Phase 2 it was £45 for same day service
in Phase 3 it will cost £8 for a PDF

Trina - On Ancestry, pick search from the main banner bar, then select Card Catalog.
Limit this to UK, then BMDs (incl parish records), then limit to births and baptisms, then furer limit by location - say to England, and then a county.

There are also collections at:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list#page=1®ion=UNITED_KINGDOM_IRELAND
[NB Not all these are fully indexed]

There are also transcriptions at:
https://www.freereg.org.uk/

and at: http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/

The latter is very good, but limited to the pre-1974 county of Lancashire.
The former can be useful in finding unindexed images at FS.