Genealogy Chat

Hi I recently got a burial record for an ancestor but the name is almost unreadable and I cannot find a death entry. I wondered where they get the info from to transcribe the GRO indexes. Do they get it from the registers? If Yes then this might explain why I can not find his death. Suzanne

The FreeBMD data all comes from the GRO indexes of births, marriages and deaths, but they have not yet completed transcribing them, so if you don't find what you are looking for on there you have to try somewhere like 1837 online or microfiches at a record office or large library. Kate.

Thanks Kate...will amend my query.

What are the details of the burial you have?? Can anyone help to solve? Merry

Er... the GRO indexes are indexes to all birth, marriage and death registrations in England and Wales from the start of civil registration in 1837 to the present day. When somebody registered a birth, marriage or death before the present computerised system started, the certificate was written out in a book for the local register office and then they were all copied out for the central register, and the index is taken from those entries. FreeBMD is transcribing those index entries from scans or microfiches or microfilms of the indexes. If you are asking about sites which get their information from burial registers, I guess the main one is the National Burial Index on Family History Online, but if the death you are looking for occurred after 1837 in England or Wales it should be on the GRO indexes somewhere. Whether it is on FreeBMD just depends on whether they have transcribed that bit yet. Their home page has a link you can click on to find out the coverage of their transcriptions so far. Hope that makes things a bit clearer. Kate.

Thanks Merry... He was James Start - burial records were for 6th February 1853 in Saffron Walden,Essex, age 69. Ive tried everything I can think of!!!! Suzanne p.s. His wife was Ann (nee Barker). barker was a common name in the area but Idid wonder if the James Barker death entry for March 1853 might be him??? Was so desperate.

lol..Thanks Kate.....Ive managed to obtain about 50 death certificates of ancestors so far, its just this one Im having problems with. Suzanne P.S. Sorry I should have said...ve tried FREEBMD, 1837 and the genealogist sites - No joy.

hi Suzanne, the information for FreeBMD comes from the National Registers for the quarterly returns of births, marriages and deaths that have been required from each Registration District since Jul-Sep 1837. Many of the early returns were hand-written and the transcriptions to the registers were also hand-written all leading to errors, fading or smearing of ink, not mention near illegible writing on occasions, etc. The registers are being transcribed by some arcane system of selection (no insult intended to FreeBMD, they are brilliant)by unpaid volunteers for FreeBMD and the coverage for some years has not yet been completed. Both the returns and thus the registers in early years were incomplete in any case. FreeBMD have two other projects running. One is FreeCen, which aims to transcribe the various census records, for free online access and Free Reg, which aims to do the same for Church Parish Register records. FreeCen is online but, as yet nowhere near as well on as FreeBMD, having started much later and FreeReg is under construction but not yet searchable (at least the last time I looked). Being an enthusiastic amateur myself I hope this rather wordy answer helps somewhat. regards julian

Thank you Kate,Merry and Julian......Im beginning to get the idea. Thank you so much. Suzanne

. Name James START Date 6 Oct 1853 Aged 69 Place Saffron Walden Description St Mary the Virgin Denomination Anglican County code ESS Amount paid £0.06 Off family history any good to you June

Parish registers and registrations were identical (except that one was a transcription of t'other) for marriages, but burial records and Death Registrations were ENTIRELY DIFFERENT things. There were no practical typewriters before 1868, so anything typed relating to matters before that time represents yet another level of transcription (and possible introduction of error). I'm glad June seems to have found the death/burial you were looking for.

And, despite what the GRO say, not all records made it from the local Register Office to the GRO - I know, I now have five certificates which do not appear on the GRO but do appear in the local Register Office. Olde Crone