Family History research

I don't think findmypast would appreciate this method being broadcast, but you can message me if you'd like details.

Many of the record collections that FMP charge for are available for free either at familysearch.org, freebmd or freecen.

I am trying to find information on relatives who came to Coventry around about 1912-1920, they lived in Cox Street in 1918 according to the marriage certificate, but I have no other information on addresses other than this. Would there be any records drawn up during this period? If so how or where would I find it? Hoping to hear from anyone who may be able to help. Thank you.

You would probably find them in the electoral registers for the period.

The History Centre (local studies dept at the Herbert) have a series of street directories that cover this period. They have lists of residents by address and are sometimes indexed by name. You might also try Spennell's Annual Directory of Coventry & District for 1912-13 which is searchable online. Cox St residents are imaged on pages 465-468.

Hi all, does anyone have any advice on buying Birth, Marriage and Death certificate copies? Obviously I'm interested in getting the best deal, i.e. most economical. I've seen on one site that it is at least £25 per copy, so no way Pedro to that. Can anyone recommend a better site? or a better route to go down? Thanks. Heathite.

Here!

Thank you Midland Red, I'll explore that link, that looks very promising.

I agree. Be very wary of "third party" websites that usually charge more than the official government department. This applies not only for BMD certificates, but for other things such as European Health Cards, driving licences and passports.

MR is correct, they do them centrally from Southport and I believe they are £10 (used to be £7). Ones I've ordered in the past take about a week. The alternative is if you want a record from a particular register office, Coventry for instance, you can go and order it in person. That way you get a copy of the actual original certificate.

Can anyone tell me, is it possible to search Electoral Rolls online, say from the 1960's?

Unfortunately not

Hi. The Coventry History Centre (which is part of the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum) have electoral registers going back to around 1900. However, I have found that roads can change electoral district so you may have to check more than one district (ie. Foleshill & Longford). I have been doing this for the past few weeks and have gained an enormous amount of information, even though at times frustrating. Regards, DebbieA

Message from Ian Hartas, UKBMD. There was Deregulation Bill put through parliament by Baroness Scott earlier this year which enables changes to the birth, marriage and death registration process to allow easier access to the Birth, Marriage and Death (BMD) records held by the General Register Office (GRO). On Friday 18th Dec. I attended a meeting at the GRO's premises in Southport as a representative of the Local BMD Project where the agenda was to probe the various representatives to see what their views were on the possible features that may be possible following this deregulation. (i.e. this meeting was not part of a full public consultation) One of their first comments surprised me - the recent deregulation only applies to the GRO and not the local Register Offices. The registration process is such that the BMD events are registered locally first, then quarterly copies are sent to the GRO. Unfortunately the copying process introduced a high rate of errors and omissions! So, although the GRO indexes may offer a national coverage, the indexes produced by the local register offices are more complete and more accurate. They also offer extra facilities such as naming the venue for the marriage. So there are advantages to seeking out copies of the original records from the local register offices rather than a copy of a copy from the GRO. Over the years, hundreds of volunteers from the various family history societies have freely dedicated many hours to transcribe records for the various local BMD websites. A growing number of these local register offices have also made large financial commitments by scanning their registers as a means of protecting the registers, but also as a means of simplifying the creation of copy certificates. Obviously, the register offices were also considering the future possibility of providing easier access online to scanned images, but only after deregulation allows for changes. If the GRO is permitted to produce online images of copy certificates at a reduced cost and the local register offices cannot offer the same facilities, then they will be severely disadvantaged financially and the hard work by all the family history society volunteers will be greatly devalued. So, what can you do? One option would be to contact your local MP and ask that the Deregulation Bill is extended to allow the local register offices to have the same rights as the GRO, so for example if the GRO may provide online images, then the local register office may do so too.

The 1841 census was the first to mention the names of everyone. However William West's 1830 directory of Warwickshire is online at google books. I am in the process of converting the list of Coventry residents into a spreadsheet showing the street name, surname, forename and occupation which will be available shortly in the Members Articles section of this forum. The 1841 census for Coventry can be searched by name or street at freecen.org.uk which also has the 1891 census for the city. The 1841 however can be downloaded for the whole of Coventry from the Warwickshire Ancestors Project by using the links at the bottom of the link. There are three large files, numbered 1152, 1153 and 1154 and you can check which is relevant by first examining the name or street index. The files labelled as html format are in fact formatted as csv (comma separated) files suitable for selectively copy/pasting or importing into a spreadsheet. The resultant columns will be Street name, Head of house indication, Surname & forename, Age to nearest 5 years if male, same if female, Occupation and Whether born in Warks or elsewhere. Although the house number is not included, streets were normally enumerated in sequential premises order so the actual property can be guesstimated from the proximity to the preceding or following street.