Tracing ancestry.

[hondated]

Morning everyone.Sitting here on this murky day summoning up the enthusiasm to go out on my bike my thoughts turned to tracing my ancestry once again. Its something I seem to do sporadically being the charges companies want to supply certificates that are rightly yours anyway. Anyway the wife suggested to save money driving to the records office in Kew but looking at there internet site they seem to have done away with the facility of being able to visit them personally. Am I correct in saying that or do you know otherwise. Seems to me its another one of those government cuts you don't hear about.

[JamesE]

No, you can still visit - see here.

[broadway]

Morning everyone.Sitting here on this murky day summoning up the enthusiasm to go out on my bike my thoughts turned to tracing my ancestry once again. Its something I seem to do sporadically being the charges companies want to supply certificates that are rightly yours anyway. Anyway the wife suggested to save money driving to the records office in Kew but looking at there internet site they seem to have done away with the facility of being able to visit them personally. Am I correct in saying that or do you know otherwise. Seems to me its another one of those government cuts you don't hear about.

Certificates that are rightly yours, how does that work, did someone steal them and deposit them at Kew

[hondated]

Thanks James that is really helpful.
Broadway what I mean is why should I have to pay a private company money to obtain my personal information that I have not given them permission to have.

[Bicycler]

The PRO was renamed the National Archives a few years ago. I don't know about ancestry but I've used the facilities for other research before. I don't think they can realistically refuse access to public records for commercial gain, though they do charge for making copies and providing printouts.

There are reasons why particular records could be legitimately not-viewable in person:

Some are subject to access restrictions for a set number of years. I am pretty sure that medical, court, prison, armed forces, individual census, adoption and employment records will be restricted for a time period which may be an issue if investigating the life of someone in the last century.

Preservation takes priority over public access. It may be that an individual record is too fragile or badly damaged to be produced or it may be temporarily unavailable whilst undergoing repair. Records which have yet to be catalogued are often not available. Some records haven't survived at all, some being lost and others destroyed due to various fires, floods and wartime bombings.

To best preserve the records it is common to restrict access to the originals where a paper, microform or digital copy is available unless there is an exceptional reason why the original is needed. It is possible that if the documents have been digitised in partnership with a commercial ancestry website that you will be directed to use that information on one of the computer terminals. I'm pretty sure this data would be free when accessed from the National archives.

Some items are not held at Kew but at a separate storage facility. These items need to be booked a few days in advance. It makes sense to book in advance of a visit anyway as it saves you time on the day. That said, I would think that all documents commonly used for ancestry searches would be readily available and most probably digitised to preserve the originals.

BTW, I don't know much about ancestry research but it's always a good idea to check that the information you want is definitely held at Kew, not local record offices or elsewhere before making a long journey to the capital.

[broadway]

Broadway what I mean is why should I have to pay a private company money to obtain my personal information that I have not given them permission to have.

Just teasing, I did wonder what certificates were held at Kew.

[hondated]

Bicycler thank you for taking the time for giving me such detailed information.
Broadway it would be a sad day if us cyber mates couldn't have a bit of a wind up between ourselves now and then. Ted

[Si]

Tracing ancestry....pah, waste of effort as everyone ends up with the same answer in the end: Adam & Eve

[Bicycler]

Si, could you please add a spoiler alert in future

[Mick F]

Everyone has two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, sixteen great-great grandparents, thirty-two great-great-great grandparents, sixty-four great-great-great-great grandparents etc etc etc etc

The world's population has been exponentially increasing for a while, but there have been many more times when it's been stagnant or even shrinking. Plus, my great-great-great grandparents could be YOUR great-great-great grandparents as well.

It's theoretically possible that all the forum members here are related in some way. Take that a step further, and the whole population is related.

[maxcherry]

Everyone has two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, sixteen great-great grandparents, thirty-two great-great-great grandparents, sixty-four great-great-great-great grandparents etc etc etc etc

The world's population has been exponentially increasing for a while, but there have been many more times when it's been stagnant or even shrinking. Plus, my great-great-great grandparents could be YOUR great-great-great grandparents as well.

It's theoretically possible that all the forum members here are related in some way. Take that a step further, and the whole population is related.

So does this mean you will lend me some money. After all, I am family

[Mick F]

Yes of course!
How much do you want?

Just give me your banking details and pin numbers and I'll, arrange something.

[RJS]

Would I be correct in thinking, that if you are European, you will be descended from one of two women, near extinction after an ice age? Or did I dream that.
Cheers, Rob.

[Sooper8]

I seem to remember one theory has us all descended from 4 women from Rift Valley a quarter of a million years ago

[[XAP]Bob]

Tracing ancestry....pah, waste of effort as everyone ends up with the same answer in the end: Adam & Eve

And of course Mr and Mrs Noah