Genealogy Chat

I'd like to be able to go further with the information I've managed to get from the Births, Marriages& Deaths site. At the end of each entry there are two columns headed Volume and Page. 8D features in the volume column with a different page number for the relatives I've managed to find. Any ideas where I can research both the 8D and the page number?

Not quite sure what you mean, but you can find others on the same page by clicking on the page number. Dont forget that FreeBMD is not complete though

The BMD that I have access to isn't free, I've signed up for a year. It's been a great help so far, I've found out where and when my Grandad was born, his occupation etc. On each page I search there are these two columns and in the 'Volume' column for each and every member of the family is 8D and the Page number is always different. They a reference for something hence the question. I'll probably have to phone them up and see if they can help.

These are the GRO reference numbers. These refer to the Volume number and page number where the event entries can be found. When someone orders a certificate from the GRO and quote the reference, the staff can then go straight to the book where the birth marriage or death can be found. Each district used the same range of numbers for the volumes each year, and each year is divided into quarters. It is a bit like finding a piece of text in a book at the library. The volume would be the title of the book and page number speaks for itself.

Wow Carol that's great, thanks. I take it the GRO is General Records Office?

Yes, General Records Office. You may come across the ONS as well. That is Office of National Statistics. Roughly the same thing, just a different address.

> Any ideas where I can research both the 8D and the > page number? As others have pointed out already, the numbers refer to GRO references. There is no simple way to look at a whole volume as far as I'm aware. You can usually see who else is on the same page for most online sites that provide UK BMD access but that's unlikely to be a great deal of use in most cases of a birth or death. They will just be the names of other people who were born or died around the same time. Very occasionally you may discover the birth of twins, or the simultaneous death of several family members (in an accident or due to illness), but mostly its just 'other names'. For marriages, the page contains either 8 or 4 names (that is, it covers 4 couples or 2 couples) depending on the period. 8 names per page gave way to 4 names per page over time. Looking at the page is useful for determing who the spouse may be.... but the names are often not be arranged in spousal pairs in the index, so you may need to do some more research (i.e. checking census information) to determine which names go together in a marriage. Cheers, Bill Sydney, Australia

Id like to know what this site is? If its not freebmd which is it please?

Thanks Bill and Carol, The site is bmdindex.co.uk Stumbled on it through desperation a couple of weeks ago while looking for a free census site on a tinternet search. I paid with my credit card in the early hours and had virtually immediate access, I was like a kid with a new toy, It was dawn before I got to bed. It's the best source of info so far for me. ps just had a look at what I'd typed and it doesn't show the dot co dot uk for some reason. think it meust get edited out!

George - heres a table of Vol/Page data showing geography/didtricts over the years .... it may lose format, you can see the original on 1837Online or within GENUKI (which also lists placenames within the districts) Vol 8D covers Lancashire districts 1852-1946. The registration districts were formed from the Poor Law Unions, areas that stretched across several parishes and which had elected Overseers of the Poor who were answerable to the parishes and the area’s Justice of the Peace. Please note that the 1837 – 1852 Registration Districts were originally expressed in Roman numerals - shown below as 1 thru 26 in the 1st column. English & Welsh Registration District volume numbers over time. (i) 1837-1852 (ii) 1852-1946 (iii) 1946-1974 (iv) 1974 ----------------------------------------------------------- Greater London 1 - 5 1A - 1D* 5A - 5D 11 - 15 *1E does not exist. A Vol ref that looks like 1e will therefore be 1c. Surrey 4 2A 5G 11, 13 - 15, 17 Kent 5 2A 5B 11, 16 Sussex 7 2B 5H 18 Isle of Wight 8 2B 6B 20 Hampshire 7 - 8 2B - 2C 6B 14, 20, 23 Berkshire 6 2C 6A 19, 20 Hertfordshire 6 3A 4B 10 - 11 Oxfordshire 16 3A 6B, 7B 20 Buckinghamshire 6 3A 6A 19 Middlesex 3 3A* 5A - 5E 11 - 13 *3A includes Edmonton (Tottenham etc). Berdfordshire 6 3B 4A 9 Cambridgeshire 14 3B 4A 9 Huntindonshire 14 3B 4B 9 Northamptonshire 15 3B 3B 7 Essex 12 4A* 4A, 5A 9, 11, 13, 15 *4A includes West Ham Suffolk 12 - 13 4A 4B 10 - 11 Norfolk 13 4B 4B 10 Wiltshire 8 5A 7C 10 Dorset 8 5A 6A, 7C 22 - 23 Devon 9 - 10 5B 7A 21 Cornwall/Scilly 9 5C 7A 21 Somerset 10 - 11* 5C, 6A** 7C 22 - 23 * In Somerset vol XI or 11 is for Bristol districts only. Page: 43 **In Somerset 6A is for Bristol districts only. Gloucestershire 11 6A 7B 22 Shropshire 18 6A 9A 30 Herefordshire 26 6A 9A 29 Staffordshire 17 6B 9B 30, 34 Worcestershire 18 6C 9D 29, 33 Warwickshire 16 6D 9C 31 - 34 Leicestershire 15 7A 3A 6 Lincolnshire 14 7A 3B 7 Rutland 15 7A 3C 6 Nottinghamshire 15 7B 3C 6, 8 Derbyshire 19 7B 3A, 10A 6 Cheshire 19 8A 10A 35, 37, 39 Lancashire 20 - 21 8B - 8E 10B - 10F 1, 35 - 40 Yorkshire 22 - 24 9A - 9D* 14 - 1B, 2A - 2D 2 - 5, 7 *9E does not exist. A Vol ref that looks like 9e will therefore be 9c. Durham 24 10A 1A 1 - 2 Cumberland 25 10B 1A 1 Northumberland/ Westmoreland 25 10B 1B 1 1 - 2 Wales 26 - 27 11A - 11B 8A - 8C 24 - 28 Please note that the 1837 – 1852 Registration Districts were originally expressed in Roman numerals

You can see the listings of all Register offices showing the villages & towns each covers together with the 'Volume numbers' :- http://www.fhsc.org.uk/genuki/REG/ Page numbers show listing of all others entered on same page within the District, thus if you are searching for a marriage the names of the couple will be listed on same page but if there are several marriages same page you have to decide which couple is yours.

George As your registration district is Manchester (8d) you may find it useful to go to Lancsbmd, a free site on UKbmd. There you will find births, deaths and marriages - the marriages give both spouses, so you know who married who. As these are compiled from The Registry Office records, not the GRO, the GRO numbers will be useless; however you can often make an educated guess. Many bmds from Lancashire, PARTICULARLY Manchester, did not make it to the GRO, so I always use the Manchester Register Office for my rellies - they recently found the marriage of my 3 x Gtparents, which was not, and still is not, on the GRO. Lancsbmd is not complete but is being updated all the time. Good luck Marjorie

Many thanks to you all, I wish I'd started off looking at the Community section and the Tips etc. when I first signed up, it would have saved many fruitless hours. again thank you, thank you, thank you.