It's a nice idea but not quite as simple as it sounds ... The current generation of GPS are not accurate enough to precisely pinpoint a grave (although they will usually be within 1-3 metres of it, but maybe up to 10m). If the grave has a headstone, then a GPS accuracy of a few metres is close enough, but our problem graves are the ones without headstones or other markers. And if you walk to the GPS location and find yourself surrounded by a number of unmarked graves, a few metres of accuracy isn't good enough to tell you where you want to leave your flowers or put a plaque or do an exhumation. There are so-called precise positioning systems that can get you to within a few centimeters (which would be sufficient to distinguish between two adjacent graves) but these are currently very expensive and only purchased by people with strong commercial reasons, but of course the price may come down over the years (just as it did with the current generation of GPS). But at the moment they might be affordable to organisations like councils who run large cemeteries but perhaps not to individual undertakers or trustees of small cemeteries. Of course, accuracy within a couple of centimeters sounds fantastic, but that accuracy is only valid for a short time, because the tectonic plates of the Earth are also moving at a couple of centimeters a year, so after 100 years, you are back to having much less accurate measurement. Although I guess in 100 years time, the positioning devices will probably be able to incorporate continental drift adjustments and you'd enter the location AND the date at which that location was recorded so the current location could be correctly computed. The other problem is that the majority of people in Australia are cremated (at least in areas where it is available as an option). What location do we record? Where they were cremated? Where their ashes ended up? What if the family scattered them in 10 different locations? What if they are in an urn and moved from place to place? Whether or not the Registrar-General can be persuaded to record the location (at whatever level of precision) is an interesting question. While I agree that it is not clear whether BDM Certificates as we know them today will exist into the future, it is pretty clear that the governments are recording more information about us all the time, so I can't imagine they will stop wanting to record our births, deaths and marriages in some way. Of course, in the future, we might get our family history at the "touch of a button" because of all that government recording of information! Or, we might have stricter privacy laws that prevent us from being told anything about our family, living or dead. Perhaps the recording of BDMs in the future will include our DNA -- that would simplify family history! Kerry

Kerry thanks for the excellent reply. Let's hope BDM records remain in the coming future with some developments as time goes on. Regards Colin -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kerry Raymond Sent: Thursday, 15 March 2012 7:14 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AUS-QLD] Burial register vs Death Certificate It's a nice idea but not quite as simple as it sounds ... The current generation of GPS are not accurate enough to precisely pinpoint a grave (although they will usually be within 1-3 metres of it, but maybe up to 10m). If the grave has a headstone, then a GPS accuracy of a few metres is close enough, but our problem graves are the ones without headstones or other markers. And if you walk to the GPS location and find yourself surrounded by a number of unmarked graves, a few metres of accuracy isn't good enough to tell you where you want to leave your flowers or put a plaque or do an exhumation. There are so-called precise positioning systems that can get you to within a few centimeters (which would be sufficient to distinguish between two adjacent graves) but these are currently very expensive and only purchased by people with strong commercial reasons, but of course the price may come down over the years (just as it did with the current generation of GPS). But at the moment they might be affordable to organisations like councils who run large cemeteries but perhaps not to individual undertakers or trustees of small cemeteries. Of course, accuracy within a couple of centimeters sounds fantastic, but that accuracy is only valid for a short time, because the tectonic plates of the Earth are also moving at a couple of centimeters a year, so after 100 years, you are back to having much less accurate measurement. Although I guess in 100 years time, the positioning devices will probably be able to incorporate continental drift adjustments and you'd enter the location AND the date at which that location was recorded so the current location could be correctly computed. The other problem is that the majority of people in Australia are cremated (at least in areas where it is available as an option). What location do we record? Where they were cremated? Where their ashes ended up? What if the family scattered them in 10 different locations? What if they are in an urn and moved from place to place? Whether or not the Registrar-General can be persuaded to record the location (at whatever level of precision) is an interesting question. While I agree that it is not clear whether BDM Certificates as we know them today will exist into the future, it is pretty clear that the governments are recording more information about us all the time, so I can't imagine they will stop wanting to record our births, deaths and marriages in some way. Of course, in the future, we might get our family history at the "touch of a button" because of all that government recording of information! Or, we might have stricter privacy laws that prevent us from being told anything about our family, living or dead. Perhaps the recording of BDMs in the future will include our DNA -- that would simplify family history! Kerry Please remember to snip most of the earlier message before you post any reply...... Thank you! ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ======= Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found. (Email Guard: 9.0.0.898, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.19460) http://www.pctools.com/ ======= ======= Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found. (Email Guard: 9.0.0.898, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.19460) http://www.pctools.com/ =======