Thank you so much!!  The GRO system sounds similar to the Irish Republic one.  There is a central GRO which has an online form and will accept credit cards.  However the county GRO will not. You have given places to research.  Really do appreciate it.  If you ever need USA data, would be willing to recipricate the assistance. Mary Ellen Chambers Lakewood, OH   ----- Original Message ---- From: Charani <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, December 28, 2010 1:09:55 PM Subject: Re: [B&D] Records for David TOWNDSEND & Family 19th Century Mary Ellen Chambers wrote: > >      I am seeking records re: the family of my great great grandfather David > TOWNSEND; church/sacramental, possible business records and death. He was > Protestant but do not know what denomination. Since you are looking for some post civil registration records (ie after 1 July 1837), one of the first places to go, which is free of charge, is www.freeBMD.org.uk If you haven't visited it before it an index of all the births, marriages and deaths to be found in the GRO Indices.  It is a volunteer project so not yet complete but it's as far as 1940, so "only" another 43 years to go :)) The births and deaths are not available online at all so the only way of getting the details is to buy the relevant certificates which you can do either direct from the GRO itself (9.25 GBP, post free anywhere in the world) or from the relevant local register office (9GBP but postage and/or a handling fee may be required).  You can order certs online from the GRO but not all register offices accept online orders or payment by credit/debit card.  *Don't* order from Ancestry or any other certificate "service" as they charge well over the true price and have to order from one or other of the above sources anyway. Sister projects are www.freeREG.org.uk which is the transcription of parish registers.  Again it's a volunteer project and has a very long way to go.  Parish registers started in 1538 but not all of those survive by any means.  The transcriptions will go up to 1910 (currently). The third sister project is www.freeCEN.org.uk which is a volunteer project transcribing all the censuses from 1841 to 1901.  Like the others, it is not yet complete.  I don't know if any of the rare 1801, 1811, 1821 and 1831 survivals which actually give names will be included but I presume they will. >      He was a coach maker, per the 1862 civil marriage record for my g > grandfather Fredrick J. TOWNSEND in Limerick City County Limerick Ireland.  G > Grandfather was known as John. >      David and his family resided in the Bristol area of England.  He may have > Welsh origins but cannon locate any definitive data for Wales.  I found him & > his family in the 1861 census but my g grandfather was already in Ireland at > this time.  His younger brother William is listed along with sisters.  The > mother's name is listed as Eliza but her age makes me think she could be a 2nd > wife or there is a census error. You may be able to resolve this with FreeBMD. >      I have followed this family via census records to 1911 with the occupation > > listed as coach maker for father & son William.  I figured that it may have >been > > a "dying or dead" occupation by this time. Horse drawn coaches and carriages, yes, but not railways carriages/ coaches (railcars) or motor cars.  That said horse drawn carriages are still made today. >        Based on by g grandfather year of birth (1840) and William as 1846, >David > > was probably born about 1820.  Also, William's birthplace on census is listed >as > > Wales. The districts in Wales will have volume numbers of 26 (south Wales) and 27 (north Wales). You won't find English/Welsh certificates as informative as US ones. For what is and is not on them, you'll find this site useful: http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm For pre-civil registration baptisms, burials and marriages, there's the IGI (but be very wary of patron submissions which can vary from complete accuracy to pure fantasy and all points in between), FreeREG and the Bristol & Avon Family History Society data CDs. -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, Greinton and Clutton, SOM Asst OPC for Ashcott and Shapwick, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk http://www.savethegurkhas.co.uk/ ------------------------------- 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