With the experience of those on line, I was wondering what the chances of getting a Marriage Authorisation from the Great Synagogue London for the period 1798 ? Do they exist from this time frame? What is on them, and if they do exist, can one request a translation (if not in English)? Regards Lesley Melbourne, Australia (on my husband's computer, since mine has died...again!!)

These items may be of interest to all. They came from the current Avotaynu newsletter: Some British Jewish Marriage Documents To Be Indexed The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain (JGSGB) and the United Synagogue have reached an agreement whereby JGSGB will index the synagogue's Marriage Authorization documents, up to and including 1907. The content of the documents changed through the years, but they can include the names of bride and groom (both in English and Hebrew), current address and birth place of bride and groom, and date and place of marriage. The total project will take many months, but to date more than 3,000 have been indexed. Hopefully they will be placed on the Internet shortly. Additional information can be found at http://www.jgsgb.org.uk/Marriage_Authorisations.shtml. Plan to Digitize all Dutch Jewish Gravestones An Israeli organization, Akevoth, and the Nederlands-Israelitisch Kerkgenootschap (Organization of Jewish Communities in the Netherlands) have undertaken a joint venture to film all the Jewish tombstones in The Netherlands and place them on the Internet at http://www.stenenarchief.org. The site is currently in Dutch; an English version is under construction. A lot of my London ancestors originally came from Holland, via where-ever. Holland always seemed to me a stopping place for lots of Jewish people. Michele Skehill Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Again, something of interest from the current Avotaynu newsletter: Will Great Britain Abandon Censuses? There is a report that Great Britain is considering abandoning the taking of national censuses after the 2011 census. The rationalization is that the population has become so mobile that it is impossible to get an accurate count. A spokesperson for the Office for National Statistics said that a formal review would begin early next year. In the U.S. there has been talk of cutting costs for census taking by merely sampling the population rather than doing a complete census. Additional information about the British plans can be found at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3107949.ece. I wonder how future genealogists will like this? Michele Skehill in an overcast morning in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Temperature of +3, with a wind warning!