Peter Ferreira wrote: > Hi, again, Steade, > > Yes, the only absolutely good source is the image of the original page. > Ancestry.com does a bang-up job in their census search section. Frequently, > the census index is just plain wrong. However, the census image sorts out > almost all ambiguities. > > Pity that we do not have something comparable for the certificates of birth, > marriage and death!! For me, it is still about $10 to buy a certificate and > that I can only afford for ancestors. According to a source at the GRO, they have a site ready to go for just that but the cuts being made has put the project on hold. Likewise their site for the post 2005/6 BMDs. Even then, the information on the certificates is only as good as the informant. How many times have researchers been sent on a wild goose chase by a father on a marriage certificate who doesn't exist? Or a husband named on a birth certificate who's actually married to someone else or who doesn't exist? Death certific ates are the least accurate. The informant may not actually know the information required and guesses or is too distressed to remember it correctly. Human error, deliberate or not, will always be with us. -- 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/