I thought I would post this in hopes that someone from this newsgroup would be willing to purchase this and do lookups for this group of 30 + - Wish list for the FERGUS-L newsgroup: The British Vital Records Index on CDs, recently released by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, contains nearly five million names and some of the records date back to 1538. These new CDs contain individuals' names from parish registers, civil registration and other record collections in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. There are five CDs in the British Vital Records Index -- four of which are birth and christening records and the other is marriage records. The amount of accessible data varies greatly from parish to parish. This set of vital records is part of an ongoing project which will be updated periodically, according to the public affairs department of the church. "These new CDs may save families hundreds of hours of time and painstaking research," said Elder D. Todd Christofferson, executive director of the church's Family History Department. In a recent press release, Christofferson notes that the church is aggressively working toward developing other products that will simplify genealogical research, making it faster and easier to access needed information and trace family histories. "Nearly half of American families can trace part of their lineage to the British Isles," Christofferson said. "Our repository of records is the most comprehensive source available to help these families trace their roots, not just to ancestors who arrived in America, but to their forebears in 16th-century England." The British Isles Vital Records Index contains the highest number of records (100+ per county where records were collected) from the English localities of Sussex, Kent, Herefordshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire. Next in representation (50+) are: Yorkshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Wiltshire and Dorest; followed by (25+) for Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and Northunberland. Keep in mind that not all vital records for any particular locality are included. This giant index was put together from the work of thousands of volunteers who examined microfilmed records and extracted information such as names, dates, places and family relationships. The set includes the Family History Resource File Viewer, which takes about five minutes to install. You can search by surname or surname and given name. Additionally, searches can be modified to specific time periods of a five-year range and to certain localities. Moreover, you can further limit your search by including names of father, mother and/or spouse. Unless you check the box to search for an exact spelling, searches will provide you variant spellings -- a most helpful feature. After searching for a particular individual or for, say, all of the Peacocks (one of my English lines) in a particular locality, you can print out the data or save it in RTF (rich text format) or GEDCOM (PAF 3.0 format). A search provides the Family History Library's film number where the information was found along with where it was recorded, such as "Saint Michaels, Bishops Stortford, Hertford, England." System requirements: Pentium processor, Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0+, 8 MB RAM minimum, 16 MB recommended, CD-ROM drive (4X minimum recommended), VGA monitor with 256-color-capable video card and 25 MB hard disk space. The British Vital Records Index (1538-1888), item #50028 on five CDs is available for $15, plus small shipping fee -- credit cards are accepted. Order from: Church Distribution Center, 1999 West 1700 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104-4233; by telephone, 800-537-5950 (U.S. and Canada) or 801-240-1126 (international); or by fax, 801-240-3685. crussell@traversecity.com http://www.traverse.net/people/crussell/fergus_family.htm Listowner for DODD-L@rootsweb.com and FERGUS-L@rootsweb.com To send message to newsgroup double click on appropriate group name