I have Legacy Family Tree Software and this information was in the monthly newsletter I get. I thought it might be helpful to those of you searching overseas. Thanks, Carrol Mick www.iltrails.org/iroquois/ FreeBMD and Family Research Link for Births, Marriages and Deaths Indexes of England and Wales The civil registration of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales began July 1, 1837 and is one of the most significant resources for genealogical research. The following Web sites will be most useful to you if you are already familiar with these quarterly civil registration indexes and wish to have the opportunity to search them in your own time, without having to visit a library or a register office in person. FreeBMD Search, found at www.freebmd.org.uk, is an ongoing project to transcribe the indexes, and to provide free Internet access to the transcribed indexes. The index transcriptions are carried out by dedicated volunteers and contain information for the period 1837-1983. Although the whole index has not yet been transcribed, it is searchable by event (birth, death or marriage), date range, surname and first name (also surname and first name of spouse), registration district and county. Registration district descriptions are also available at FreeBMD and should be carefully studied. This Web site should be consulted first before using the "pay as you view" site Family Research Link, below. The Family Research Link, found at www.1837online.com, enables you to search microfilmed images of the original indexes to births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales from 1837 to 2001 from the comfort of your own home. The Family Research Link images are available to search, view (including zooming in on those awkward-to-read names), save to disk and print for a modest fee chargeable online. The records from 1837 to 1983 can be searched in ten year periods by event, date range and surname (first three letters only). In addition, the records from 1837 to 1983 can be browsed by year and quarter. Moreover, the index images at Family Research Link are complete. Once an entry is located certificate of birth, death or marriage can be ordered online, provided you are a resident of the UK. Family Research Link is based in London, England and is part of an independently-owned business that is dedicated to providing high quality genealogical services to professional and non-professional researchers. Here are some things to keep in mind when searching the indexes at either FreeBMD or Family Research Link: � Become familiar with the registration district descriptions. For example, the Ledbury registration district is mainly in Herefordshire, but included parts of Worcestershire. Sub-districts include Ledbury and Yarkhill. Civil parishes within the Ledbury district include: Ashperton, Aylton, Bosbury, Canon Frome, Castle Frome, Coddington, Colwall, Donnington, Eastnor, Egleton, Ledbury, Little Marcle, Mathon (from 1897), Much Marcle, Munsley, Parkhold, Pixley, Putley, Stretton Grandison, Tarrington, Wellington Heath, Woolhope and Yarkhill. Knowing this information can help in locating an individual in the index and also in eliminating multiple entries of people who share the same name, but who were born, died or were married within different districts. For example, a page from the Oct-Dec 4th quarter index for 1846 marriages shows a dozen entries for the name James Davis, but only one of them is in the Ledbury registration district. � An event might not be indexed in the quarter that it actually happened. For example, a child born on December 20, 1875, might be found in either the Oct-Dec 4th quarter birth index for 1875 or the Jan-Mar 1st quarter birth index for 1876. Don't stop searching just because he or she is not located in the expected 4th quarter index. � There will be two index entries for marriages: one for the groom and one for the bride. It is a good idea to cross-reference the marriage index entries under both the groom and the bride to make sure the registration district, volume and page number agree before you order a certificate. For example the 1846 marriage of James Davis and Mary Powell shows that the index entries for each agree with Ledbury, Vol. XXVI, Page 298. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway - Enter today