Hi Debbie Even with a rather unusual name you cannot see the details unless you buy the certificate for births or deaths For marriages you might be able to find the Parish record if they married in Church and you know where, given they are available of course (later events will still be at the Church) Other than that you might find details via a baptism, or newspaper announcement So in effect for most people the certificate is the only way to be sure (given the informants told the truth of course <g>) Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > Hi Everyone, > > In reading the post, it says: > > You should also, however, try and trace them at FreeBMD, which has many millions of birth, > marriage and death records from the General Register Office for England & Wales online. > This can be found at: http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl and does not require a > subscription. The GRO records go back to July 1st 1837 and then you are back to the parish > registers. > > My question is....If you have a common name, there is no way to know which family is truly yours > without sending for the certificate? Correct? > > Thank you > Debbie > USA