Helen Bisset wrote:     <snip> I was just wondering how you've been able to research the Quaker records?  I live on a small remote island off the coast of Qld Australia, so unfortunately I am not near Record Offices, or a Genealogical Society or LDS Family History Centre, to have the ability to search the records myself and they are not available online.  I would buy them if they were available on cd or even microfiche, but I haven't been able to find an outlet to purchase them.  Do you know if this is possible Richard.  I'd so love to find the records myself.  <snip>     There is an online BMD index:   http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/     The original BMD registers are held at The National Archives in Kew, London; but can no longer normally be accessed. They have been recorded on microfilm.   If you are prepared to spend money, you could hire TNA to do the research:   http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/paid-search-service.htm?WT.ac=-   or employ an independent researcher   http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/irlist/     Two other routes exist:   You could write to the local record office, who probably have a research service. The advantage of using the local RO is that they will not only probably have the BMD microfilms but also additional material like minutes:  eg  http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/leisure/archives/contact/sro/home.aspx   You could write to the Friends Library in Euston, but I don't know what research services, if any, they offer: http://www.quaker.org.uk/library     Although you may feel that hiring someone else to do the research is taking the fun out of it, on the whole such paid research doesn't tie the knots for you - it will simply provide you with copies of relevant material. You will still be the person who has to make sense of it all.       Chris