John, Thanks for your very speedy and constructive response. I have not emailed Else Churchill but I have already spoken to her over the phone. It was at her suggestion that I contacted the appropriate registrar. To be perfectly frank I did not find that Ms Churchill was much interested in the problem I posed nor was she able to make any comment upon whether or not representations had been made to anybody responsible for this decision. I got, rightly or wrongly, the strong impression, as I often have when dealing with the Society, that unless the issue relates to the "great and good " or those living in the 1600s or earlier it merits little attention. My level of genealogy is much more mundane, My concern here is that it seems those who control the original marriage certificates in Scotland have made no arrangements to provide on request (and for a suitable fee) a photo-copy or other digitised copy of an original marriage certificate. Further, as I understand it, they will not allow inspection of the original .They have it but are withholding it. It is, as if Whitehall called in every marriage register post 1837 in England, refused to allow anybody to make a photo copy fiche or other direct copy and said that henceforth you could see nothing but the copy issued by the General Register Office. I was hoping that a member of the Society might be able to confirm or refute my understanding of the position and if I am correct might know of a work around. I have decided to short-circuit matters and have therefore already written to the National Registers of Scotland to see what they have to say. If this does not work I shall be contacting my Member of the Scottish Parliament to see whether he can bring about a change of policy. I do take on board your suggestion of approaching an AGRA member and will be contacting somebody. However as I live in Scotland not far from Edinburgh if I can get an open sesame it is something that I can deal with myself. Many thanks for your interest John John Bearing in mind that this list has never been an official means of contacting the society can I suggest that you email Else Churchill genealogy@sog.org.uk about the Society's response. You could try asking one of the AGRA members based in Scotland as they may have better knowledge than someone based in England. Regards John Hanson

For Scotland you need a member of ASGRA. We are a separate nation, you know! Ann On Thursday, February 27, 2014 12:15 AM, John Stoneley <joka@stoneley.com> wrote: | I do take on board your suggestion of approaching an AGRA member and will be contacting somebody.