Hi I think that most county Councils have now consolidated (& closed) their "local Register Offices" and now have one place with all their registers (which we are not allowed to look at only purchase certified copies). This appears to be the case in Worcestershire and Oxfordshire. This is not do be confused with registers held by Record Offices in their roll as Diocesan Record Offices.(where they collect the registers that we removed from the "parish chest" for more secure storage) Mike Fisher in Droitwich my family tree http://mjfisher.tribalpages.com On 14/07/2012 10:17, Steve wrote: > On the front page of http://www.staffordshirebmd.org.uk/ there is a note that says > > "26 November 2011 All Stafford Register Office registers have been moved to Newcastle-under-Lyme. Please ensure that all application forms are sent to the correct register office." > > Does this mean that a visit to the Staffs Record Office in Stafford is no longer going to enable the searching of the various parish records? > > It seems odd that they would have moved the records from Stafford to Newcastle and there not be anything on the Record Office website. > > A confused > Steve > ****************************** > ATTENTION TO ALL:- When replying please remove the details that do not apply to your mail and change the SUBJECT LINE for best useage of ARCHIVED MATERIALS. > ****************************** > PLEASE keep your Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware software up to date. BEWARE of messages making it onto the List with a single URL. NEVER follow the link. It's usually from an infected source! > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to STAFFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Mike, I think you will find it is as it says: Register Office registers - not the Parish Registers that you have always seen at the CRO. I think that these are those that were previously held in the individual Record Offices (and as such you will not have seen them directly - only getting a copy certificate): these have now been consolidated at N-u- L I think. I stand to be corrected but this is my interpretation. I have certainly looked at an original Parish Register at Stafford within the last month. John On 15 Jul 2012, at 19:24, Mike in Droitwich wrote: > Hi > > I think that most county Councils have now consolidated (& closed) their > "local Register Offices" and now have one place with all their registers > (which we are not allowed to look at only purchase certified copies). > This appears to be the case in Worcestershire and Oxfordshire. > > This is not do be confused with registers held by Record Offices in > their roll as Diocesan Record Offices.(where they collect the registers > that we removed from the "parish chest" for more secure storage) > > Mike Fisher in Droitwich > my family tree http://mjfisher.tribalpages.com > > >

<<snipped>> Mike, I think you will find it is as it says: Register Office registers - not the Parish Registers that you have always seen at the CRO. I think that these are those that were previously held in the individual Record Offices (and as such you will not have seen them directly - only getting a copy certificate): these have now been consolidated at N-u- L I think. I stand to be corrected but this is my interpretation. I have certainly looked at an original Parish Register at Stafford within the last month. John <<snipped>> John - I'm really sorry to labour this and I hope you just made a typing slip, but saying "held in the individual Record Offices (and as such you will not have seen them directly - only getting a copy certificate)" is not the correct term. The stuff that (normally) is not seen by the general public and can only be accessed by purchasing a copy, was held in the individual REGISTER / REGISTRAR's offices. (Never actually sure what the correct term is). It will still be held in a Registrar's office - just a different one. I'm hoping that's what you meant because your first line seems to say this, but on the other hand, what Mike wrote, read correctly to me. The parish registers from the churches go to the appropriate RECORD office. So yes, the original parish registers are at Stafford and will remain there, as you wrote. (Actually, you're quite lucky to see an original PR - the vast majority are filmed and locked away except to serious users who can demonstrate their need and ability to use them.) Sorry to labour this, but the original concern seems to have arisen from a confusion between RECORD and REGISTER / REGISTRAR's office. Hence I'm being perhaps a little over-sensitive to ensure clarity. Adrian