On Thu, 12 Apr 2001 18:43:39 +0100, you wrote: >The IGI (International Genealogical Index) can be searched on line at http://www.familysearch.org/, but for UK users it can be a VERY expensive tool. > >The IGI can be a very good pointer to where a family may have dwelt, but it has a few drawbacks, that you should be aware: > >1) Accuracy is suspect, all extracted records must be checked against the original registers >2) Birth and burial dates are not usually given, burial information never show the age of a person at death. >3) Illegitimate births do not show the name of the father, even if recorded in register >4) Comments and asides (sometimes very useful information) by the parson are not recorded >5) Marriages do not indicate if a person is single, a widow or a widower, when marrying >6) Marriages do not show name of the parish in which the bride or bridegroom were living prior to the marriage >7) Those present at a marriage (witnesses) are not recorded >8) Inscriptions from graveyards are never supplied > >If you are not living near a CRO (County Record Office), visit the LDS Family History Centre, where parish records can be hired at a reasonable cost, for a short duration. >The nearest branch will be found in your telephone directory. > >regards >Adrian Hi All I must stop doing this, but I just had to add a comment to Adrian's excellent list: As Adrian states in item 4) Comments and asides are rarely if ever recorded: this can often cause confusion where a private baptism is followed by a public baptism - not an unusual course of events - so that when both events are recorded in the IGI this appears as 2 separate and normal baptisms and it is sometimes assumed that 2 separate children have been baptised: however a check of the Parish Register and the parson's notes will often clarify the true situation: even if it is only with a faint "pri" and "pub" alongside the entry. You can also find details of LDS Family History Centres from: http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp although I doubt if it details the latest addition to the list ie Charlestown, Weymouth, Dorset, UK, which recently held an open day and should be opening properly in the next month or so? Paul Portland