E-petition re. BMD records

[Chris Scott]

Not sure where to put this thread but as it might help in JTR research I decided to put it here
On the 10 Downing Street website there is an e-petition that some folks may be interested in - and even want to support

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/OpenBMDrecords/

The petition reads as follows:
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Allow full and open access to registers of Birth, Marriage and Death from 1837 to 1908.
Having full and open access to the registers of births, marriages and deaths from 1837 to 1908 will make it easier for genealogists to research the records and ensure they get the copies they require. If copies were put on the internet this would simplify the process.

These records are over a hundred years old and should now be accessible to all with a small fee to cover the cost of copying the originals.

To date there are 2188 signatories

Chris

[Bob Hinton]

Lost me here

I'm not sure what this is about. Access to BMD records to date, let alone 1908 has always been freely available.

[m_w_r]

Hi Bob -

I took it to mean, let's digitise all the certificates, which must be a good idea.

Regards,

Mark

[Chris]

I took it to mean, let's digitise all the certificates, which must be a good idea.

The petition is for access to the registers (from which certificates are copied). In the past there has been public access only to the quarterly indexes to the registers. (And there is no longer public access to these - only to copies of them, either through commercial websites or through whatever microform copies happen to be held at record offices and libraries.)

Actually, the registers of births (to 1935) and deaths (to 1957) have already been digitised, but not with the intention of making them publicly accessible. There were plans to provide an official online index to the records, but that appears to have been postponed indefinitely.

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/aboutus/lookingahead/Digitisation_Project.asp