Genealogy Forum UK

Hello all....
I have a very specific question regarding the new age of genealogy. Sorry if this is a bit long winded, In 2000 to 2003 I traced my family tree and pieced together a decent sized tree using the free genealogy sites (in their infancy) and ordering a few certificates from the appropriate Registry offices.
Along came the kids and the project, due to lack of time, was put up on the shelf gathering dust until recently, when my 85 year old mother decided she wanted a DNA test kit for mothers day from My Heritage to see her ethnic background ! (Bit different to flowers and chocolates ...Anyway..with a bit of time on my hands now Ive decided to get back into the swing. Being quite impressed with the DNA test I subscribed to My Heritage's full package for a year primarily to link my mums DNA with others and to gain access to what I thought would be a multitude of fact filled details of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Census returns. The Census returns for the UK were quite good....however...the Births, Deaths and Marriages were less than useless. Couldn't find most people and when I did there was virtually no info there and no image of said certificate ? Is this the case with all subscription websites ? I thought 15 years on from my initial shot at genealogy things would have moved on at a pace, unless I was doing something fundamentally wrong ? After 2 days frustration my subscription was cancelled and a full refund given...thank goodness.

So my question is.... On ancestry.co.uk...My Heritage and other said premium sites Do they provide scanned images of the ACTUAL Birth,Death,Marriage Certificates and if not what is the point of subscription ? Are we still in an age of indexes only and having to order physical certificates ?

Thanks.

As far as I know BDM certificates are only available from the GRO although you can get people here to look up in Parish Registers and archives (mainly in the Black Country area) if they are going there. Because the GRO records are used for such things as passports they are very careful as to who has access to them. I think I'm right in saying they do provide a cheaper online rather than hard copy.

Hi

It is all a bit hit and miss, apart from the BMD certificates themselves. Ancestry has quite a lot of actual images of baptisms and marriages. And I think the free Familysearch has some but I have not used it

Moving this to Miscellaneous.

Thanks guys.

Hi my two pennies worth- its a lot better now for parish book images still depending on area there is only FMP and Ancestry and LDS site (Free site) in the race for more images cost and local restrictions hold them up ie self imposed 100 years rule of some authorities the other sites seem to offer the world for large special offer fees to pay for their advertising and give no more data or images .Just my opinion Regards RF