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The Newsletter of the Family Records Centre (FRC)
Issue 34 - April 2006

Prize Competition
GRO Digitisation Update
What's on at the FRC
Saturday family history surgeries

Closure Dates

2006
Monday 1 May
Monday 29 May
Monday 28 August
Monday 25 December & Tuesday 26 December

2007
Monday 1 January

All Change On The First Floor

Regular visitors to the FRC will have noticed some dramatic changes to the layout of the first floor reading room.

Back in 1997, when the FRC first opened its doors to the public, the main method of accessing the censuses and wills on the first floor was on microfilm.

Until fairly recently this was still the case, but in the last year, as more and more censuses have been made available on the Internet, the emphasis has shifted and now, for most customers, the first stop is the online PCs.

We wanted to reflect this change in the layout of the room and we also wanted to take the opportunity to make better use of the space for the FRC's other 'value-added' activities. The main features of the changes are:

• Creation of an all-purpose staff desk in the centre of the reading room rather than at the entrance
• Creation of a much-requested quiet area for computer users
• Creation of a dedicated area for our family history surgeries and online tutorials
• Creation of an enhanced general reference area with more space for our library books, journals, leaflets, maps, photocopier etc. and some comfortable seating
• Creation of a dedicated area for special needs computer users
• Creation of an initial information point at the entrance to help new customers know what to do and where to go
• Moving the Email Access Point inside the reading room and so providing more space for exhibitions and displays in the foyer
• Installation of fourteen additional online computers

Prize Competition

The FRC's bookshop is offering Nick Barratt's Tracing the History of Your House as a prize in our new competition. To win a copy of this book (worth £15.99) just answer the following question.

One of the most important sources for tracing house histories is 'Lloyd George's Domesday'. This survey was carried out by the Valuation Office under the terms of the Finance Act. But in what year was the Act passed?

a) 1903
b) 1905
c) 1908
d) 1910

Answers by email to: frc@nationalarchives.gov.uk with the word 'Competition' in the subject heading. The closing date for entries is Friday 2 June 2006 - the winner will be announced in the July 2006 issue of the Family Record.

January's prize competition (a copy of The Genealogist's Internet) was won by Gaynor Steer of Slough, Berkshire, who correctly said that the IGI was launched online in 1999.

Did you know...

According to Home Office Correspondence files held by The National Archives (HO45/7098) the 1861 census for Stocksfield, Northumberland, includes three people who were not even in the country.

John Featherstone Ayton, corn factor and farmer, included three of his sons on the census schedule, in defiance of the instructions to householders. He maintained that since they were part of the population, they should be included, even though they were away at school in Germany at the time.

FRC Open Meeting

The next open meeting will take place on Wednesday 31 May at midday. All customers are invited to come along and meet the FRC's management team to hear about the latest developments in the service, to discuss our plans for the future and to raise any matters of concern.

WAAC Records Online

The service records of the first British women to serve in a combat zone are now available online on the DocumentsOnline website at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline.

57,000 women served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (later Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps) between 1918 and 1920, and 9,000 of them were deployed in France in areas exposed to direct conflict.

You can search the 7,000 surviving records by name and place or date of birth, and download images of the original documents. Searching is free and downloads are free onsite at the FRC and Kew, otherwise they cost £3.50.

Latest Additions to the FRC Library

• Who Do You Think You Are? Nick Barratt and Dan Waddell
• My Ancestor Worked in the Theatre Alan Ruston
• Historic Trade Directories in Guildhall Library Guildhall Library
• Sources for Local Historians Paul Carter And Kate Thompson
• Smart Family History Geoff Swinfield
• Life, Death and Statistics Edward Higgs
• Index to Thames Watermen & Lightermen Bindings 1692-1949 R J Cottrell

The following titles have been kindly donated to the FRC: The Genealogist's Guide Marshall; A Genealogical Guide Whitmore; The Genealogist's Guide Barrow and A Catalogue of British Family Histories Thompson

Digitisation of Vital Events (DoVE): Project update

The DoVE Project, which is being taken forward by the General Register Office in partnership with Siemens Business Services, to scan, digitise and create a new public index for the Registrar General's birth, still-birth, marriage and death records, went live at the end of January.

Historic births from September 1837 to September 1849 and September 1911 to December 1934 have already been scanned by Siemens Business Services and the data required for the public index is in the process of being captured.

During the week commencing 13 March 2006 the first sub-block of 100,000 records was passed by the GRO Quality Assurance Team. At the time of writing (11 April) another 9 sub-blocks have been passed. These records are being put on a magnetic tape held securely at GRO ready to be loaded on to a new database which is currently being developed.

Regular bulletins on the progress of this project will continue to be provided. An introductory bulletin was included in the January 2006 issue of the Family Record.

Unprecedented demand for certificates

During the March quarter of this year the General Register Office experienced an unprecedented demand for certificates from customers researching their family history (see table below).

There are various reasons for this heightened interest in family history but most significantly, the BBC's second series of 'Who Do You Think You Are?' has clearly inspired many people to start researching their own family history.

Even though we planned for an increase in applications we could not foresee the levels of demand that we have received and unfortunately it has resulted in increased processing times. We are addressing this issue by recruiting extra staff and this and other improvements have resulted in us despatching a record number of certificates this quarter. In March we dealt with 191,420 applications - 22,000 more than we have ever been able to deal with in a single month.

Obviously it is dependent on the level of demand for certificates in the coming months but we hope to be despatching certificates within our published turnaround times by the end of May.

May we take this opportunity to thank our customers for their continued patience.

GRO Service Targets

Performance is monitored against a number of targets on a monthly basis. The following table details GRO performance for the period from January to March 2006. The target set for each area is for 95% of applications to be processed within the set number of days recorded in the table.

Customer Survey Results

In February/March 2006 we asked more than 1,000 visitors to the FRC to rate various aspects of the service.

The full results of the survey will be published in the 'Your FRC' section of our website shortly. Meanwhile, we're delighted to report that 96.9% of you rated the overall service as either 'Excellent' or 'Good' - and for the first time, more than 50% said that the service was 'Excellent'.

Your Views Matter To Us...

To help us to improve and develop our services (both onsite and online) we are keen to listen to the views of users who have disabilities or specific needs. Are we meeting those needs?

We always like to hear if we are doing something well... but, more importantly, we need to know if there is anything we could do better - or perhaps just differently. Please send your comments and suggestions to Paul Sturm.

They can relate to any aspect of our services - at The National Archives and/or the Family Records Centre.

Please write to Paul at The National Archives, Kew, TW9 4DU, or email yourviews@nationalarchives.gov.uk or ring him on 020 8392 5363, Minicom 020 8392 9198. Thank you!

New Books from The National Archives

Another superb selection of new and forthcoming titles from The National Archives:

Germany 1944: The British Soldier's Pocketbook (£6.99); June 2006

'They learnt most of their sport from us. Football is the most popular game, but is played less vigorously than in Britain.' This is just one of the insights offered in this facsimile reprint that combines opinionated comments, crude stereotypes and humour to offer an unmissable snapshot of British history.

Home Front 1914-1918: How Britain Survived the Great War - Ian F W Beckett (£19.99); April 2006

Explore the full story of the 'forgotten' home front through rarely seen photographs, original documents and evocative personal testimony.

Medals: The researcher's guide - William Spencer (£19.99); May 2006

A new authoritative guide to military and civil awards that focuses on tracing individuals and actions through the medal roll to uncover fascinating secrets of the past.

The Chart

The current top sellers in the FRC bookshop:

1. The Genealogist's Internet Peter Christian
2. My Family Tree Book (Children's Activity book)
3. Easy Family History David Annal
4. Tracing the History of Your House Nick Barratt
5. Dating 19th Century Photographs Robert Pols

To win a copy of Tracing the History of Your House, see our prize competition.

All our books are available from the shops at the Family Records Centre and The National Archives, Kew, and from all good bookshops throughout the country. They can also be purchased by telephoning 01904 431213 or online from: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/bookshop.

The Society of Genealogists

Bookings are now being taken for the Society of Genealogists' eight-week beginners' course 'First Steps in Family History' starting on 9 May.

The sessions will be held on Tuesday evenings at the Family Records Centre and will take a practical look at the records and how they can best be used to research your family's history.

For information on how to book a place on the course, and for details of fees etc., please phone the Society's events administrator on 020 7553 3290 or send an email to: events@sog.org.uk.

Family History Surgeries & Online Tutorials

From Saturday 13 May we will be holding Family History Surgeries on Saturdays. As with our now well established Tuesday surgeries, there will be four half hour one-to-one sessions available each day, taking place at 10.30, 11.00, 12.00 and 12.30.

And don't forget our computer skills tutorials, aimed at helping beginners to get over their initial fear of using computers. The sessions are held on Thursdays at 11.00, 11.30, 14.00 and 14.30.

Booking a family history surgery or a computer skills tutorial couldn't be easier. Simply contact us by phone on 0208 392 5300 or by email: frc@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

GRO Open Forum

Staff from our Southport office will be attending an Open Forum in the ground floor public search room here at the FRC on Saturday 6 May from 9.30am onwards. Please come along, have a chat and find out what goes on in our Southport Office.

26 May is Silver Surfers' Day

For the third year running, the FRC will be taking part in Silver Surfers' Day, a national event (now in its fifth year) aimed at helping older people to use and understand computer technology.

On Friday 26 May, staff at the FRC will be on hand to guide our older customers through the mysteries of the PC and the World Wide Web. If you want to know anything about using computers, from how to manipulate a mouse to how to get the best out of the Internet, come to the first floor from 10:00 for an informal drop-in session. There's no need to book.

Evening Lectures

Following the success of last summer's evening lecture programme at the FRC, we have decided to hold another series this year. The first two dates will be:

• 8 June - So You Think You Know About Civil Registration? Audrey Collins
• 6 July - Name Lists of the 17th Century Michael Gandy

Both lectures will start at 5pm and will finish at around 6.30. Tickets will be available from 3pm on the day of the event and will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis.

Ancestors in British India Conference

On Saturday 23 September, the FRC will be holding its first ever one-day family history conference.

Find out how to trace the births, marriages and deaths of your ancestors who went to India. Learn about the East India Company, its ships, its armies and the magnificent Indian railway system. The day will include six lectures from experts in the field. Tea and coffee will be provided.

Tickets are only £5 and are available now. For more details, or to book your place at the conference, contact us by email or telephone.

We're Talking To You - in association with Ancestors Magazine

Saturday talks in italics

• 9 May - Tracing Your Ancestors at London Metropolitan Archives
• 16 May - The Gentleman's Magazine
• 23 May - Tracing Your Ancestors at Hertfordshire Archives
• 30 May - Census Returns Online
• 3 June - Introduction to Family History
• 6 June - Births, Marriages & Deaths at the Family Records Centre
• 13 June - Holborn's Historic Streets - a guided walk
• 20 June - Sources for Irish Ancestry in London
• 27 June - Tracing Your Ancestors in HM Customs Service
• 1 July - Births, Marriages & Deaths at the Family Records Centre
• 4 July - Ancestors in British India
• 11 July - Researching Military Medals
• 18 July - Tracing Your Ancestors at the Family Records Centre
• 25 July - The Secrets of the FRC
• 1 August - Newspapers for Family Historians
• 5 August - Introduction to Family History

Please note that from June, all our talks (Tuesdays and Saturdays) will start at 2pm. Tickets for all the talks are free and can be collected on the day of the event from the New Customers desk on the first floor. Please note that spaces for the talks are limited. Tickets will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis and cannot be booked in advance.

Further information

If you would like more information about any of the items in this newsletter please telephone us on 0845 603 7788 (GRO enquiries) or 0208 392 5300 (TNA enquiries). You can also email us at:

frc@nationalarchives.gov.uk

or visit our website at:

www.familyrecords.gov.uk/frc

To subscribe to the electronic version of the Family Record please send an email with the word 'Subscribe' in the subject heading to:

FRC-Newsletter@nationalarchives.gov.uk

The Family Record is jointly produced by the General Register Office (GRO) and The National Archives (TNA)