Printable version. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader which you can download FREE from Adobe's website (link opens in a new window).

The Newsletter of the Family Records Centre (FRC)
Issue 35 - July 2006

TNA's New Vision
Prize Competition
What's on at the FRC
Quest - A New Family History Course

Closure Dates

2006
Monday 28 August
Monday 25 December & Tuesday 26 December

2007
Monday 1 January

A new vision for the future

The National Archives (TNA) has announced plans to move its family history services from Myddelton Street to Kew by the end of 2008. The move is part of TNA's Vision for 2006-2011. The aim is to create a dedicated family history area at Kew, including current FRC staff.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has no current plans for closure or relocation of its part of the FRC. However, advances in technology mean that the indexes which are the centrepiece of what ONS provides at FRC are likely in due course to be available in digitised form. ONS will be pressing ahead over the next few weeks with its own review of the potential impact on FRC of continuing and extending its current exercise to digitise registration records and index data.

Details of TNA's plans were given by James Strachan, Director of Public Services and Marketing, at public meetings at Kew and the FRC in June. The following is a selection of the main points raised at the meetings.

Why has TNA decided to transfer its family records services to Kew?

• So that we can bring all of our expertise and sources together on one site and provide a better service to family historians and other researchers.
• Now that the census returns from 1841 to 1901 are available online, we no longer need to provide a central London site for the public to consult them. Online, they are accessible by nearly everyone, whereas the FRC benefits comparatively few: 85% of its users come from within 50 miles of London.
• FRC visitor numbers have fallen by more than a third since the peak year of 2002-03 and are likely to continue to do so.
• TNA is facing continuing cuts in its budget and cannot justify duplicating services which can now be delivered from its main site at Kew. The FRC costs TNA £1.1 million a year for accommodation alone.

Why did TNA not consult users before making the decision?

The FRC has been very popular, so we knew that the vast majority of users would oppose the withdrawal from Myddelton Street. However, in view of the factors described above, the transfer is an operational necessity and gives us an opportunity to create improved services.

What will family records services at Kew be like?

We will transfer the FRC's services and staff and create a dedicated family history area at Kew. We intend to preserve the high level of expertise and individual assistance offered by staff, the streamlined processes and the more relaxed security environment currently provided at the FRC. Many family historians will benefit at Kew from having a wider range of records and staff expertise on the same site, the availability of car parking spaces and the larger canteen and shop.

Kew is more difficult to reach and far from other family history repositories.

We regret that many FRC users may find visiting Kew more expensive and less convenient. However, others may find it easier or cheaper, including those wishing to travel by car and wheelchair users. The Kew site is no further away from underground and rail station facilities and there is a bus (R68) from Richmond station (served by regular trains from Waterloo) which stops close to TNA. We will consider the possibility of a shuttle bus from Kew Gardens station. Meanwhile we plan to make other records on microfilm, such as RG 4 and PROB 6, which are very popular at the FRC, available online within the next couple of years.

We will continue to consult with users about the best way to meet their needs at Kew. This will include more open meetings and a workshop at Kew in September hosted by Baroness Ashton, TNA's government minister.

Prize Competition

The prize in this month's FRC competition is a copy of William Spencer's Medals: The researcher's guide. To win a copy of this hardback book (worth £19.99) just answer the following question.

Which medal is the highest award in the British military honours system?

a) Victoria Cross
b) Distinguished Service Order
c) Military Cross
d) Distinguished Service Cross

Answers by email to: frc@nationalarchives.gov.uk with the word 'Competition' in the subject heading. One entry per person please. The closing date for entries is Friday 1 September 2006 - the winner will be announced in the October 2006 issue of the Family Record.

April's prize competition (a copy of Tracing The History of Your House) was won by Jane Waltho from Derbyshire, who correctly stated that the Valuation Office's Finance Act was passed in 1910.

For The Record...

In our last issue we reported the story of John Ayton, who listed three of his sons on the 1861 census even though they were at school in Germany at the time. One of our regular visitors recognised the names as belonging to his own ancestors.

Further investigation has now revealed that the enumerator had 'crossed out the three names' and they were therefore not listed in the census returns. Mr Ayton wrote to the Home Office to protest at the enumerator's action, arguing that 'the three boys really form part of the population of the United Kingdom'. The Home Office, however, concluded that 'the Enumerator was quite right'.

Open Days at Southport

On 24 June and 1 July the General Register Office hosted its annual Open Days, where customers were invited to attend lectures, have a guided tour and visit a wide variety of stands.

Despite the fantastic weather and the competition provided by England's appearance in the World Cup, the events proved very popular with more than 350 people attending over the two days.

Visitors were given a tour of the building and certificate production areas and also had the opportunity to speak to representatives from a variety of organisations who were based in the ballroom at the GRO's offices at the former Smedley Hydropathic Hotel. These included various branches within GRO, the Guild of One Name Studies, Lancashire Record Office, Liverpool and South West Lancashire Family History Group, North Meols Family History Group and the Family Records Centre.

A number of lectures were held which were well attended and well received.

OPERA @ the FRC

The FRC has recently introduced a new system for accessing CD-ROMs and websites on the PCs in the Online Resources area on the first floor. The system, known as OPERA (Online Publications and Electronic Resources), gives you access to more than 800 CD-ROMs, websites and online journals, including the Times Online, FreeBMD, the National Burial Index, Soldiers Died In The Great War and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as well as a large collection of trade directories.

A number of resources that were previously available on the Family History Database PCs or standalone computers have been added to the system and you can also access many resources through OPERA which were previously only available at Kew. The Family History Database computers still retain free access via CD to the Scottish Old Parish Register index, and the standalone computer resources includes an index to British people in the 1870 US census. This is particularly handy if you have lost an ancestor in the 1871 census as many Britons went out to work in the US.

Please note that OPERA is an internal system and is only accessible onsite at the FRC and The National Archives, Kew.

GRO Service Targets

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

Many of you are probably aware that Certificate Services has experienced record numbers of applications this year, which resulted in our customers experiencing delays receiving certificates. During the months of April to June the volume of orders remained high and staff worked around the clock to ensure delays were kept to a minimum.

As the table shows, in June, with the exception of online applications (where turnaround time at the time of writing has returned to 4 working days) other areas were meeting targets for over 90% of customers, with other certificates being despatched as close to the target date as possible.

TNA launches Global Search

The National Archives Global Search, the organisation's most comprehensive online search engine yet, went live in May 2006. Family historians, academics and other National Archives users can now start their research from one single point and access a wealth of information at the click of a button.

Global Search brings up results from The National Archives' website pages, the Catalogue, DocumentsOnline and Access to Archives (A2A). It also searches the Moving Here and Family Records websites, the National Register of Archives (NRA), the ARCHON Directory and TNA's online research guides.

You can find Global Search at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search.

Did You Know...

Recent research has shown that more than a quarter of the wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) were made by women. This includes the wills of nearly 150,000 widows, 58,000 spinsters and over 13,000 married women.

New Books from The National Archives

The next two titles in the Family History series, providing easy to use information in a pocket sized paperback, at an affordable price will be published this summer.

Family History on the Move: where your ancestors went and why - Roger Kershaw & Mark Pearsall (£6.99); July 2006

Describes how people moved into, within and out of Britain from the sixteenth century to the present day.

Family History in the Wars: how your ancestors served their country - William Spencer (£6.99); August 2006

Explores men's and women's service records from the Boer War to Korea, covering all three services (Army, Navy and Air Force). Discover how to trace the career of an individual through medals and gallantry awards, prisoner of war files and casualty lists.

The Scotland Yard Files: Milestones in Crime Detection - Alan Moss & Keith Skinner (£19.99); August 2006

As the ingenuity of criminals has developed over time, so too have the techniques for catching them. Ex-Chief Superintendent Alan Moss and leading crime historian Keith Skinner have trawled the archives to select 12 fascinating 'firsts' from the history of the world famous Scotland Yard. Illustrated with images and documents from the Scotland Yard Files held at The National Archives.

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 Chart

The current top sellers in the FRC bookshop:

1 The Genealogist's Internet - Peter Christian
2 Family History on the Web - Stuart Raymond
3 Easy Family History - David Annal
4 Tracing Your Ancestors in The National Archives - Amanda Bevan
5 Medals: The Researcher's Guide - William Spencer

To win a copy of Medals: The Researcher's Guide see our prize competition.

Family History Surgeries and Online Tutorials

We are now taking bookings for Family History Surgeries up to the end of 2006. Four half hour one-to-one sessions are available every Tuesday and Saturday, 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.

QUEST - A practical training course for family historians

This autumn, the FRC is introducing a new service for its customers.

On Friday 13 and 20 October 2006 we will be running a pilot version of a new training course for family historians called QUEST. Taking a practical, hands-on approach, this two day course will use a series of case studies to introduce beginners to the basic sources held at the FRC.

Participants will work together in small groups, using a wide range of online, microfilm and printed sources. There are only 12 places available so book now to avoid disappointment!

To reserve your place on QUEST or to book a family history surgery or computer skills tutorial, please phone us on: 0208 392 5300 or send an email to frc@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Ancestors in British India Conference

Tickets for this conference are now sold out.

Customers who have already booked their place at the conference should expect to receive a conference pack in August with full details of the day's events.

Help, I'm Stuck!

Else Churchill from the Society of Genealogists will be offering advice to researchers in the last of this summer's evening lectures at 5pm on Thursday 17 August. Free tickets can be collected from 3pm on the day. Light refreshments will be available.

Irish Family History Talk

Helen Kelly will be visiting the FRC on Tuesday 26 September to deliver her popular talk on Researching Your Irish Ancestors.

To allow as many people as possible to attend, Helen has kindly agreed to present the talk twice, once at 11.30 and then again at 2pm.

To help those who have some distance to travel, we will be making a number of places for the 2 o'clock talk available in advance. Please phone 0208 392 5300 or send an email to: frc@nationalarchives.gov.uk to reserve your place.

Virginia Woolf at the FRC

A new exhibition is now on show at the FRC featuring the life of one of England's foremost literary figures, Virginia Woolf.

Born Adeline Virginia Stephen in London in 1882, her extended family includes the photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray and the mathematician John Venn.

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

All our talks (Tuesdays and Saturdays) now start at 2pm. Saturday talks are in italics:

• 5 Aug - Introduction to Family History
• 8 Aug - Army Deaths, Marriages & Births
• 15 Aug - Searching The National Archives Online
• 22 Aug - Tracing Your Ancestors in HM Excise
• 29 Aug - Websites for Scottish Ancestry
• 2 Sep - Census Returns Online
• 5 Sep - Tracing Your Ancestors at the Family Records Centre
• 12 Sep - Digitising the GRO
• 19 Sep - Births, Marriages & Deaths at the FRC
• 26 Sep - Researching Your Irish Ancestors
• 3 Oct - Electoral Registers
• 7 Oct - Tracing Your Ancestors at the Family Records Centre
• 10 Oct - Family History Sources at Kew
• 17 Oct - Manorial Documents
• 24 Oct - Sex, Lies & Civil Registration
• 31 Oct - Maps for Family Historians
• 4 Nov - Family History on the Internet

Please note: Tickets for the talks are free and can be collected on the day of the event from the New Customers desk on the first floor. Places are strictly 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)