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The Newsletter of the Family Records Centre (FRC)
Issue 41 - January 2008

Prize Competition
GRO Service Targets
What's on at the FRC

The Eagle has landed

The new GRO computerised certificate ordering system Eagle (Electronic Access to GRO Legacy Events) was launched on Tuesday 4 December 2007. The system is being installed in stages with the certificate ordering process, for customers applying by phone, application form and letter, being launched first. This will be followed by production of certificates from these workstreams. This phased approach is to ensure that any teething problems with the system are resolved before adding online orders, 88% of our business, in February.

Digitised images of events are being loaded into Eagle daily. To date over 70 million births and deaths have been installed out of the 259 million records held by GRO. Loading of images is planned for completion by March 2009. It is only at this time all orders will be processed using the new system.

Customer details, shipping and billing addresses, are collected when placing an order. These details are stored in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database, part of the Eagle system. Customer details will be held and recalled as and when further orders are placed. This will speed the order process up for our many repeat customers.

Customers will be provided with a unique account number. This number will be used for all contact with the GRO and will enable quick search and find of specific orders. CRM will track orders through all stages of our production process, providing accurate information on the progress of any customer order. This will speed up handling of customer queries.

This system is a massive change for the GRO, moving from paper to computerised systems. GRO are confident the changes will improve our customer experience.

Kew Update

All services provided by The National Archives (including census returns and Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills pre-1858) at the Family Records Centre are transferring to Kew. These will no longer be available at the FRC after 15 March 2008.

The fully integrated services will be available at Kew from 25 March 2008. Essential building work continues at Kew and there will be noise and disruption, as well as reduced seating capacity until late spring 2008. Please check our website before planning your visit. Once our revamped reading rooms are launched, we will be able to offer a service that better suits the needs of all our visitors.

You may find what you are looking for on our website, as many of our popular records can be accessed online. Our website also provides useful information on planning your visit to The National Archives at Kew and once there friendly staff will be on-hand to help you with any queries.

We look forward to welcoming you to Kew soon.

Keeping Up With TNA

This is the 41st and last edition of The Family Record. If you'd like to keep up to date with future developments at Kew it's not too late to sign up to The National Archives' monthly email newsletter.

This is a must for family, local and military historians - in fact, anyone interested in history. You'll get updates on recently released government files and TNA's latest online services as well as previews of new publications, details of events (talks, lectures, workshops etc.) being held at Kew, prize competitions and special offers.

To sign up for your free subscription, visit: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/enewsletter.

Prize Competition

We're delighted to have a copy of Amanda Bevan's indispensable Tracing Your Ancestors in the National Archives on offer as the prize in our last ever competition. For your chance to win, simply answer the following question.

In what year did the Public Record Office first open its doors to the public at Kew?

a) 1971
b) 1973
c) 1975
d) 1977

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 14 March 2008.

In last October's competition, a copy of the recent TNA publication Elizabeth and Philip was won by Thelma Gunter of Chippenham who correctly stated that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were married in 1947.

For the Record...

In 1947, a report was undertaken by the General Register Office looking at "the procedures for applications from the public, for certificates".

60 years on, the report makes fascinating reading, demonstrating how much times have changed for the public and in particular, for family historians. Back in 1947, there was a long and lengthy process to go through - just to search the indexes! Applicants had to complete a form, and have the details entered into a ledger. After payment of a search fee of 1 shilling, a permit was issued to the applicant.

A general search allowing "six consecutive official hours access to the Indexes" was also available on payment of £1 - the equivalent of nearly £30 at today's prices. If the applicant was successful in locating an entry in the Indexes the cashier would register their request for a certificate, along with the fee of 2s 7d for each copy required. Further notes were made in the ledgers before the registers, which were located in the vaults of Somerset House, were loaded onto trucks and moved into lifts for delivery to the typists who would then type out the entry details onto a certificate.

The report included recommendations for machines to simplify the processes, and for "a gate to be erected in the search room to prevent casual entrances". It was also recommended that "the control by the search officers over persons present in the Index Register galleries be exercised through an inspection of the franking of the permit". Evidently some people were trying to access the Indexes without paying a search fee!

Taken from "A report on the procedures for applications, from the public, for certificates" dated March 1947.

Open Meeting

An open meeting was held at the Family Records Centre on 6 November 2007. Most of the discussion was about the forthcoming changes to FRC services. The following is a small selection of the questions raised by members of the public and the responses from the FRC management team.

Q. Will the GRO indexes be available to view online at home?
A. Yes, on completion of the digitisation programme.
Q. What provision is made for those needing a birth certificate for pension purposes?
A. You can place an order by phone, by post or online as well as applying through the Local Registration Service where the event occurred.
Q. Why did the index books have to go when they did?
A. ONS is moving its operation from Pimlico to Myddelton Street and refurbishment of accommodation was required in advance.
Q. What has happened to the index books?
A. They have been put into store and will not be available to the public.
Q. Who took the decision to move the books?
A. Vacating FRC is part of ONS' Efficiency and Relocation programme and the wider civil service strategy for exiting London.
Q. Will there be refreshments at Kew?
A. Yes. You can also take your own food.
Q. When will PCC administrations be made available online?
A. They are on a list of records to be digitised but there is, as yet, no confirmed date.

GRO Service Targets

Certificate production is monitored against a number of targets on a monthly basis. The table below details GRO performance over the period 1 October 2007 to 31 December 2007 for some of the areas monitored. The ONS target for each area is to process at least 95% of applications within the set number of days. The figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number. As you will see, all targets for the last three months have been exceeded.

Festive Fun?

On Christmas Day 2007, 490 online applications were received by the GRO. The Boxing Day total was 1,731.

New Books From The National Archives

New Lives for Old Roger Kershaw and Janet Sacks (£18.99) February 2008
This compelling new book tells the real story of Britain's child migration from the mid-nineteenth century, drawing on eyewitness accounts, letters and historical evidence from The National Archives and beyond.

Mrs Maybrick Victoria Blake (£7.99) February 2008
The story of the Alabama belle convicted and then reprieved of the murder of her Liverpool cotton-broker husband.

Ruth Ellis Victoria Blake (£7.99) February 2008
Despite the overwhelming evidence against her, why did this glamorous mother of young children inspire such sympathy, and a public campaign for her pardon?

British Intelligence Stephen Twigge, Edward Hampshire and Graham Macklin (£19.99) March 2008
While other books have speculated on the history and nature of the British intelligence services, this is the first to tell the story through the documents themselves. Experts Stephen Twigge, Edward Hampshire and Graham Macklin draw on the spies' and the spymasters' own words as contained in The National Archives' intelligence holdings.

The Chart

The current top sellers in the FRC bookshop:

1. My Family Tree Book (for Children)
2. A Dictionary of Medical Terms - Joan Grundy
3. The Genealogist's Internet - Peter Christian
4. Illegitimacy - Eve McLaughlin
5. Potty, Fartwell & Knob - Russell Ash

All our books are available from the shops at the Family Records Centre (until 15 March) and The National Archives, Kew, and from all good bookshops throughout the country. They can also be purchased by telephoning 01476 541080 or online from: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/bookshop.

FRC Extra - What's on at the FRC?

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

We've got some fascinating talks lined up for you this spring.

Helen Kelly will be at the FRC on 12 February to help with your research into your Irish ancestry and on the following two Tuesdays, Else Churchill and Sharon Hintze will illustrate the vast range of resources held by the Society of Genealogists and the Hyde Park Family Centre respectively.

In our last talk, on 4 March, Dave Annal will look at the history of Myddelton Street, the home of the FRC since it opened in 1997.

All talks start at 2pm. Saturday talks for beginners are in italics.

• 2 Feb - Introduction to Family History
• 5 Feb - Writing Up Your Family History
• 12 Feb - Researching Your Irish Ancestors
• 19 Feb - Using The Society of Genealogists
• 26 Feb - Using Hyde Park Family History Centre
• 1 Mar - Family History on the Internet
• 4 Mar - A Brief History of Myddelton Street

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. Talks, surgeries and other events

Family History Surgeries and other events

Our last family history surgeries will take place on Tuesday 26 February and the final computer skills tutorials will be held on Friday 29 February. The 'New to the FRC?' sessions finished at the end of January.

All of these 'value-added' services (and much more) will be available at The National Archives in Kew from late spring/early summer. Details of events at Kew will be published in TNA's e-newsletter (see page 3).

We hope that as many of you as possible will continue to attend talks, lectures and other events at Kew. Feedback from meetings held last year indicated that there was a genuine demand for them and the provision of a new purpose-built talks room at Kew was a key feature of the Kew improvement programme.

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.

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