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 30 Spring 2005 (17th online edition)

Closure Dates

Monday 2 May (May Bank Holiday)
Monday 30 May (Spring Bank Holiday)
Monday 29 August (August Bank Holiday)
Monday 26 December to Wednesday 28 December (Christmas)
Monday 2 January 2006 (New Year)

We're Talking To You

The FRC's programme of talks continues to expand with talks now taking place at 2pm every Tuesday and our popular series of talks for beginners at 11:30 on the first Saturday of every month.

The full programme for the next three months is as follows (Saturday talks in italics):

• 7 May - Tracing Your Ancestors at the FRC
• 10 May - London's Secret Village: a guided walk
• 17 May - Tithe Maps for Family Historians
• 24 May - DNA and Family History
• 31 May - Sources for Army Ancestry (1760-1918)
• 4 Jun - Family History on the Internet
• 7 Jun - An Introduction to Family History Sources at Kew
• 14 Jun - Scottish Records Online
• 21 Jun - Records of Prisoners of War
• 28 Jun - Why The Census Was Taken
• 2 Jul - Introduction to Family History
• 5 Jul - Divorce Records
• 12 Jul - Census Returns Online
• 19 Jul - Immigration & Naturalization Records
• 26 Jul - Tracing Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths at the FRC
• 2 Aug - Surnames and Pedigrees Online
• 6 Aug - Tracing Your Ancestors at the FRC

Tickets for all our talks are free and can be collected on the day of the event from the Research Enquiries 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.

Family History Surgeries

Following a successful trial in February and March we are pleased to announce that the FRC will be holding a regular series of Family History Surgeries. The surgeries are intended to help family historians who have come to a dead end with their research. Our expert staff are on hand to suggest ways of getting around your personal brick walls.

The sessions will be held on Tuesday mornings starting from 24 May. Each surgery will last for half an hour with sessions starting at 10:30, 11:00, 12:00 and 12:30.

If you would like to book a family history surgery please phone us on 0208 392 5300 or email us at: frc@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Please note that bookings for these sessions will be taken from 9:00 on Monday 16 May. We will initially be booking up to and including 1 November 2005.

Details of future surgeries will be announced in the July 2005 edition of the Family Record and on our website.

The FRC Family History Lectures

We are delighted to announce yet another new event at the FRC. As a result of a recent customer suggestion, we have decided to hold an occasional series of Family History Lectures on Thursday evenings. The lectures will give visitors to the FRC an opportunity to learn about sources and techniques for family history research in a relaxed, friendly and informal atmosphere. Light refreshments will be available.

The first three dates to be arranged are:

• 16 Jun - Shortcuts for Family Historians
• 11 Aug - Problems in London Ancestry
• 6 Oct - Catholic Ancestry in England & Wales

The lectures are free and will take place from 17:00 to 18:30. As with the Tuesday afternoon talks, tickets will be issued on the day of the event on a first-come, first-served basis.

Our speaker for these three lectures will be Michael Gandy, a former Chairman of the Society of Genealogists and the Chairman of the Catholic Family History Society for 14 years. Michael is an authoritative, instructive and entertaining speaker and has a great expertise in all aspects of family history research.

Open Meeting

The next FRC open meeting will take place in the meetings room on the first floor on Tuesday 17 May at 5pm. All customers are invited to come along to find out about the FRC's current services and future plans, and to raise any matters of concern with the FRC's management team. Refreshments will be available.

Online Census Returns

The census returns for the whole of England and Wales for 1871, 1881 & 1891 are now available online as part of the Ancestry website. The returns can be accessed at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/census

You can also view these online censuses free of charge at the Family Records Centre and at The National Archives, Kew.

27 May is Silver Surfers' Day

The FRC will be taking part in this year's Silver Surfers' Day, a national event (now in its fourth year) aimed at helping older people to use and understand computer technology.

On Friday 27 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, from how to use a mouse to how to get the best out of the Internet, come to Area A on the first floor from 10:00 for an informal drop-in session.

New Books in the Reference Area

The Family Records Centre has recently acquired copies of a new two-volume publication from the List & Index Society entitled Lieutenants' Passing Certificates 1691-1902.

This index lists almost every officer who served in the Royal Navy for over 300 years. The original certificates (which are held by The National Archives at Kew) give details of parentage, and many of the records include copies of baptismal certificates.

News From The GRO, Southport

GRO Service Targets

The high level of applications received earlier in the financial year had a significant effect on performance targets throughout January, February and March particularly with the Online Ordering service. However we are pleased to report that, having put in place several initiatives including the recruitment of additional staff to cope with the extra demand, we are now back on track to meet all our performance targets.

The table below gives a breakdown of our performance over the last 3 months in four key areas.

The target for each area is for 95% of applications to be processed within the set number of days. Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole figure.

New GRO Contact Centre

The new GRO Contact Centre opened for business in April and, with the latest 'Internet-protocol' telephony technology in place, will improve the service we are able to provide to our customers.

Together with recently recruited staff, the new system will help to deal with the increasing calls from our customers, providing a more responsive service. It will deliver a more effective system with intelligent call routing to ensure that calls are directed to an operator who is best able to deal with a customer's specific needs.

With over 27,000 inbound calls in January 2005 it is vital that GRO manages these calls in the most efficient way possible.

Certificate Services customers have been consulted over the functionality of the new Contact Centre and their comments fed into the design of the new system.

Some of the new features include an expected wait time and position if callers are held in a queue, a call recording facility for training and monitoring purposes and a wealth of statistical information to assist in call handling.

The telephone number for the new Contact Centre remains the same local rate number (0845 603 7788) and the Centre is open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturday 9am - 4pm.

Online Ordering

The General Register Office online certificate ordering service went from strength to strength following the BBC series 'Who Do You Think You Are?' which was shown in October to December last year. Following the first programme, the total orders received via the online service jumped by over 60%. In terms of applications this meant that orders received rose from an average of 2000 per day to around 3500 per day.

Although additional staff had been recruited to cope with the expected increase, it was not sufficient to cope with demand. Further staff and production equipment were therefore introduced, but by then a backlog had built up.

Demand has remained high since October, only dropping at Christmas and Easter. On Christmas Day 429 orders were received!

It was not until February that the additional staff and equipment began to eat into the backlog and we are pleased to say that as from April we are now back to our target time of four days.

GRO Open Days 2005

On Saturday 25 June and 2 July, GRO Southport will be holding its annual Open Days. The events are being held earlier than usual to help minimise disruption within the production areas during busier times of the year. Acting on feedback from customers who attended last year, we will be inviting local Family History Societies to help support the events.

At these events we open our doors and offer invited members of the public the chance to have a behind the scenes look at our work processes. Both days will include 22 tours, each one scheduled to last approximately one hour, with eight people per tour. Last year this allowed approximately 350 visitors the opportunity to follow the 'Life of a Certificate' from receipt of the application form to the dispatch of the completed certificate.

Display stands will be available for viewing in the exhibition area, where representatives will be on hand to advise customers on researching Family History. Throughout the day talks and seminars will take place on subjects ranging from overseas registrations to online ordering.

For further information about these events please contact: Maddie Brammagh (0151 471 4530) or Honora Ormesher (0151 471 4449).

Smedley Hydro

Many people have asked about the unusual name of the building where their certificates are produced.

The building started life in the mid-nineteenth century as Birkdale College, a school for the education of young gentlemen. In August 1876, John Smedley formed the Birkdale Park (Southport) Smedley Hydropathic Company. Smedley was successful in developing the hydropathic movement which advocated the benefits of applying water externally to the body.

The company extended the building to accommodate 120 to 140 visitors and opened its doors for business in May 1877. Unfortunately little is known about the first years of the twentieth century at Smedley Hydropathic establishment except that it was closed from 1924 to 1928.

In 1932 the Smedley Hydro Hotel was opened, standing on five acres with croquet lawns, putting greens and conservatories. Bedrooms had hot and cold water and gas or coal fires. There was also a ballroom and a theatre used for plays, concerts and dances.

With the outbreak of the Second World War the building was requisitioned by the government for the purpose of National Registration, coming under the control of the Registrar General for England and Wales, the head of the General Register Office.

Inside, the building has been modernised but many of the rooms are still known by their old names. The beautiful sprung floor in the ballroom is covered with carpet and used for the storage of ledgers. The old oak-panelled smoking room is now in everyday use as a meeting/conference room.

Approximately one thousand people now work in Smedley Hydro with over half employed within Certificate Services Branch.

News From TNA, Kew

Palaeography Online

A practical online tutorial, designed to help you to overcome the difficulties of reading old handwriting, has recently been launched by The National Archives at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography

The tutorial is based on a series of practical exercises, which will help you learn to read the handwriting found in documents written in English between 1500 and 1800. With practical tips on spelling and abbreviations, quick reference guides covering topics such as dates, numbers and measurements, you'll soon lose your fear of reading those old PCC wills!

The tutorial was developed in partnership with the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies at University College London.

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)