Town Hall BDMs :

[Iain...]

Hi all !

With this post I hope I’m not about to throw the cat among the Town Hall pigeons, but I was thinking about a certain event I had recently which I used to reply to a posting about Belgian names. URL below.
In the meantime, I’ve been asking myself why the same system does not exist in Britain.  Or does it ? 

Being British and “very slightly” chauvinistic, I often consider Britain as being tip-top for most things and especially concerning bureaucratic affaires and organization.  Many will condemn me for that remark !  Lol !   

Anyway, running the risk of putting Ancestry out of business, I discovered last week that here in Belgium, I could go to my town hall and free of charge, have my tree printed going back hundreds of years with all BDM details and occupations.
And all done in less than 5 minutes with a smile and a simple click of a button. (20 pages)

My question...   Is this possible in Britain ?   And if not, why not ?

..., Iain. 

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=655218.40

[IMBER]

[quote author=Iain2 link=topic=660807.msg5063949#msg5063949 date=13787285

My question...   Is this possible in Britain ?   And if not, why not ?

..., Iain. 

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=655218.40
[/quote]

To answer your question with a question, why on earth would they?

Imber

[Iain...]

why on earth would they ?
Imber

Lol..., you seem to be against the idea !   Perhaps because they are never asked !   

I can only speak for Belgium..., but when I received the 20 free pages I was totally astounded and I also questioned the "service."   Then, shrugging her shoulders she replied..., "I receive a monthly salary to provide that type of public information.   So why not”?

[stanmapstone]

Because of the nature of the records I would say that it is impossible. Most people have a job researching their own family history.

Stan

[Gaie]

Hi Iain

I too think that would be impossible here; there is no link between births, deaths and marriages on the records held at each register office.

And you'd still need to check everything!

KR
Gaie

[Gaie]

Or perhaps I'm misunderstanding you; did you take in your tree on disc/card and they printed it out for you for free?

[majm]

Does this Town Hall pay their staff to do research for BDMs that occur outside of Belgium ... At no charge and straight away ....

Please ...   send the WDYTYA teams to the Town Hall... 

On the other hand who gave them the certificates and how did they join the dots ...

Are they printing off accurate validated records or romantic submittted charts?

Cheers JM

[IMBER]

It's not that I'm against the idea but rather that I cannot think of a reason why a local authority would choose to do this, even if it could overcome the issues raised by Gaie and stanmapstone. What would be the objective from their point of view? It's one thing to provide archive and associated facilities but what you've described is light years beyond that. Perhaps I have misunderstood but are you suggesting that any Belgian can walk in off the street and experience this genealogical Nirvana, or were you just lucky? Mind you, I guess it's not too surprising in a country that can produce such excellent confectionary and beer.

Imber

[Plummiegirl]

Sure a great idea, not....

But my family prior to the early 1900s came from all over England,  from Liverpool down to the Kent/Sussex coast. 

One local registrars office would never be able to trace them all.  I have had major problems with some of them taking years if ever to find.

Who would fund such an exercise.  NOT MY COUNCIL TAXES...