Author Topic: Visiting the Records Office  (Read 1461 times)

Offline Lee Palmer

  • RootsChat Extra
  • **
  • Posts: 52
    • View Profile
Visiting the Records Office
« on: Monday 14 May 18 13:47 BST (UK) »
I was thinking of going to the records office to do some research,but looking at the website it seems a bit unwellcoming to me . Someone on here must have been there. Do you really need to take with you photo i.d and can you look at different things that are not associated ?                       regards LEE

Offline Mart 'n' Al

  • RootsChat Leaver
  • RootsChat Pioneer
  • *
  • Posts: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Visiting the Records Office
« Reply #1 on: Monday 14 May 18 14:12 BST (UK) »
Lee, you don't say which records office, but I went to Kew for the first time a couple of months ago after weeks of apprehension. I really expected to find it intimidating. I arrived with identification, said hello to the lady on the desk that said advice here for new users, and I had done a little bit of research and I already knew everything she told me. I was then sent upstairs to find my own computer terminal where I sat for 2 hours and had lots of fun. It wasn't remotely intimidating, and I'm really not the sort of man who gets intimidated easily. Go for it.

Martin

Offline lizdb

  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • *******
  • Posts: 25,307
    • View Profile
Re: Visiting the Records Office
« Reply #2 on: Monday 14 May 18 14:42 BST (UK) »
Agree - go for it!   My experience of Record Offices (and I've been to a few over the years) is that generally the staff are helpful.  Yes, you need ID to get a Readers pass, but once issued then you can use it in many places. 
Often the index system, and ordering up of documents from it to view, can seem intimidating, but once you get the hang of it, it is fine. And the staff will advise you along the way. Sometimes the sheer volume of stuff available from the index system can be intimidating - but soon that becomes part of the excitement as you discover there is just so much available beyond just parish records! You soon get the hang of ordering stuff and having a look to see if there is anything relevant in it or not. Remember the index will only be indexing the type of documents held, not the names of everyone mentioned in it!
You will probably find that you come away with as many more questions as you do answers, and will be raring to go back again.
Enjoy.
Edmonds/Edmunds - mainly Sussex
DeBoo - London
Green - Suffolk
Parker - Sussex
Kemp - Essex
Farrington - Essex
Boniface - West Sussex

census information is Crown Copyright from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline StevenG

  • RootsChat Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 191
    • View Profile
Re: Visiting the Records Office
« Reply #3 on: Monday 14 May 18 15:03 BST (UK) »
This is the Bedfordshire board, so I'm assuming you're going to the Record Office in Bedford. If so, you don't need any ID and they are not part of the CARN network. You DO need to make an appointment - contact details are on their website http://bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/ArchivesAndRecordOffice.aspx

The staff at Bedford are excellent and very friendly, so don't worry on that account. There are, unfortunately, rather fewer of them than there used to be due to staffing cuts but, in my experience, that rarely adversely affects the customer.
Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk


Offline Lee Palmer

  • RootsChat Extra
  • **
  • Posts: 52
    • View Profile
Re: Visiting the Records Office
« Reply #4 on: Monday 14 May 18 22:46 BST (UK) »
Thanks to you all for the replies .I was meaning the one in Bedford ,so thanks to StevenG it just looked a bit regimented to me  . Thanks again LEE