I have been pondering the subject of BMD certificates for some time. Certificates are not Inelastic. They do suffer from price hikes but more to the point is that in this day the Internet has somewhat decreased the need for them. My genealogical specialty is County Durham. Here is an example from an Australian newspaper in 1940 - on the Internet - no subscription!
1940: Christmas Day Diamond Jubilee, Mr. and Mrs. G. Wood. CONGRATULATIONS as well as Christmas wishes will be extended tomorrow to Mr. and Mrs. George Wood, who will celebrate their diamond jubilee with a family reunion at their home, Nicky Nack, Victoria Street, Bulimba {Brisbane}. They were married on December 25, 1880, by the late Rev. J. Crennel at St. Andrew's Church of England, West Stanley, Durham (England). Both are natives of Durham.
They must have had their marriage certificate with them at the time of the newspaper interview. They still had some affection for the Mother Country - Nicky Nack was near Seaham Harbour, County Durham.
And another from Austalia. WOOD - {died} On the 26th June {1895), at the residence of his eldest son, Hollister Avenue, Scranton, Pa., U.S., Roger Wood, late Major of H.M. Imperial Service, organiser of Seaham Harbour Volunteer Artillery, and father of J. W. Wood, Greenbank, Nundah {Brisbane}, aged 78 years.
Without the Internet no one would have known of his death in America (no national census survives from 1881-1899) and death certificates for Roger Wood in England would have been wasted.
BMD Certificates are being bypassed not by the years but by the week. Yes I miss the cart horses, yes I miss walking up the platform to the locomotive and lifting my cap to the driver or the fireman whoever was leaning out of the cab, but those days are largely gone and the excessively priced Certificate will one day be nearly gone too.
