The bulk of the records of the Synod (and its predecessor denominations) for Synod, presbytery and local churches, as well as baptismal and marriage registers, maps and plans, are in storage but will be available for retrieval at a fee and with sufficient notice
Yes I will.
Ros don't worry about it, its not worth any expenditure as it is, for me, only a sideline. I'm not in a position to be able to cover anything spent on my behalf.
If the fees charged are anything like the parochial fees charged by the Church of England for access to registers still held by incumbants, then they are, in mine and other people's views, somewhat high at £28 for up to an hour.
Before I'm possibly criticised for apparently expecting something to be looked up for free, although they are not public records the vast majority of England & Wales church records of any denomination are held by county or city records offices who do not charge fees for access, only for copies. So if someone is visiting an archives for their own research and can do a quick lookup, then the only cost to them is their time. Many Archives also, and I have been a recipient of this in the past, do a quick lookup for people where something needs to be clarified. Normally something that takes up to 15 minutes maximum, after which fees would be required when the requester isn't onsite. This is why in the circumstances a fee would not be expected to be paid when trying to clarify something in an individual church register where most, if not all, the information is already known because it wouldn't be considered as "research".
I appreciate things are different in Australia, but have to admit I hadn't realised entirely how different in relation to access to historical church registers. I certainly wasn't looking out for a church register lookup when I started this post and, in the circumstances, I don't want anyone having to put themselves out financially for something that is, for me at least, not essential to my own directline research.
Thanks Ros for offering, but please don't worry. I shall have to try and find something else to try and clarify the missing information.
I'm grateful to all for their help and advice, but I don't want to put anyone out any further.
