What exactly do you want to hand over? Are you saying that the FreeBMD organisation has, or should have, privileged access to the GRO's register copies in order to scan them? Are you aware that the work of FreeBMD is done by volunteers in their own homes?
I would hand over the management of the project, as FreeBMD has managed and produced a staggering large online resource.
I think that whoever was going to undertake such a project, could have privileged access to either GRO registers, or to those held at local registry offices.
Yes I am aware that the GRO work is done by volunteers; I'm not suggesting that the volunteers should be made to undertake a new project. Those that want to help, great. I think that volunteers help with FamilySearch records too.
I'm sure that when FreeBMD started, the thought of transcribing 370 million records was equally daunting, and others suggested it couldn't be done.
Hi
I feel that even if an organisation could get permission (which I doubt) to voluntarily transcribe every England and Wales GRO BMD Certificate, it would be a poor use of precious time. Virtually nearly every place has Census coverage and some other record during the Civil Registration period from 1837 to the current day.
I dabble in a bit of local history 1500 to 1840 and there are thousands of names tucked away hidden in a single Landowner, Manor or other Collections in UK Archives of which there are 1,000s of these Collections (of varying sizes) around the UK, plus crews in old shipping Musters etc., etc., some of whom will never appear in old Parish Registers. Nor will those names appear in Catholic and Nonconformist records, because many of which are missing records. Despite Hardwicke's Marriage Act, a few even refused to marry in church and therefore never formally married according to the Law.
Transcribing GRO BMD Certificates (
*which are actually available by purchase) after searching two Indexes Free BMD and GRO Index and cross referencing with Census (Census almost complete) and all the other records like Directories, etc., etc., then transcribing the actual GRO Certificates is a massively bad use of precious time, when so many other older records of people, are hidden away undiscovered in Archives. -
That hidden Archive record of them 200 years ago or more, might now be the only proof they ever existed.
Mark
* Some Church Wedding Certificates and recently I noticed some of my family 19th Parish baptisms were available online since 1837 (not all were / are C of E or had children baptised).