Archives at Kew - info / advice from those who've been

[munchie63]

hoping to go with my 12 yr old daughter during the school hols, and would love to hear from anyone who'se been before.
I've looked at the 'hints' page on the archive site, but it leaves a lot of questions.
I know I can't take my daughter into the reading rooms, but we're hoping to just be able to look at copies on-line / on-screen. Anyone know if that's the case ?

I have a number of birth, marr records details that we'd like to look at, but am unsure how it actually works.

do we just fill in a card, then wait and go to a pc ?
any idea how many records it would be possible to look at in a day ? do we just sit at a pc and go through them ?

sorry for loads of questions, but I want to make it the best day I can for my daughter, and not a wasted trip. she's put loads of research in.

thanks all

[dot.haukes]

you need to obtain a readers ticket for which you need a couple of forms of id that include your address (for looking at original records) but you can look at the index to post 1837 births deaths and marriages in your local library, no need to go to Kew. they don;t issue copy certificates there and they don't hold the original regsiters 9even if they did you could not look at them)
They do not hold parish registers, these are at your County Record Office.
the records you research at kew are military, court records, immigration records, and lots more besides.
You need to have a closer look at the archive holdings before you go to be sure you will have a worthwhile visit, i am not 100% sure, but i don't know what research your daughter has done, but i don;t think she would need Kew at this stage, and Kew is for looking at original documents which i don;t think minors are allowed to handle, there is not much to look at on a PC that isnlt available elsewhere.

I havn't been to Kew for 14 years but i am pretty up to date on the archive holdings, if i am wrong in any way i am sure someone will correct me, and apologies if i am incorrect..

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhisto ry/

[poetrylover]

I agree with Dot .... SO many records on line from either home or local library thate Kew isn't probably necessary ........are there particular questions you have or areas where your daughter has hit a brick wall? If so, post your questions as there are several of us who relish a challenge and have access to various sites ... can't speak for everyone, but I would certainly be happy to help.

[munchie63]

thanks for the answers and info.

We've got back to around 1780 on my fathers side, but some other families are proving hard to track.
My daughter was enjoying so much before Xmas, that I took out an Ancestry membership for her to use. She's on a couple of nights a week looking for info.

The reason she wants to go to Kew is to look at some family records.....marriage documents, death certs etc. the on-line sites seem to give you dates and places, but the certificates have next of kin, who reported it etc. I've bought Phoebe some (at �7 each) but was hoping to be able to see scanned copies on the PC's at Kew for free ??

we have details for a number of marriage and death certs - place, volume, page etc, but it's the actual documents that we need to see.
Do the libraries keep these ?
I thought local archive offices had original documents, but didn't think we could look at on-line stuff there.
Many of our relatives are local, but go back to Stoke and Suffolk too, which is a trek to go too.

[dot.haukes]

The birth marriage and death registers are kept at the local register office, a copy is held at the GRO HQ in Southport and you can order the certified copies from either, it's cheaper from the local office.
You can't look at the registers themselves but you can look at the parish registers for baptisms and marriages from the parish churches whoch cover from 1538 (if the church existed) up to the 20th century, the registers are deposited with the diocesan archive on completion, the diocesan archive is also the County Record Office. you need a reader ticket for there too.
The entries you have decided you need can be ordered online from your ancestry account, but like i say, you can't actually look at the registers in the register office.

[BarLouise]

You can see all of the censuses at Kew from the Ancestry websites also Wills and there are shelves of books relating to professions, trades etc. There are also the Army lists if your relatives were military. You need to organise yourselves with a list of what you want to know otherwise if you go without some definite research goals you will be overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of information and not know which way to turn. It can be quite daunting.

[munchie63]

thanks for the answers everyone. I think we'll try the local records office first, then gove Kew a visit later in the school hols after some preparation!