by KayFarndon » Sun Sep 09, 2018 1:16 pm
I never intended to purchase any certificates, but when I began in 1998, a well meaning friend said that I needed my grandfather's birth to be able to go back further. I spent weeks at the local library and I had no idea what I was doing. As microfiche records only give scant details it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I had no experience of family history, no idea where exactly my grandfather had been born and no logic as to how to do this. All I had was his name, which was on my parent's marriage certificate, with not his full name, as I discovered many months later. It took weeks before I realised that I would need my grandfather's death date to work back from, so I knew I had to buy a certificate.
I have not counted how many I have, but the total cost is now into four figures, but I have not regretted a moment of it, as you discover so much from these certificates.
In my opinion a marriage certificate is the best one to get as it has 21 elements to it and can fill many blanks.
We are indebted to the Internet for a lot of free searching. Usually details on a certificate will be correct and they are a marvellous tool for answering questions about a family. It is also brilliant to be able to settle family related questions and arguments about who is who in the family.