BMD indexes

[ElizabethHerts]

My daughter asked when will they be updated online to go past 2005?

I didn't know the answer and it got me wondering.

[ElizabethHerts]

I found this but it doesn't help with my question about when updates will be made:

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=559846.0

[Merry]

This is from a Lost Cousins Newsletter from Jan 2013:

GRO indexes after 2005

I often get emails from members asking why the online GRO indexes only go up to 2005 (or 2006 in the case of the births and deaths at findmypast).



The simple fact is that the GRO are covering their a***s. After many years of making these indexes available online the GRO suddenly discovered that the relevant Acts didn’t say anything about online indexes - hardly surprising because they were all passed long before the World Wide Web came into existence (in 1836 the adhesive postage stamp had yet to be invented).



It is possible to search later indexes, but only on microfiche and only at six locations in England and one in Wales (there's a list here). There are so many people who are unable to visit in person - because they live too far away or are housebound - that I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who lives close to one of the complete indexes (within walking distance or bus pass area) and would be prepared to undertake lookups on behalf of others.




EDIT: Link to above (http://lostcousins.com/newsletters/jan13news.htm#GROafter2005)

[Merry]

I came across this book (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FSfYDxAxzhYC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=findmypast+update+of+GRO+indexes+after+2005&source=bl&ots=CoqWctrd3d&sig=pp2mfLv7CsGzbtgLS39O7yOSiAk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pwKIVY_9CYmksAH0wYGoCg&ved=0CFAQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=findmypast%20update%20of%20GRO%20indexes%20after %202005&f=false)by accident. Looks quite helpful.

[ElizabethHerts]

Thanks for that, Merry.

It seems like a retrograde step not to make indexes available online.
I doubt many people will be able to get to the centres listed, and you would have to be very organised beforehand.

[Phoenix]

Bear in mind that the GRO have never made the indexes available online themselves.

Also, computer indexes make plain details that a lot of people would prefer to be opaque: children registered under both parents' surnames, maiden names of divorced women etc.

The information is out there, but some of it is more difficult to pick up on microfilm.