Anyone else waiting ages for certificates from GRO? [Archive] - Genealogists' Forum

BlueSavannah

13-04-10, 07:18

Good Morning All

I ordered four certificates on the 29th March and I am still waiting for them all to arrive. They have taken the payment from my bank. Because it still gave a four day turnaround, I wondered if anyone else had ordered certs a few weeks ago and were still waiting? I know there has been a bank holiday but wondered if they had, had a massive demand on them before they put the prices up?

peppie

13-04-10, 07:48

I'm sure they have had a big demand! I hadn't ordered anything for a yer and then ordered about 10 in one go at the last min and I know a lot of other people have too. My dispatch day was supposed to be yesterday but I'm not holding my breath on them coming today :eek::D

JBee

13-04-10, 07:50

I wouldn't be surprised if there's quite a delay.

I sent for loads last week (didn't count so can't tell a lie to OH - with a despatch date of the 12th April and think I'll be lucky if any arrive by the end of month.

BlueSavannah

13-04-10, 07:54

Thanks Peppie & JBee. Its made me feel a little better that all four are not lost in the post somewhere.

I wondered if a lot if people ordered a high amount with the price increases pending. Will give it another week or so before I ring them up :)

Thanks again

Val in Oz

13-04-10, 08:43

I know quite a few people who put in orders for over 15 certs.....!! and I believe that there was a message sent out somewhere that they were apologising for delays as they were overloaded with orders.

So.....be patient I guess

BlueSavannah

13-04-10, 08:45

Thanks for that Val. Wow, cant believe the size of some peoples orders lol. Mind you, if I had the money, mine would have probably been that size also.

I will sit and be patient, though, its hard as I am desperate for one of them :)

Nell

13-04-10, 10:10

They have had a massive demand before the prices went up. I've been fine till today when I am really wanting the postman to deliver!

Phoenix

13-04-10, 10:31

Has anybody else noticed that suddenly there are MASSES of certs they want?

Kit

13-04-10, 10:48

It wasn't that I suddenly noticed Phoenix but that I had a time limit before it got way more expensive to order them.

As for the delay I read somewhere that they had said that orders were taking about 4 days longer to process than the date of despatch stated and that was about a week before the price increase.

I'm guessing it got worse after that.

Phoenix

13-04-10, 11:22

Well, having ordered quite a few, for the first time in a dozen years, they all lead on to other things!

Lancashire Lady

13-04-10, 11:52

I'm kicking myself for not realising sooner there are a few deaths I'd not followed up on, including one from 1960 that I'd been told was the result of a tragic accident. I've just spent a fruitless couple of hours in the archives searching for a newspaper report of an inquest that may not even exist... if I'd got the cert I'd know whether I was wasting my time. (I did find the funeral write-up in the paper, and there is no mention there of the circumstances of the death, just a heading "parents bereaved")

On the plus side, I realised at about 11.30pm on 5th April that there was one cert I'd forgotten, and I was so pleased I remembered in time to order it at the old price!

Kit

13-04-10, 12:43

You sure left that late Vicky.

JBee

13-04-10, 13:10

Erm - I know my credit card got hammered and I haven't looked to see how many I ordered - too many to hide in the housekeeping!! lol

Mind you I haven't renewed my YFT so that goes some way towards the certificates.

maggie_4_7

13-04-10, 17:26

lozaras

13-04-10, 20:47

I ordered erm.. 13.. on th 29th - despatch date 6th. Not yet arrived.... :(

Kit

14-04-10, 01:48

I just emailed them to ask the status on two orders place 25th March different times of the day. I expect they are busy I had a despatch date of 6th April so its been a week now so I always wait a week and enquiire and usually two days after my enquiry they arrive without explanation.

I got mine, ordered 24 or 25 March, last week over about 4 days. But the birth, which I ordered first was the last to arrive. We are ahead timewise down here but you should have had yours by now, unless the GRO were bombarded between my order and yours.

Gert in Oz

14-04-10, 06:34

I got mine, ordered 24 or 25 March, last week over about 4 days. But the birth, which I ordered first was the last to arrive. We are ahead timewise down here but you should have had yours by now, unless the GRO were bombarded between my order and yours.

Ordered my last 4 on 26 March, dispatch date April 1st and still waiting, though if you have yours Kit mine shouldn`t be far away.

maggie_4_7

14-04-10, 06:44

BlueSavannah

14-04-10, 07:50

Good to see all these replies. Not good in the sense that we are all still waiting but it has reassured me now that a lot of people are still waiting and its probably not that mine got lost in the post.

Nell

14-04-10, 15:54

All 3 of my certs arrived today. No real surprises but as they were death certs they do finish off the peeps concerned tidily!

Ex's gt x 2 grandfather, once described as a "master fishmonger" ended up as "formerly a second hand furniture dealer".

Fi aka Wheelie Spice

14-04-10, 18:24

I got 2 certs today and 2 more to come. I really need the death cert then I can track down where Gertrude Mary Woods is buried hopefully. Today I got 2 of her 3 marriage certs.

BlueSavannah

14-04-10, 19:40

1 of the death certs probably wont tell me anything I dont already know. Another death cert will hopefully verify the tragic death Nan said the baby had. The third death cert will hopefully add a sibling of my Nan to the tree that we didnt know about.

The 4th cert should tell me who my great x 3 grandparents are :)

Im far too impatient but glad to hear peoples certs are starting to turn up.

maggie_4_7

14-04-10, 23:02

See I just got home and lo and behold there was 4 of them on my mat...

peppie

14-04-10, 23:57

so jealous! I went munching through the post tonight and nothing there yet!

although some thing did make me laugh!
I was wondering where my WDYTYA mag was that I had signed up for on the cheap at the thingy in Feb or was it march? anyway there was a very plain silver plastic wrapped thing in the post I nearly chucked it in the bin! thinking it was a catalogue and laughing that it must be naughty to be wrapped like that! ;) took the wrapping off to separate it for recycling and it was the magazine! :rolleyes: I could have ended up just throwing it away!

maggie_4_7

15-04-10, 00:11

Yes they always come like that :p

The certs I've recieved have been good the one for my Great Great Grandmother Caroline made me feel better because my Great Grandfather was the informant but the one for my other Great Great grandfather Kilby as made me unhappy because a bod from the workhouse registered his death!

Kit

15-04-10, 03:54

... and you're in Australia!!! :eek:

That was my point.

See I just got home and lo and behold there was 4 of them on my mat...

Glad they arrived.

maggie_4_7

15-04-10, 17:06

Lo and behold another three have arrived today :)

BlueSavannah

15-04-10, 17:16

three of my four have arrived today. Typical that the one I really wanted is the one that didnt arrive.

But, the death cert for my nan's 1 month old sister isnt quite the death Nan has told us over the years. Nan said she did after a person on a bike lost control and hit baby's pram causing baby's head to jolt and heamorrage. Death cert says baby actually did of brocho-pneumonia, heart failure and 'wasting'?

Langley Vale Sue

15-04-10, 19:39

But, the death cert for my nan's 1 month old sister isnt quite the death Nan has told us over the years. Nan said she did after a person on a bike lost control and hit baby's pram causing baby's head to jolt and heamorrage. Death cert says baby actually did of brocho-pneumonia, heart failure and 'wasting'?

I think the memories get a little confused over the years. My mother-in-law always talked about her baby sister Dorothy and how she died when she was a few weeks old when m-i-l was a little girl of about 10 or 11. She also said her Mum told her to go into the garden & pick lily of the valley to put in the baby's hand in the coffin. M-i-L said she remembers picking the flowers, but when I got Dorothy's death certificate it showed she died on Christmas Eve aged just 17 days old of gastro enteritis and marasmus (wasting). So how could m-i-l pick lily of the valley from the garden at Christmas time? She insists that she did though, but she was just 5 years old at the time.

Oh and I'm still waiting for all 4 of my certificates :)

Nell

15-04-10, 19:52

Well our memories play tricks on us. Maybe she picked the lily of the valley to put on the grave?

My grandfather's sister was knocked down and killed by a runaway horse. The death cert shows she suffered a brain haemorrhage but there was no inquest and I was unable to find any further information.

Fi aka Wheelie Spice

15-04-10, 20:32

"three of my four have arrived today. Typical that the one I really wanted is the one that didnt arrive."

Snap, re the one I need not arriving, but I now have GMW's 3 marriage certs.

BlueSavannah

15-04-10, 21:02

I believe there is probably some truth in that baby Irene's pram probably did take a knock by accident but it didnt cause her death like Nan has believed. Nan has always said she was rocking the pram outside when it happened. I am not going to tell her what the death cert says as it will probably upset her, shes 83 now.

Hoping my one missing cert turns up over the weekend, its a birth cert which will, hopefully, give me the names of my great x 3 grandparents on this same family line :)

maggie_4_7

15-04-10, 21:06

Well I received my Great Grandfather's death cert today and I was always told he died of a heart attack oh no he didn't

Pancreatic Cancer and Exhaustion at the age of 56!

lozaras

16-04-10, 07:17

NONE of my 13 certs have arrived yet :(

Mary from Italy

17-04-10, 11:48

maggie_4_7

17-04-10, 12:04

The two that I was unsure of I still am unsure - both were registered by non family members i.e. workhouse infirmary people and the male one doesn't give occupation and the female one doesn't give her status! :mad: a married couple who died 20 years apart!

So I still don't know if its them its most likely them no other death registrations fit but no concrete evidence.

Joan of Archives

17-04-10, 12:53

Uncle John

17-04-10, 14:44

Fi aka Wheelie Spice

17-04-10, 15:29

I have today ordered 3 death certs and the despatch date is 23rd April.

However I did discover something. My Gertrude Mary Woods 1st marrige was in 1928, 2nd marriage was in 1932 and her 3rd marriage was in the 1st quarter in 1956.

Her first husband died less than a year after marriage in 1929. Her 2nd husband died in the first quarter of 1956, the same quarter in which she married her 3rd husband.

I think she may have known No.3 for sometime before husband 2 died to get married to him so soon after the death. It will be interesting to see the date of the death of husband 2 and she marrried No.3 on 12 Feb 1956.

Gert in Oz

17-04-10, 17:08

My 3 death certs arrived on friday, hope my marriage cert is already in Oz and will come on monday.

One of my death certs was for a child and was not the child i thought it should be, which has lead me to a whole new family and i think i now know who the child belongs to, which is a bonus.

JBee

17-04-10, 21:19

No nothing today and as I'm away for the next few days wonder if there'll be any when I get back.

peppie

17-04-10, 21:28

One day we might get them scanned in and returned within 24 hours........ *sigh*

Joy Dean

17-04-10, 22:22

One day we might get them scanned in and returned within 24 hours........ *sigh*

That has happened from a Suffolk register office :)

Kit

18-04-10, 08:55

I ordered loads just before the deadline, but I've just realised that even apart from the GRO delays, they'll probably take ages to reach those of us outside the UK, because airmail deliveries are being disrupted by airport closures.

I hadn't thought of that. :(

I'm sure they'll put them on a cross-Channel lorry some time in the next few weeks.

Thta's not going to help me.

I have today ordered 3 death certs and the despatch date is 23rd April.

However I did discover something. My Gertrude Mary Woods 1st marrige was in 1928, 2nd marriage was in 1932 and her 3rd marriage was in the 1st quarter in 1956.

Her first husband died less than a year after marriage in 1929. Her 2nd husband died in the first quarter of 1956, the same quarter in which she married her 3rd husband.

I think she may have known No.3 for sometime before husband 2 died to get married to him so soon after the death. It will be interesting to see the date of the death of husband 2 and she marrried No.3 on 12 Feb 1956.

It could be that she had separated from no. 2 but ha to wait until he died to remarry. Maybe she or he did not believe or want to divorce. I had a rellie who married quite late and it turned out he had separated from his wife after their second child. Both he and her repartnered but there was no divorce in those days, early 1800s and so he couldn't marry until his wife died. The remarriage happened quite soon after the death.

Merry

18-04-10, 09:35

but there was no divorce in those days, early 1800s and so he couldn't marry until his wife died.

A mere living spouse didn't stop a lot of mine from going up the aisle again!!

lozaras

19-04-10, 05:36

I ordered loads just before the deadline, but I've just realised that even apart from the GRO delays, they'll probably take ages to reach those of us outside the UK, because airmail deliveries are being disrupted by airport closures.

I realised that too Mary, PLUS we have rail strikes here :mad:.

I ordered on 29th March - despatch date 6th April :(:(

On the up side - Mum & dad are due to fly home on Wednesday (I kind of ordered the certs to coincide with their visit) but will probably go later the way things are. So they may be here when the certs do finally decide to turn up.

Toulouse airport is open atm but Bristol isn't....

Kit

19-04-10, 09:53

A mere living spouse didn't stop a lot of mine from going up the aisle again!!

lol. It didn't stop him living with someone else and having many children.

It was in Oz so it's possible bigamy was a lot harder in the early days as everyone knew everyone else.

Lancashire Lady

19-04-10, 10:19

don't know whether to be pleased 2 of mine turned up today (est. dispatch date 7 April) or miffed that they don't tell me what I really needed to know.
1. Who registered the death of my gt grandfather's second wife in 1967? Her daughter, which is what I was hoping (from her first marriage, not my gt grandfather), but I can't read her name.
2. Who was the Elizabeth Gaskell who had an illegitimate son in 1865? The informant is a James Gaskell, who is presumably some sort of relation, but there is no indication who he is (pretty sure he's not her brother or father). I was hoping that Elizabeth's occupation might be a clue, but that's not given either.

Here's hoping the others will be more useful LOL

kiterunner

19-04-10, 10:26

I suppose her occupation isn't "Novelist", then, lol.

lozaras

19-04-10, 13:58

I got 9 out of 13 today!!!!
whoop whoop whoop!!!!!!! :D

Lancashire Lady

19-04-10, 14:25

I suppose her occupation isn't "Novelist", then, lol.

no such luck, though you wonder sometimes when you read what's on the various censuses :)

The direct connection to my OH's line is via a William Gaskell b 1830 (I think Eliz with the illegitimate son is his sister, but I can't prove it) William's father was also called William.
I bet there is a distant connection to the novelist (or rather, to her husband) as they are all from Cheshire.

This lot were canal boatmen.

Langley Vale Sue

19-04-10, 14:53

I got my final 3 today :)

But I still need to order at least 3 more :(

Tilly Mint

19-04-10, 17:25

I sent for mine by post 12/04/10 and got them today.

One of them is a b cert, the childs middle name is Nesle.....any ideas what it means please.

kiterunner

19-04-10, 18:55

Are you sure that's what it says, not Neale for instance?

Tilly Mint

19-04-10, 19:13

No Kite, its an Indian birth from the GRO - its typed up.

The childs name is Joseph Nesle Connor. the father was English and mother was Anglo Indian.

Sounds French to me.....Lol

Fi aka Wheelie Spice

19-04-10, 21:00

I got Gertrude Mary Woods death certificate today, now the search to find her burial (or cremation) in 1985 is on.

She died in Bethnal Green Hospital and lived in Bethnal Green also. In fact she lived at the same address for 29 years.

Gert in Oz

20-04-10, 07:46

Nona

20-04-10, 10:57

According to the GRO website it is taking 5-10 days longer to despatch certificates, although the priority service is unaffected

Normal service will be resumed by the week begninning 17 May.

Nona

JBee

20-04-10, 19:39

Just got back - nothing
- think I sent for 21

though despatch date was 12th - so early days yet.

peppie

20-04-10, 22:05

Im gagging for the post every day when :(I get home........ but nothing yet.......

Kit

21-04-10, 02:47

Still no sign of my marriage cert, 3 death certs arrived last week, so marriage cert must still be in England. Grrr its the extra proof i need for the grandson of John Spencer on the 1861 census.

*wonders if they will use ships to transport the mail around the globe*

My last one hasn't arrived either. It's the only one I ordered where I'm expecting new info. All the others were to get exact dates and confirm what I already suspected.

When did that volcano erupt?

JBee

21-04-10, 08:21

Just got an email refunding £4 - so 1 down 20 to go!!!!!

However it shows they're being processed.

Rachel

21-04-10, 12:23

YES YES YESSSSSSSS !!!!!!!! :D:D:D

Gt gt grandfather now has a DOB :d

This is the first of 6 certs to arrive, but the last one ordered and I was expecting a problem with it ...... ecstatic :D:rolleyes:

see Charles Harris for update (MMFF)

lozaras

22-04-10, 07:42

I got my 4 outstanding certs yesterday- which I thought completed my set - but I found that I had another missing birth cert yesterday - Can't find a ref though. I think I'll put a thread on research to see if other people have more luck!

Kit

22-04-10, 07:50

There has been a qantas plane sitting at heathrow for 11 hours or more. Wonder if the mail comes on a qantas plane??

Phoenix

22-04-10, 08:39

Mine had a despatch date 12th April. They are talking delays 5 - 10 working days (ie 7 - 14). So despatch 26th plus 3 days travel.

I won't panic till May:D

JBee

22-04-10, 09:13

Have just accosted the postman on the main road and he's given me my post after searching right through his trolley (he did offer!! and who was I to refuse) - no certificates though.

Rachel

22-04-10, 11:34

Groan .....

Another 4 of my 6 certs just arrived but one is a duplicate !!!!! :(

Checked bank statement and they've taken the dosh twice :(:(:(:(

*lots of rude words*

Mercury is retrograde until well into May

Merry

22-04-10, 12:46

Oooh dear Rachel :(

The three death certs I ordered on 1st April, with a despatch date of 12th April, have arrived today. Two babies (my dad's siblings) with pneumonia and one ggg-grandparent, aged 87, with senile decay. :(

Rachel

22-04-10, 13:45

The death cert for one of gt grandparents' children (aged 6 months) arrived today.
I was so hoping that this might help me find the 3 other children who died as they don't appear on any census.
Hoped she had something infectious and it would lead me somewhere.

This child is the only one I found when I visited the Library in the town where they lived.

Cause of death Purpura, Acute Pneumonia and exhaustion

lozaras

22-04-10, 14:53

(aged 6 months)
Cause of death Purpura, Pneumonia and exhaustion

ahh - poor little mite- exhaustion from trying to battle the diseases... :(

Rachel

22-04-10, 15:24

ahh - poor little mite- exhaustion from trying to battle the diseases... :(

I guess so and having googled for the cause, would imagine she was poorly from birth.
What I'm going to do is contact the Cemetery man and ask if she's buried in the same burial ground as the gt grandparents.

They have my dad's brother (aged 2) buried in their grave, so this baby may be nearby, possibly sharing with the other 3 children :)

JBee

22-04-10, 17:53

Another refund - now 19 to go.

Joan of Archives

22-04-10, 21:25

I still haven't got mine! Dispatch date 12th April. Should I be worried & email them yet??

;(

JBee

22-04-10, 21:47

All mine were despatch date 12th too.

Perhaps they're now in the post - well the ones they're not refunding!!!

Rachel

22-04-10, 23:26

Mine were despatch date 12th, they've not all arrived and one is a duplicate ~ slight chaos ?

Kit

23-04-10, 02:00

I'm jealous. Rachel got one twice and I can't get mine.

* wanders off muttering "stupid volcano"*

Gert in Oz

23-04-10, 06:29

I'm jealous. Rachel got one twice and I can't get mine.

* wanders off muttering "stupid volcano"*

I`m with you Kit.

*wonders if its too early to order a couple more i need*

JBee

23-04-10, 10:30

Whey 10 certificates arrived today
9 deaths - 1 marriage

only 9 to go.

Rachel

23-04-10, 12:36

One more of mine arrived so now I'm waiting for the last one ~ a marriage
dumdidumdidum .......

Uncle John

23-04-10, 21:36

dumdidumdidum .......

What have The Archers got to do with your family tree?

Rachel

24-04-10, 14:08

What have The Archers got to do with your family tree?

Don't be silly ~ that's Rumtitumtitumtitum ...... :rolleyes:

*TUTS LOUDLY* and waits for last cert http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o228/rachelscand/FTF/impatient.gif

Lancashire Lady

24-04-10, 15:42

well, got my last one this morning & its another singularly unhelpful one. So I can cheerfully say that even at £7 each I don't think I got my money's worth for that last batch, so i would have begrudged paying £9.25 even more.

Not only does his age differ from what's on the burial record - by 10 years - but the informant is someone unknown to me & I can't find her on the census either.

PS. cause of death at age 82 (or 92 if you believe the burial record) - old age, certified. pmsl.

(I think he was actually 90, I'm fairly sure I've identified the correct baptism record)

Kit

25-04-10, 04:22

I`m with you Kit.

*wonders if its too early to order a couple more i need*

Probably not. With the backlog the earlier the better.

Does anyone know if there are planes leaving England for downunder yet?

Kit

30-04-10, 01:03

I received my last cert yesterday. Date of despatch supposed to be 9/4/10 but not done until 16/4/10.

Gert in Oz

30-04-10, 07:32

Got mine today, which tells me the brides fathers occupation was Miller and means that Joseph Key on the 1861 census was Joseph Kay. Yay.

Have ordered 2 more marriage certs though, dispatch date today, wonder if they have caught up yet or will these be delayed too.

Mary from Italy

30-04-10, 16:22

I ordered some for my BiL, which have finally arrived, and confirmed my suspicion of 3 bigamous marriages...

The ones I ordered for myself 5 minutes before the deadline still haven't come, though.

Gert in Oz

01-05-10, 14:41

The one i received yesterday Mary was dispatch date April 1st, so has taken about 2 weeks longer than usual.

Mary from Italy

01-05-10, 16:19

Yes, the ones I ordered for my BiL in England had the despatch date of 12th April, and the last one arrived today, so I hope the ones I ordered for myself will arrive in the next few days.

Olde Crone

01-05-10, 20:43

I ordered one at about five minutes to midnight on the last day, lol and I got it on Wednesday this week. It was issued on 23rd April.

It wasn't for me but for a friend, who was convinced that the middle initiasl M stood for Marguerite. I said all along I reckoned it would be Maud, after mum and I was right. *Smirks and preens*

OC

JBee

01-05-10, 22:46

Well I've got all mine now but one marriage put a spanner in the works - his father wasn't Patrick but Francis.

Anyone want loads of certificates, parish records etc, newspaper articles etc etc. Mind you I'm not fully convinced they're not related at some stage in the past.

I've now had to order 3 more certificates but have gone to the local registrars hoping they'll be quicker and cheaper.

It is only £9 there isn't it or have I got my kn******s in a twist?