Todays Telegraph Letter re BMD Registration

[Springbok]

The following letter appeared in Daily Telegraph today.

Quote '  Dumped Registers'

SIR-something of our history ,heritage and culture will expire on March 25 2007 with demise of the hand written Register.
Birth as well death registrations will be transferred online. We close the red- and black-bound registers,containing what has been described as the finest complete set of such hand-written records in existence,a tradition that has in England and Wales , has been safeguarded for 170 years.
Five minutes will be saved in the registration process.
Relatives of the Deceased can anticipate signing a computer generated sheet at the Register Office, which will contain the last personal details of their loved ones.

This print-out becomes the legal record and is entrusted to a register binder of loose-leaf papers.
What now is the fate of the Marriage Register?

Registrars embrace online registrations . But is mankind not diminished when promulgations of life and death appear to  reduced to an exercise for the collection and dissemination of computer data

John Kerr'  Unquote

I wonder if the gentleman is a Registrar .
I also wonder if the paper will last as long as some old Certs we have now?

Spring

[mtp123]

There are changes afoot but that date is not relevant.

[meles]

Welcome to Rootschat mtp!

But you can't leave us in the air like that  - what changes are afoot?

meles

[jukebox]

Five minutes will be saved in the registration process.
Relatives of the Deceased can anticipate signing a computer generated sheet at the Register Office, which will contain the last personal details of their loved ones.

My father died in 1999 and the registrar entered the details into a computer and printed off the certificate.

My daughter married in 2001 but they did sign a register.

Jukebox

[Mair]

Having unfortunately had recent experience of registering a death, the current practice is to enter the details into the computer which prints off the copies of the death certificate entry.

The original certificate was completed with the now legendary indelible ink, by a registrar's hand.  What this registrar told us was that it was going to one of the last entries in "ink" as it is this part of the registration that is now being allowed to be generated from the information that is already in the system for the copies to be printed.  It is this time of handwriting an original certificate that is apparently being "removed" to make the process more efficient.

Efficiency - 'mmmm now where have we heard that before.........

Jude

[mtp123]

First of all a big apology to Springbok for my earlier reply.  I can only claim it was a Senior Moment or I want my eyes testing.

  Re Birth and Death Registers the 26th March is the date for the change in most offices although it has already been piloted in some areas  and  a few  areas have dates of either 12th or 19th March and 1st April.

Marriage registers will continue to be used, for now, until there is a change in legislation that would also apply to registrations by clergy and a authorised person.

[Springbok]

No Worries mtp, join the club!

Just seems to me that ,as usual, 'improvement's' means the opposite.

Spring

[MrsLizzy]

I remember some years ago when I was being prepared for confirmation by my parish priest, who'd been the incumbent in that particular parish for 25 years.  He decided to give all the confirmands a tour of the church, including the vestry.  He explained what each part of the vestments symbolised, pointed out all the architecture etc.  Inside the vestry, I saw a bottle of ink sitting on his desk.  "What's that for?" I asked.  He said it was special ink that he was supposed to use for all certificates and records of baptisms, burials and marriages.   This special ink would mean that the record would last for a hundred years or more. But he said he couldn't be bothered to use it, so he always just used a biro. 

No doubt you can all imagine my face turning various shades of puce to purple, before I went off like a firework!