Do they HAVE to buy an image? Most people would want the image but it would have to be the right image and worth the cost. In the same way we think BMDs from the GRO are an excessive price, we need to be sure we are requesting the right certificate before we can make a decision as to whether we think the purchase is worth the cost. I have no concern about an organisation's profit margin!
No of course they don't have to buy an image but if they want to have an accurate tree and follow the correct lines rather than spurious lines then yes they do have to buy the images and certificates etc.
Look at how many inaccurate trees there are online many of which have been constructed from using online indexes instead of paying out and buying certificates etc.
This morning I was searching on Manchester City Council's Burial record search. I got a few possibilities but the initial search only gives you the name, burial date, cemetery name and plot number - all great information - if it's the right person! So I used the GRO index to search the death and found the person I thought could be right is too old, so I didn't continue and buy the image. Am I duping MCC? Do I feel ashamed? Certainly not! I am quite willing to buy a right image but I think I have too many brain cells to buy record after record that prove to be wrong. I am more concerned about my bank balance than anyone elses!
No but you could be duping yourself.
You are relying on an index to convince yourself that a burial record is the wrong one. It could be but it could also be the correct one and without either buying the certificate or checking the burial plot you will never know for certain.
That's how mistakes are made.
That's how trees show marriages before the first husband is dead or children being born after their father has died, etc.
People don't bother working through their tree looking for supporting records to add weight to their assumptions.
Too many are happy to take a birth certificate or a marriage certificate at face value rather than looking for supporting evidence to "prove" the connection.
Other's myself included are always looking for addition records to confirm our assumptions, even if the new record does not contain new information it provides useful confirmation, or it could throw up a doubt that needs checking.
That is why some of us prefer to get certificates from the Superintendent Registrar whenever we can rather than the GRO as there is less chance of an error.
Cheers
Guy
