Availability of Parish Registers

[DavidG02]

After 1837 data became a bit more centralised, but it could still hardly be seen as an announcement to the nation, and I wonder just how much those indexes were searched then. 

You would be surprised. Genealogy didn't start in the 20th century. A quick perusal through many historical magazines will highlight letters that show people were wandering the countryside looking in parish records and then publishing , whether like Phillimore in book form , or letters to magazines

[jaybelnz]

I think the argument about preventing Identity Theft is very 21st-century.

This actually is the 21st Century! And identity theft has gone on way back before then! 

[IMBER]

At this stage of my life, that is actually being alive, I certainly wouldn't be very happy if my marriage - and divorce details - were available to the public without proper and thorough legal authentication. (The divorce details were obviously added by the authorities at the time of the divorce). We are living in an era of Identity Theft, and I believe we need to be very conscious of that fact. There are six people fully named on my marriage cert, and with addresses, mine, my husband, and both sets of parents.

I actually don't believe Parish Records under 100 years should be publically online either!  Much as I would like them to be! 

So where do you stand on copies of statutory BMD records being available to the general public?

Imber

[jaybelnz]

Non historical BDM's here in NZ already have restrictions on them if they are within certain time frames. Proof of connection is usually required when ordering the record - that's what I've had to do here in NZ with a couple of non - historical records.  Don't actually have a problem with that!

[andycand]

So where do you stand on copies of statutory BMD records being available to the general public?

Imber

I don't believe that non-historical certificates should be available to the general public. I don't see why anybody should be able to get a copy of my English birth certificate without my permission. Australia has strict laws about access to certificates, you can't get a copy of my marriage certificate without my permission, I can't even get a copy of my adult childrens birth certificates without their permission.

Andy

[bugbear]

These seems to be an important distinction between information being "available to the public", and information being "available, on the internet, indexed, searchable and free of charge, to the public".

  BugBear

[Guy Etchells]

So where do you stand on copies of statutory BMD records being available to the general public?

Imber

I don't believe that non-historical certificates should be available to the general public. I don't see why anybody should be able to get a copy of my English birth certificate without my permission. Australia has strict laws about access to certificates, you can't get a copy of my marriage certificate without my permission, I can't even get a copy of my adult childrens birth certificates without their permission.

Andy

Why not it has been legal in England & Wales since 1836 and has worked perfectly well for the last 178 or so years?

Here in the UK we are an open society which does not have a law of privacy.
It is part of being free that we have the liberty to access such records.

Cheers
Guy

[Andrew Tarr]

Why not - it has been legal in England & Wales since 1836 and has worked perfectly well for the last 178 or so years?  Here in the UK we are an open society which does not have a law of privacy.
It is part of being free that we have the liberty to access such records.

I suppose it has worked, but only recently has it been so easy for 'anyone' to get copies.  I imagine the providers needed to get a return on their investment and restrictions were inconvenient.  Before digitised indexing it required lots of time and sleuthing to get anywhere, and only then if searchers knew what they were doing.  I have obtained several copies of certificates for harmless purposes, but I can easily see that some of their descendants might not like it.  Some people get quite irate if their Email addresses are included on large mailshots, for instance.

[Old Bristolian]

Andrew - I think you're confusing a "private" email address which you are dntitled to keep to yourself with a public record (BMD certificate or Census entry) which by it's nature should be open to everyone. I can't object to a stranger viewing a record which was made as a matter of law

Steve