Unfortunately, my local Local Records Office is terrible. Pretty unhelpful over the phone and no matter how many times I've requested photocopies of certificates I've always got modern rewritten ones with really ugly modern handwriting. That almost 'bubble' writing that some women* do - if that makes sense. They're not keen on people turning up in person either.

Other places have been better and have sent photocopies which I much prefer because I get to see signatures or 'marks' &c.

Liz The Squeak wrote:"I managed to get back 214 years without spending a penny, other than on paper and pencils. Admittedly, I did still live within 20 miles of where my family originated and actually in the town where the archived records were kept, but it was a lot more informative than just ticking off certificates".

Well, yes, if it's on the doorstep I think everyone would do it that way. ;) But, as you know, not everyone is that lucky. Unfortunately for me, a lot of my ancestors lived in a tiny area divided slap bang on top of three county boundaries and so the Local Records Offices are in very different areas. I've got something like 60 years of the same family living in 4 counties but not actually moving that far in terms of miles. Yet the relevant records offices are all over.

The only time I dropped lucky was when some of the Cheshire-related ones were kept in Manchester Central Library and could play about with the reels and microfiche.



*Yeah, I know some blokes write like they've got a crayon between their teeth too - it's not a misogynist thing.