GRO problems getting certificates

[ann56]

Hi everyone,
During the last few weeks I have been trying to further my research on my tree by finding and sending for birth/death certs from the Gro.
unfortunately the last three requests have been refunded with the explanation this person could not be found at this ref.
With the help of the forum these refs have been checked and we are all coming up with the original ones I applied with, I have been in touch with Gro by phone and they say they will re check as sometimes the wrong ref is given but I find it strange that I would make a mistake 3 times has anyone else come across this prob
Ann

[margaretmarch]

I haven't had that problem but someone else on here said they had and it was suggested that they contacted the local Register Office with the details - not the GRO ref from the index - and asked them to check their records.
It seems the system is that local register entries are transcribed and sent to GRO who give the index number so I guess there is scope for error - but 3 seesm a bit excessive!

Margaret

[ann56]

I haven't had that problem but someone else on here said they had and it was suggested that they contacted the local Register Office with the details - not the GRO ref from the index - and asked them to check their records.
It seems the system is that local register entries are transcribed and sent to GRO who give the index number so I guess there is scope for error - but 3 seesm a bit excessive!

Margaret

Thank you Margaret
You helped me before and you actually found me two of the ref,s I was looking for so I am mystifed as to why they can,t find the person for me I will try the local RO but as you say for three to fail seems strange
Ann

[Olde Crone Holden]

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but are you sure that you selected the correct event (for instance!). As Margaret says, three refusals does seem unusual.

OC

[Christine in Herts]

It's all too easy to put something inaccurate in with a moment's inattention. My usual would be to transpose characters, so that 213 became 123, say, or 312 - or something similar with letters. In another case, I managed to put an incorrect Quarter in for the date.

Christine

[ann56]

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but are you sure that you selected the correct event (for instance!). As Margaret says, three refusals does seem unusual.

OC

Yes I have checked this one was for a death and two for a births I will check yet again tho before I contact the local RO,s

[Glen in Tinsel Knickers]

Local Reg Office won't use the GRO ref, their indexing is competely different, what they will ask for is as much as you can tell them;

Name, district (some counties are now archived centrally), year, date (or quarter), plus any details such as parents etc. The more you can tell them the better but in a lot of cases the local registrars are pretty good at chasing down records if some details are a bit hazy.

Our ref library has some useful pages relating to local office issued certificates.

[Christine in Herts]

Have you checked whether the one you need is amongst the local ROs which do online BMD cert applications?

This page (http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/local_bmd) is a good place to look.

Sometimes their indexes have extra details that the GRO index doesn't have.

Christine