A tenner for OPR certificates! .....

Rab · Post by **Rab** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 12:42 pm

@JustJean- Cheers. I certainly am challenged at the moment. One one sleeps the other doesn't. Except for this 15 minute spell.

@Malcolm- Thanks for that information. That sounds very good indeed. One of the OPR marriage certificates I purchased was for Dunfermline. I could have saved myself a bit of cash there. I'll no doubt have other relatives in Fifa so that's good to know and I will look into an equivilant for the old Lanark area.

@DavidWW- Thanks very much for that insight. It would appear my knowledge of the process was not as clear but as I thought. I can see what you mean about the difficulty in obtaining the correct entry. Maybe I've been a bit spoiled with online images at SP and would love to see a similar setup for the OPR records with the same pricing structure. When it comes down to it though I have about 8 or 9 entries to acquire at the moment and £80-90 is just not affordable for what I would get in return. Thankfully though plenty of cheaper alternatives have been posted.

DIGROS is great but as you pointed out is limited to the years on SP. I never knew that before going to New Register house. I had taken money with me that I didn't need but I did need my pad and pen. It was well worth it though despite the sore wrist.

Thanks again to everybody who has posted.

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:24 pm

Rab wrote:..............snipped....... Maybe I've been a bit spoiled with online images at SP and would love to see a similar setup for the OPR records with the same pricing structure. When it comes down to it though ........ snipped .........

It's coming, it's coming, and should have been here by now!!

In fact, as far as I'm aware, the OPRs have now been converted to digitised images, - and high quality ones at that, - greyscale at least, - but when GROS started to look into the linking of existing index entries to these images they started to run across problem after problem.

After investing considerable effort in looking at various possible workarounds, GROS could only conclude that they had to bite the bullet and decide to re-index the whole of the OPR................

If it is decided to release the digitised images on a county by county basis then some counties should appear on SP in mid/late 2006 ........

David

Post by **Tracey** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 11:33 pm

lbathgate wrote: Sometimes I've found the OPR info on the original can hold small clues which are not shown elsewhere in summaries of the content - e.g. a father's occupation, if mentioned, can confirm and cross-reference with other mentions you may have found of the family, or the name of a farm or area can help you work out where they lived.

.................am i missing something here ? all the OPR,S i have ordered from S/P have literally had on them who got married and when ! The only time there has been mention of parents, occupations or address is after 1855. I have had a lot of help from local studies groups but none so far have been able to give me anymore info than whats been on the OPR,S.

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 12:03 am

Hi Tracey
I've obviously just struck it lucky a few times (or had considerate relatives??

) Here are a couple of examples of what I was referring to:

February 5th 1741
Was born "so-and-so" son to "so-and-so", brewer at Balmalcolm and "so-and-so" his spouse and baptised the 8th [looks like] yeafter ? the whole congregation.

1753
"so-and-so"weaver in Yardheads of Leith and "so-and-so"his spouse A.S.N "so-and-so" born 31st May baptised 3rd June with Thomas McLaren and Will Logan in Leith.

Several years later it seems our man has gone up in the world...
1767
"so-and-so"Merchant in Leith and "so-and-so" his spouse A.D.N "so-and-so" born 25th baptised 26th February 1767 witnesses Thomas Hadaway Brewer and John Hadaway Merchant there.

Then a later marriage;
January 1777
"so-and-so"Carpenter, North Leith and "so-and-so"daughter of "so-and-so" Merchant in Leith after proclamations of bands [typed as seen] were married February 26th 1777.

best wishes
Lesley

Post by **Tracey** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 12:19 am

Hello Lesley

I have a few marriages and births and they do have witness names on them of which few have lead to anywhere ( one birth has fathers occupation and that turned out to be a wrong certificate !) . Maybe if i spent a few more tenners i might get lucky as well

just jealous really

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 6:31 pm

Hi Tracey

Although I have spent a few tenners on copies of OPR entries, mostly I have seen OPR entries on microfilm. If the OPR has been for England for example, I have had to order and pay for it through my local LDS centre. I can't remember exactly how much it costs but I think its in the region of about £2-£3 or so. If its a Fife OPR I can see those locally for free. If its anywhere else in Scotland I can see those for next to nothing in Edinburgh - just the cost of the train fare really but it kinda depends if you manage to avoid popping into any shops whilst you are there....

Then I either just write down what I saw in the OPR or, if possible, have a print out from them, normally at a cost of about 20p.

No need to spend lots of tenners!! Save your money for something else like, er...other entries on SP?!

best wishes
Lesley

Rab · Post by **Rab** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:58 am

DavidWW wrote:
Rab wrote:..............snipped....... Maybe I've been a bit spoiled with online images at SP and would love to see a similar setup for the OPR records with the same pricing structure. When it comes down to it though ........ snipped .........
It's coming, it's coming, and should have been here by now!!

In fact, as far as I'm aware, the OPRs have now been converted to digitised images, - and high quality ones at that, - greyscale at least, - but when GROS started to look into the linking of existing index entries to these images they started to run across problem after problem.

After investing considerable effort in looking at various possible workarounds, GROS could only conclude that they had to bite the bullet and decide to re-index the whole of the OPR................

If it is decided to release the digitised images on a county by county basis then some counties should appear on SP in mid/late 2006 ........

David

That all sounds very good and very interesting too. I'm an impatient soul though so will be counting down the days. Thanks for the information David.

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 12:01 pm

Rab wrote:....snipped........That all sounds very good and very interesting too. I'm an impatient soul though so will be counting down the days. Thanks for the information David.

Rab

Keep an eye on the minutes of the User Group meetings on SP. There are 3, sometimes 4 meetings a year, with the minutes appearing 2 to 4 weeks after the date of each meeting.

David

Rab · Post by **Rab** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 12:04 pm

DavidWW wrote: Rab

Keep an eye on the minutes of the User Group meetings on SP. There are 3, sometimes 4 meetings a year, with the minutes appearing 2 to 4 weeks after the date of each meeting.

David

I'll keep an eye out for them. Cheers.

Rab