Findmypast (as an extension of GRO Scotland) is another matter, though.

I scanned a loose photo in my late father’s collection of a small boy on a beach at best resolution. In the background I spotted a hotel with a name and the name of the proprietor on its sign. A cross check with various Kelly’s Directories (I think I used Ancestry to do this) led me to Margate in Kent, and I was able to compare the photo with Google Street to confirm the location.

A little further research in parallel KDs for the area also pinned the date down to between about 1910 and 1930, as the owner’s name is not there outside these dates.

James

A couple of little details to add to your posting.

Firstly, I think you are correct in saying that there is a non-Anglican register for every parish. The reason I’m not entirely sure is that not all locations have a full set of register indexes.

Secondly, the non-Anglican registers for St Helier include not just the records for the non-Anglican churches but also any civil marriages performed by the Superintendent Registrar. Confusingly, the files are just labelled as “Register Office“.

Thirdly, the “district church” registers do not cover the whole period of the church’s existence. St Mark’s, for example, was dedicated in 1844 but until it became an independent benefice in 1917 marriages that took place there were registered in the St Helier Town Church register. In fact I think that there is one district church – St Paul’s – which has never been a fully independent benefice, and continues to use the Town Church book.

In these circumstances it’s worth checking who performed the marriage, as this may indicate which church the ceremony took place in. The same is, I believe, true of the registers of St Luke’s, where early marriages would be registered in the St Saviour parish book.

Cheers

James

A year or so ago FMP made an offer to people taking out continuous full membership (one that just rolls over year after year) of a 20% discount. The way this was worded was something close to “whatever happens you will always get your 20% discount”.

Alongside the price cuts, FMP have now said that the discount is being reduced from 20% to 10%. This does still mean that the discounted price is less than before (£98 rather than £104), but people are protesting this on what look to be reasonable grounds of breach of promise.

- not all communes put their tables decennales in the same volume as the actual records – some keep them separately.
- although the records are available, not all of them are free. The archive for the Calvados departement puts its census information and etat civil records behind a pay wall (albeit you can get a 2-day access into them for the princely sum of 2 euros). I hope to do some research into which other archives charge soon.