One of the goals which we set ourselves when starting the One Name Group, was to assemble all the Lin(d)field entries from the General Register Office (GRO) index of births, at least up to about 1920. To this end, we have collected as much material as we can find from members own records, and are continuing to transcribe the indexes for those years which are not already covered. We have been fortunate to find one or two willing volunteers to carry out some of the work. Bob Gold, for example, has kindly transcribed all of the 1870’s and 80’s.

So far the coverage of the births index is as follows:

In those years where we have more than one transcript, we are checking for differences in the hope of picking up any errors. Eventually, we would like to double-check all the entries, though this may take a little longer! If anyone has transcripts of the indexes which they have not yet copied to us, we would be very grateful for copies of these and will refund copying and postage costs. Similarly, if any member would be willing to copy out the entries for some of the missing years, I would be interested to hear from them. This can be done at St Catherine’s House itself, where the indexes are in book form, or alternatively, you can search the indexes on microfilm at one of the Family History Centres operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons).

Each birth entry is entered into the computer database as a new person, unless it can be matched with someone for whom details are already stored. The date of birth is shown as the quarter in which the birth was registered, though this is frequently found to be the quarter following the birth. Where an accurate date of birth is already known, we simply add the place of registration and the reference number. When all the entries have been collected and, where possible, checked, we will publish the list showing the name, date or quarter of birth/registration, and the place of birth or registration. One possibility being considered, is to include the GRO data in a “Master Index” listing all the Lin(d)field births for which we have evidence. This would then include births which had been deduced from parish registers, census returns, memorial inscriptions, telephone and street directories, and would include all the Lin(d)field records in the database. At the time of writing this would amount to over 2000 records.