BMDindex new features

The indexing for S&N's online indexes to the GRO BMD indexes is nearing completion with Births back to 1837 available now and other events expected to be indexed and online by the end of February*. The indexing of the pre-1984 page images is by full forename and surname, which means that for all but the commonest names you will only have to view four page images to search a full year.

Their indexing of the post-1984 data is considerably better than the 1837online version, as searching for a name will not just bring a message saying that 'there are 20 occurrences which will cost you 20 credits to view'.

Your free search results on BMDindex contain most of the entry details and for instance a search for a birth will provide everything but the mother's maiden name and the volume and page references. So you can be fairly certain it is the correct entry before you use your one credit to buy the full record to order your certificate.

The new Smart Search which works with the post-1984 records has been extended and its features enable you to instantly find the other children born to the same parents; the likely page for the birth certificate of someone from their death entry and the reverse look up of spouses to establish their forenames as well as surnames.

The Surname Distribution Mapping features have been extended too, and using statistics supplied by the GRO you can now map surname distributions by county, over a variety of periods.

www.bmdindex.co.uk