‘ALL IRELAND SOURCES NEWSLETTER’
Editor: Terry Eakin, 334 Burns Bay Road, LANE COVE, NSW 2066
Contact E-mail address: tea04055@bigpond.net.au ISSN 1443-5888
Volume 12, No. 10 October 2010
Introduction: ‘All Ireland Sources’ is a monthly newsletter distributed free by E-mail to Family History Societies and
interested researchers near the end of each month. Distribution by Australia Post each three months (three issues) costs $6.00
annually within Australia. The aim is to bring items of interest regarding Irish record sources to the Australian genealogist.
The editor would appreciate being made aware of records relating to the Irish, particularly those held in Australia or new in
the LDS Family History Library. Back copies available free for downloading from www.sag.org.au
UK 1939 National Register - Latest Update [from C. I. G. O.]:
The Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations’ continues with its campaign to obtain full
access to data recorded about deceased persons from the United Kingdom’s war time National
Register. After high profile campaigns led by renowned professional genealogists Steven Smyrl
(CIGO’s executive liaison officer) and Guy Etchells, at the end of last year the National Health
Service Information Centre (NHSIC) finally conceded a public right of access to data from the
National Register. It introduced its ‘1939 National Register Cost Recovery Service’, but then
astounded all by disclosing only the data as recorded on the 29th September 1939 and continuing to
withhold subsequent annotations to the register about dates of death and changes of surname. The
NHSIC invoked section 44(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which is an absolute bar
based upon the premise that some other piece of existing legislation provides an exemption against
disclosure. The NHSIC held that such a bar to disclosure was contained in section 42(4) of the
Statistics
and
Registration
Service
Act
2007.
However, CIGO believed otherwise and in June decided to challenge the NHSIC’s policy. We
requested disclosure of the date of death from the National Register for a Mr. Theophilus Collins
Baldwin who was born in Ramsgate, Kent on the 9th October 1847, which made him born 163 years
ago! We were aware that Mr. Baldwin was said to have lived to a very great age. In due course the
NHSIC refused our application and in turn we appealed to the UK Information Commissioner. On
CIGO’s behalf the Information Commissioner approached the NHSIC and indicated that by the 17th
September 2010 they must either disclose the requested data or apply the exemption and then await
the
Commissioner’s
adjudication
in
the
form
of
a
Decision
Notice.
At the very last minute, on the 17 September 2010, the NHSIC disclosed that Mr. Baldwin died on the
24th January 1948, aged 100 years. In their letter the NHSIC indicated that “in future any requests for
information about date and place of death, where we hold this information, will be part of the 1939
National Register Cost Recovery Service”. Given this, CIGO advises that in future when using the
Cost Recovery Service specific mention should always be made by the applicant that they
require
all
data
noted
in
the
National
Register.
In communication with the NHSIC the Information Commissioner stated clearly that he was of the
opinion that “section 42(4) [of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007] is irrelevant when it
comes to considering whether disclosure would be prohibited [by that Act]”. Further, he questioned
the NHSIC’s interpretation of the term ‘personal data’ indicating that “the Commissioner’s definition
of ‘personal data’ requires that information must relate to an identifiable living individual.
Information about the deceased does not constitute personal data”. In its response the NHSIC
admitted that its reliance upon section 44(1) of the FOIA was wrong and that the requested data
should not have been withheld. The Information Commissioner’s Good Practice Team has now been
called in to work with the NHSIC to “improve its general request handling”.
CIGO’s success is yet a further validation of its public access policy regarding the National Register
and clearly demonstrates how the Freedom of Information Act 2000 can be successfully utilised to the
benefit of genealogists.
New Board for National Library of Ireland: Mary Hanafin, TD., Minister for Tourism,
Culture and Sport today (Wednesday 22ndSeptember, 2010) announced the appointment of a new
Board of Directors for the National Library of Ireland. The appointments made by the Minister are as
follows:
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‘ALL IRELAND SOURCES NEWSLETTER’
Mr. David Harvey Chairman
Chief Executive of City Channel Ltd, Ireland. Chairman of the national St Patrick’s Day Festival
organisation and recently assumed the Chairmanship of Dublin Contemporary 2011.
Prof. Diarmaid Ferriter
Author, historian and university lecturer, Professor of Modern Irish History at University College
Dublin.
Dr. Marian Fitzgibbon
Head of the School of Humanities in Athlone Institute of Technology.
Mr. Brian Halpin – FCCA.
Former Deputy DG and Secretary of the Central Bank of Ireland.
Mr. Patrick McMahon
Galway City and County Librarian, former President of the Library Association of Ireland
Ms. Carol Maddock
Information Systems National Library of Ireland. Nominated by the staff of the National Library.
Mr. Des Marnane
Historian, writer and teacher. Hon. Sec. Tipperary Historical Society.
Mrs Susan Philips
Lecturer involved in community and rural affairs. Nominee and Council Member of Royal Dublin
Society.
Ms. Pat Quinn
Secondary school teacher of English and History.
Mr. Paul Rellis
Managing Director of Microsoft Ireland.
Mr. H. Paul Shovlin
Company director, business consultant. Nominee and Council Member of Royal Dublin Society.
Prof. Robert Spoo
Robert Spoo is a member of the faculty at The University of Tulsa College of Law. He has a law
doctorate from Yale University and a Ph.D in English from Princeton University. His particular
expertise is in copyright, trademark and intellectual property.
Announcing the new board members Minister Hanafin said ''I am extremely pleased that these very
experienced and talented people have agreed to serve on the Board of the National Library of Ireland.
They will form the second Board to be appointed since the Library became an autonomous body in
2005. The new Board Members possess a range of exceptional skills and experience that can be used
to steer and improve the fortunes of what is one of Irelands premier and venerable national cultural
institutions, in difficult times. The role of our national cultural institutions, like the National Library,
was never more critical. The skills set of these new members will assist the Library in using new
technology, understanding copyright issues and linking into local and national library users.”
The appointments are made for a five year period, subject to progress on restructuring between the
National Library, the National Archives and the Irish Manuscripts Commission. In announcing the
new Board, Minister Hanafin paid special tribute to the work of the outgoing Board under the
Chairmanship of Gerard Danaher, S.C.
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‘ALL IRELAND SOURCES NEWSLETTER’
GRONI:
The General Register Office of Northern Ireland (GRONI) has announced that
it is to extend its public searchroom in both size and the number of PC terminals available for
public access. In future, the searchroom will have over twenty public computer positions thus
negating the constant need to book weeks in advance. Also, GRONI has completed the first stage
of its computerisation project. The Northern Ireland Birth Indexes now note mothers'
maiden surnames for every entry from when registration first began in 1864.
The Minister for Finance & Personnel, Sammy Wilson MLA, has informed CIGO that the delay to the
passing of the Civil Registration Bill 2007 relates to various amendments which need to be made to
the Bill on foot of other legislation which has been passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly since the
Bill was commenced in 2007. Once the required changes have been identified and drafted, the Bill
will continue through its parliamentary procedures.
As soon as these additional computer terminals are installed, a local Belfast person or overseas visitor
will be able to access these indexes in the GRONI office and get the correct birth record index (if the
mother’s name is known) and purchase the correct certificate. These terminals should also allow the
user (of the indexes on the terminal) to locate all the children born to a particular mother in counties
Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone from 1 January 1864 to 31 December
1921 and from 1922 in Northern Ireland (same six counties) to the cut-off date of the index. I think
this is 1959 but I may be wrong. The announcement was made on 19 June 2010.
GRONI:
GRONI holds civil birth, adoption, death, marriage and civil partnership
records. It also maintains a public search room where you can search computerised indexes.
The index provides name, date and place of event.
Registration indexes held by GRONI:






Births registered in Northern Ireland from 1 January 1864
Adoptions recorded in the Adopted Children Register Northern Ireland from 1 January 1931
Deaths registered in Northern Ireland from 1 January 1864
Non-Roman Catholic marriages from 1 April 1845 and all marriages from 1 January 1864
Civil Partnerships registered in Northern Ireland from 5 December 2005
World War II death indexes from 1939 to 1945
Book a place in the GRONI public search room:
GRONI has a limited number of spaces in
the public search room, and can only permit one person per terminal. You are advised to book
an appointment as we cannot guarantee that a place will be available on a particular day if you
have not made a prior reservation. Please note that children under 16 years of age cannot be
admitted to the room.
To book the above services please telephone 101 9151 3101 (if calling from within NI) or 028 9151
3101 or email: gro.nisra@dfpni.gov.uk
On arrival, you will be asked to produce some form of ID, preferably photographic, such as a driving
licence or passport. Laptops are permitted in the Public Search Room but must be battery operated as
no external power sources are available.
Type of searches available at GRONI:
Assisted Search:
General search of records assisted by members of GRONI staff for any period
of years and any number of entries. The cost of this service is £26.00 per hour. Appointments are
available in 1 hour slots.
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‘ALL IRELAND SOURCES NEWSLETTER’
Index Search:
Computerised indexes are available for searching at a cost of £12.00 for up
to 6 hours on the day of the booking. This cost includes 4 verifications of entries by staff, with the
option of further verifications at £3.00 each. An index search is when you can see the index only, if
verification is requested a member of staff will look up the register and read the entry to you.
Copies of certificates available from GRONI:
Copies of certificates relating to any
entries traced may be purchased at a cost of £6.00 each but cannot be provided immediately.
The certificates can either be collected from the GRONI or posted to the applicant.
If an application is received before 2.30 pm, and an additional priority fee of £17.00 is paid,
the certificate will be provided within 1 hour of application.
Request a search of the registration indexes:
If you are looking for information but are
not able to visit the GRO public search room, you can apply for a search of the registration
indexes by selecting 'search only' on the certificate application form. The fee for a search is
£6.00 for each 5 year period, or part of each 5 year period.
A letter containing the results of the search will be sent to the applicant by post. If an entry matching
the information given is found, the letter will provide details of the entry, including the name(s)
entered in the register, the place where the event took place or Registration District and the date of the
event. The name, date and place of event are required to obtain a search.
GRONI search room opening hours:
The search room is open between 9.30 am and
4.00 pm (except on the first Tuesday of every month, when the office opens at 10.00 am to
facilitate staff training). Staff are unavailable for assistance between 12.00 noon and 12.30 pm
and members of the public reporting for a search will not be admitted to the search room during
this time. Staff are unable to provide verifications of entries after 3.15 pm.
PRONI Will Calendars:
Go to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland website at
www.proni.gov.uk
and from the home page select Will Calendars and from the Will Calendars
page click on the button near the top right labelled “Search the Will Calendars” beside a magnifying
glass.
The search box comes up and you can put in as little or as much information as you know. Search
using one or more of the fields below is the simple instruction.
Surname:
Forename
Registry:
Default setting is all There are three (3) Belfast, Armagh and Londonderry.
Date of Death:
Year, Month and day
Date of Grant:
Year, Month and Day
Full Abstract: with match options
Results per page: 10 is the default. This can be set to 20, 30, 40 or 50.
This application provides a fully searchable index to the will calendar entries for the three District
Probate Registries of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry, with the facility to view the entire will
calendar entry for each successful search. The database covers the period 1858-1919 and 1922-1943.
Part of 1921 has been added, with remaining entries for 1920-1921 to follow in the near future.
Digitised images of entries from the copy will books covering the period 1858-1900 are now available
online, allowing users to view the full content of a will. 93,388 will images are now available to
view. Images are not available for some and for all after 1900 as at 17 Dec 2010.
Articles, suggestions and information for this newsletter are welcome and may be E-mailed to:
tea04055@bigpond.net.au or posted to Terry Eakin, 334 Burns Bay Road, Lane Cove NSW AUSTRALIA 2066
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