After having a great Summer filled with lots of fun activities with my 2 small kids, I'm back with some sad genealogical news. Apparently the Family Records Center in London is to close next year BUT all of the birth, marriage and death indexes (1837-2007) will be removed on 27 October 2007 prior to next year's closure.

I am not sure why the FRC is closing. Every time I am there it is jam packed (my last visit was in 2004). I can only assume that because indexes are online (albeit for a fee) that they have determined that the center is no long cost effective.

This is the end of an era as the FRC (back then St. Catherine's House) was how I first got into genealogy in 1990-3 when I attended University in London. I used to visit the center regularly to do my family history research and without this center I doubt I would have ever stumbled into this fascinating and enjoyable hobby.

For those of you interested in this amazing resource, most of the records have been transcribed and are available for free on http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/ or http://www.ancestry.com/.

If you don't have access to the Internet, many Family History Centers have actual reproductions (not transcriptions) of the index on microfilm and microfiche on site and if your local FHC doesn't have the index you are looking for it can be ordered in from the main library in Salt Lake City which has them all.