The Registrar General’s Department (RGD) has rebranded and relaunched its Genealogical Search, as the Outtamany Search, which will provide Jamaicans with information about their ancestral background.

Outtamany Search provides a detailed history of a person’s family background, with historical information about cause of death through generations and origins of a family, while also helping Jamaicans discover family members who are unknown.

The RGD, which had made the decision to suspend its Genealogical Search in the summer of 2022, due to challenges the department was facing, relaunched the service yesterday (December 7).

At the launch, Floyd Green, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, stated that, as Jamaicans, “we do not spend enough time to learn our own story”.

He added that, “with our rich history of many people, coming from many places, to the best place, we all have an interesting and enthralling family story, a story that we all should know”.

The name Outtamany references Jamaica’s motto, noted Green, which is a representation of the diverse culture and people of the country.

On a visit to Scotland, Green shared that he discovered he has Scottish roots, and he wants to offer Jamaicans the same opportunity to know more about themselves.

Charlton McFarlane, chief executive officer of the RGD, shared the same sentiments, listing the various services that the Outtamany Search provides.

“Some of the new features of this rebranded product include a story book output of the research, with both the ancestral view and the descendant view,” stated McFarlane.

Customers will also receive electronic access to the Gleaner archives and Ancestry.com to ensure that the searches are as comprehensive and complete as possible.

He added that information gathered from the search can also be used to settle disputes over Wills and Deeds when situations arise questioning a person’s lineage.

Green also shared that this service falls under the RGD’s digitisation journey, which will see the department taking young people from the Heart Trust NTA, training them to lead the digitisation programme.

“At the end of the project, they will be certified and we expect to take them into the government system to help other agencies and other ministries in relation to their digitisation projects,” he shared.

Jamaicans who are interested in learning more about their family history can complete the RGD application form online or in branch and pay the relevant fees.

The research will cost J$1,500 per hour, if done by the RGD, and J$2,000 per hour if done by genealogists and historians. A minimum of three search hours is required.

An additional J$500 can also be paid for an authenticated copy of entries located for birth, death and marriage records.

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