data protection information

Data Protection Act 1998

The data we gather and hold is managed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, which requires us to disclose information only to the person about whom it was written.

We do not have a legal obligation to provide family history information to relatives and descendants. However, we feel strongly that we have a moral obligation to share information with descendants whose lives may have been significantly affected by separation and loss.

Consent

Because of the above, we require signed consent from either the person named in the records themselves, or their nearest surviving relative if the person is deceased.

Your Records

In order to help us identify your records, the Access to Personal Records application form should be completed in full.

Researching our archive

We will only provide information about you. We will not include any information about brothers and/or sisters who may have been at Spurgeons at the same time. This information is confidential to them and can only be provided to you with their consent or that of their nearest surviving relative.

Your Relative’s Records

Please remember to make it clear on the questionnaire for archive search enquiries Form A how you are related to the person signing the consent form. In order to help us identify your relative in our records, please complete Questionnaire for archive search enquiries Form B with as much factual information as possible.

Support

Reading your records and your family circumstances may prove painful and disturbing. We feel many events and decisions of the past need to be understood in the context of the child care standards and social conditions of many years ago.

It concerns us that in sending information in the post to you we are unable to provide either emotional support or explanations of the facts. We ask you therefore to think carefully about who will support you when you read the information we send.

Elderly Relatives

If you are enquiring on behalf of an elderly relative we would like to know if you could be there to support them when they receive their information, and whether after you have left they will have someone nearby with whom they could talk things over.