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yes. that could well be him. his farm was called Gumtree, in East London (south africa- close to Port Elizabeth) and my great great grandmother Elise Bode born in Germany - part of the German Settlers to South Africa

????

The image actually says Mr. Eli Pearce and he's a farmer

Name: Mrs Eli Pearse
Birth Date: abt 1840
Age: 51
Port of Departure: Delagoa Bay, Mozambique
Arrival Date: 18 Jun 1891
Port of Arrival: Southampton, England
Ports of Voyage: Natal
[Port Elizabeth]
[Cape Town]
Ship Name: Arab
Search Ship Database: View the 'Arab' in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Official Number: 86336

thank you to all for your invaluable assistance . Deeply appreciated

In the UK, one rego's births and deaths at the local subdistrict office, e.g. Trowbridge.
At the end of each quarter, the subdistrict would make a copy of all their Bs & Ds that quarter and send it to the district office along with any full registers, e.g., Melksham, where the district superintendent would check them over, and send them, along with those from his other subdistricts, to the national office - the GRO in the case of England/Wales.
Marriages are handled similarly, except the copies come from the churches and are held at the district office, and an extra copy is made for the GRO.

One can buy BMD certs from either the local office that holds the regos, or the national office that holds the copies.
The GRO is usually the most convenient, especially if you're outside the UK.
http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/

Some local offices have their own indexes online, see http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/local_bmd
The index of interest here is:
http://www.wiltshirebmd.org.uk/

The local ref must contain 3 elements:
a code identifying the subdistrict (or church);
a sequence # identifying which rego is used for that subdistrict/church;
a page # or entry # locating the entry in the rego.

Local indexes usually use an entry # for marrs, so one knows who wed whom.
WiltsBMD use an entry # for their Bs & Ds too.

Clearly, the index needs the name, but what extra identifying info the index contains is variable.
WiltsBMD includes the mum's maiden surname on births pre-1911q3, the spouse (and not just their surname) pre-1912, and the age at death pre-1866, so it's always useful to check this index (when applicable) as well as the GRO index.
WiltsBMD also indexes births by year of birth, rather than quarter of registration.
Since one has 6 w to rego a birth in England/Wales, this can lead to some apparent differences with late December births (see Thelma's post re Jemima)

Wiltshire Birth indexes for the years:
Surname Forename(s) Sub-District Registers At Mother's Maiden Name Reference
1837 PEARCE Eli Trowbridge History Centre PARSONS TROW/1/110
1839 PEARCE Ephram Trowbridge History Centre PARSONS TROW/2/472
1842 PEARCE Martha Trowbridge History Centre PARSONS TROW/4/364
1846 PEARCE Jemima Trowbridge History Centre PARSONS TROW/8/282

https://familysearch.org/

I wonder if this is Jane
Parish Records Collection burial
Printer friendly version

First name(s): Jane

Last name: PEARCE

Date of burial 25 Jan 1818
Age at death: 37
Calculated year of birth: 1781
Place of burial Hilperton
Dedication: St Michael
County: Wiltshire
Notes:
Hilperton St Michael:
Denomination: Anglican

Coverage 1622 - 1837
Number of entries: 2,305

Robert
Parish Records Collection burial
Printer friendly version

First name(s): Robert

Last name: PEARCE

Date of burial 14 Jan 1816

Age at death: 42

Calculated year of birth: 1774

Place of burial Hilperton

Dedication: St Michael

County: Wiltshire

Notes:
Hilperton St Michael:

Denomination: Anglican

Coverage 1622 - 1837

Number of entries: 2,305

Record source: National Burial Index

Data provider: Wiltshire Family History Society

Day:16

Month:Nov

Year:1800

Forenames:James

Surname:PEARCE

Fathers forenames:Robert

Occupation:

Mothers forenames:Jane

Birth day:

Birth month:

Birth year:

Abode:

Place:Hilperton

Description:

County:Wiltshire

Country:England

Notes:

Record source:Wiltshire Baptisms (pre-1852)
Find out more

Data provider:Wiltshire Family History Society

Transcriptions © Wiltshire Family History Society

from this site
Hilperton Genealogy Resources & Parish Registers | Wiltshire ...
forebears.co.uk/england/wiltshire/hilperton

See All Birth & Baptism Records for Hilperton ... Deceased Online (1629-Present)
... The parish registers of Hilperton provide details of births, marriages and ...

parents marraige
Name: James Pearce
Birth Date:
Birthplace:
Age:
Spouse's Name: Sarah Parsons Sims
Spouse's Birth Date:
Spouse's Birthplace:
Spouse's Age:
Event Date: 26 Sep 1827
Event Place: Hilperton, Wiltshire, England
Father's Name:
Mother's Name:
Spouse's Father's Name:
Spouse's Mother's Name:
Race:
Marital Status:
Previous Wife's Name:
Spouse's Race:
Spouse's Marital Status:
Spouse's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M15479-1
System Origin: England-EASy
GS Film number: 1279404
Reference ID: item 11-12

can be found on this free site

Explore Billions of Historical Records — FamilySearch.org
familysearch.org/search

his siblings baptisms are on theire

Maddie

1851
PEARCE, James Head W M 50 1801 Woolen Cloth Weaver
Hilperton, Wiltshire, England VIEW
PEARCE, Sarah Daughter Unmarried F 20 1831 -
Hilperton, Wiltshire, England VIEW
PEARCE, Richard Son M 16 1835 Shoemaker
Hilperton, Wiltshire, England VIEW
PEARCE, Eli Son M 14 1837 Joiner
Hilperton, Wiltshire, England VIEW
PEARCE, Ephraim Son M 12 1839 -
Hilperton, Wiltshire, England VIEW
PEARCE, Martha Daughter F 9 1842 Scholar
Hilperton, Wiltshire, England VIEW
PEARCE, Isaac Son M 7 1844 Scholar
Hilperton, Wiltshire, England VIEW
PEARCE, Jemima Daughter F 5 1846 Scholar
Hilperton, Wiltshire, England VIEW

Piece: 1840

Folio: 253

Page: 18

Registration District: Melksham

Civil Parish: Hilperton

Municipal Borough:

Address: Hilperton, Hilperton

County: Wiltshire
refine search back to 1851 census search results

1841 census
PEARCE, James M 40 1801 Wiltshire VIEW
PEARCE, Sarah F 38 1803 Wiltshire VIEW
PEARCE, Sarah F 10 1831 Wiltshire VIEW
PEARCE, Robert M 8 1833 Wiltshire VIEW
PEARCE, Richard M 5 1836 Wiltshire VIEW
PEARCE, Eli M 4 1837 Wiltshire VIEW
PEARCE, Ephraim M 1 1840 Wiltshire VIEW

Piece: 1182

Book/Folio: 2/22

Page: 4

Registration District: Melksham

Civil Parish: Hilperton

Municipal Borough:

Address: Hilperton, Hilperton

County: Wiltshire

baptism

Name: Eli Pearce
Gender: Male
Christening Date: 04 Feb 1838
Christening Place: Hilperton, Wiltshire, England
Birth Date:
Birthplace:
Death Date:
Name Note:
Race:
Father's Name: James Pearce
Father's Birthplace:
Father's Age:
Mother's Name: Sarah
Mother's Birthplace:
Mother's Age:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C02748-4
System Origin: England-EASy
GS Film number: 1279404
Reference ID: item 14

Buy a cert for a younger sibling?

England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 about Jemima Pearce
Name: Jemima Pearce
Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1847
Registration District: Melksham
Inferred County: Wiltshire
Volume: 8
Page: 395
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Are you sure of birth year? More likely 1837.
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 about Eli Pearce
Name: Eli Pearce
Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1837
Registration District: Melksham
Inferred County: Wiltshire
Volume: 8
Page: 287