Genealogy Chat

OMG... I've been struggling for ages to join up my 'Jones' tree (first mistake joining up!) Guess what? it doesn't join!! I know you've read tips before but please do get confirmation from birth,marriage and death certs. I've tried every way to connect Solomon (who's family i've gone bk almost 150 yrs) to Benjamin (my Grt Grandad) and today the cert come and there's no connection aaaargh! Well back to the drawing board. Pamx

It's so frustrating isn't it!!

It sure is!! I also got a marriage cert for James Steel/ Ann Ingham and that's all i can read. So that not much help too. What a day, i always look forward to my certs arriving. Pamx

Hapiun Yes - ring the place you got the cert from and tell them you canot read it. They should either send you another copy, or send you a transcript of what it DOES say. OC

Thanks OC Got the cert from GRO can't make out anything but their names, date of marriage and the ages. Pamx

This is probably a silly question but if i rung up somewhere??? might there be a clearer view of the marriage cert? Pamx The marriage was registered in county of Lancs

If you ring up the GRO (if that's where you ordered the certificate from) and tell them you can't read the certificate they will usually send you a better copy or if they can't do that they will transcribe it for you. If you can scan the certificate and email it, I could try to read it for you. Kath. x

I recently ordered a birth cert from a local register office.Like others I have bought in the past, the details had been typed onto it by the person who looked it up for me. When it arrived, I could obviously read it perfectly, as it was typed, but I instantly knew that something was wrong. The baby's mother's maiden name had been put down as - MCKERSHAW - I knew this couldn't be right, as KERSHAW is an old Lancashire name, and the prefix MC, is, as everyone knows, only used at the beginning of Scottish and Irish names. I knew from census information that the lady in question had been Irish by birth, and thought it most unlikely that someone born in rural Ireland would have an old Lancashire surname, prefixed by Mc. I contacted the registrar by letter, and asked that they look again and compare the name with that given on the birth certs of two siblings. Almost three weeks later (it's never as fast when you've not enclosed a cheque!) they replied to say that they had looked again and accepted that it was probably MCKERMAN. They did offer to issue another cert if I wanted one. I still wasn't happy, as in my experience, Irish names seldom ended with the suffix MAN: in fact I had never come across any. I ran this name through Ancestry and got no hits at all. I suspected it was more likely to be MCKERNAN, so I tried that one. Instant results! There were a few Irish families with this surname living in the SAME STREET where my great grandmother was born: her mother's extended family, I presume. I haven't asked for a replacement cert, but have attached the correspondence to the cert they originally sent me. What would I say to them? You've STILL got it wrong!? In my case, I would much have preferred to read the original. At least then, any misinterpretations would be my own! How many others do register office staff get wrong? Amanda

The first 3 certificates that I bought, I got from the local Registry Office. Since then, I have ordered only from GRO. It was nice to get the long form ......... but it was someone else's interpretation of the information. Luckily, I believe there were no mstakes. The GRO form is a direct copy, and you can a) see the actual writing of your ancestors, and b) interpret the writing how you like! In the first case, there has been another level of transcription placed between you and the original certificate. An added plus is that certificates are cheaper from GRO. GRO charges £7, no postal charges. The local registry office charge for the certificate was also £7, but they asked for a stamped addressed envelope ......................... as I live in Canada I had to enclose the equivalent of an extra £1 to cover the cost of postage.

The GRO copies are of their original records but these are just copies of the original documents produced by the clerks back then. The original documents are still held by local offices and some give facsimile copies of the original documents where you are able to see the actual writing of the people concerned. There was a thread about which local offices gave actual copies a while back.

Thanks All great info. Eagle Eyed Kath had a look for me She's great! Got the info from her and since then i traced and found all the census and birth records.. Thanks Again especially Kath. Pamx

Can I just clarify please. The GRO do not hold original copies of ANY certificates, except by accident. The Registrar is supposed to send in a return every three months, which originally was copied by hand, later typed. The local Registrar keeps the original register, which is the one in which your ancestor signed his name. Some Registrars mistakenly sent the original books to the GRO. Marriage registers, if the marriage took place in church, are copies at both local and GRO level - the original entry, with original signatures, is the Church register. Fairly easy to tell - if the certificate, including signatures, is all in the same writing, then it is a copy, not an original. OC