Genealogy Chat

My great grandfather has a very common name (Thomas Henry Jones). I have a fair idea when he was born and I know more or less where, from the census of 1891 and 1901, but having just received my 4th birth certificate for a Thomas Henry Jones that isn't him, I'm starting to wonder if there might be a better way. Seven pounds a pop is expensive and you aren't able to go and look at the certificates yourself, but do the ONS offer a service where they will plough through the possible certificates (for a fee, obviously), so that I can get the right one? This could bankrupt me otherwise... Any tips?

If you know the name of either of his parents, you can ask that they check that the names match before sending you the cert. If they don;t match, they only charge you £3 and not £7. Sam x

Ah! I never knew that. Thanks! I'm wondering if the year of birth is wrong, I mean, I've ordered every possible certificate that it could be in the year that I think he was born (I have a marriage and a death cert), I just don't have the birth date. Is it common for the year to be out?

Oh and I don't know for sure the names of his parents...

Hi there, I had a similar problem earlier this week with a death & was advised to try the local registry office concerned instead of the GRO. I rang them yesterday & they couldn't have been more helpful. If I send a letter with details of the registration & what info I know + a cheque for £7 + a SAE they will check if it the correct one for free. If correct they will send me the cert. If not they will return my cheque. If you have the marriage cert you could tell them the father's name & profession which should help narrow it down. Best wishes Liz

Don't forget - if you're using the censuses as a guide to the DoB... [1] Most of the censuses were taken ca 31 March in the year. That means that 'abt 1856', say, actually means approx 1 Apr 1855 - 31 Mar 1856 (with adjustments for actual census dates). [2] Only marriage registration is certain to be in the actual quarter of the event. Births and Deaths may be in the following quarter, especially for events late in a quarter. In addition, in a very few cases, the registration was years later. [3] People were inaccurate about DoB; sometimes out of ignorance - Birthdates haven't always been important; sometimes for social or legal reasons (e.g. brides weren't expected to be older than their husbands - or not by too big a margin). There's also another factor to consider: the GRO index is the result of harvesting information each quarter from the Local ROs. This involved transcription... a great opportunity to introduce errors and omissions. A number of the Local ROs have sites: have a look on www.ukbmd.org.uk, where there's a list of as many as I know about (along with lots of other well-organised lists of links). You'll need to be aware that, if you order a cert from a Local RO, the price is the same as GRO, but the have their own refs - the GRO refs are meaningless to them - except that the ability to distinguish Quarters helps to narrow things down. Christine

Two more replies have appeared since I started my reply above... Tower Hamlets does have a searchable site online. It's not complete yet, but you might be lucky. Christine

See, I'm learning things all the time from you lot, you're wonderful! I suppose I just Google the name of the local district and 'registry office'? (It's Bethnal Greem, which I'm not sure still exists. Could it be Tower Hamlets now?)

Yep that's what I did. Just googled the district & registry office. My district doesn't exist any more but they still had an office. I rang them & they directed me to the registry office that now holds the records. They were all so helpful. I think as long as you ring one nearby they will probably be able to direct you to the correct place. Best wishes Liz

I always try and use my local register offices if I can, as others have said if they don't find what you are looking for they refund the money and don't charge you for looking.West Bromwich is very good if they have any queries they ring you and check.I have just been and ordered a marriage cert and I can pick it up tomorrow