Genealogy Chat

According to FreeBMD there may be an error in the entry I'm looking for, see below.

I'd like to order birth certificates for my grandfather and his brother, but am having big problems finding them in the BMD indexes. According to the 1901 census my grandfather Percy Albert Carrington was born c1898 in Southampton. According to the same census his brother Harold George Carrington was born c1897 in Cowes, Isle of Wight. This is a bit odd in itself as the family was from Bedfordshire/Huntingdonshire, and I know my grandfather was raised in St Neots, but it's possible that they had family in Southampton area too. Ok, so here's the problem: First, I can't find any likely entries for Percy Albert Carrington at all. But my dad was always told that his father never had a birth certificate, so guess that is a possibility? So then on to Harold George Carrington. I have found one possibility for him: Births, Dec 1896, Carrington Harold George, Royston, 3a 527. BUT... according to FreeBMD there is likely to be an error with this entry: 'The page number is not within the range expected for the district. Note that there a number of possible reasons for this, including an error in the district, the page, the volume, the date or the type of entry' So now what do I do? Go ahead and order from the GRO and hope for the best? Or just place an order without a GRO reference? Has anyone had any experience with that? Do they just look through a range of dates/places then themselves? Thanks for any suggestions, Sarah

There were no Carrington births recorded on the Isle of Wight in 1895/6/7/8/9.

Thanks Jim. Would it be possible he was born there and the birth registered elsewhere?

Maybe the enumerator copied from the wrong sheet when he was entering this family? Maybe you should try the Royston cert and ask for a checking point of the mother's forename. There can't be many Grace's about then, so at least you won't waste all your money if it's the wrong cert. The dad doesn't have the sort of job that suggests galloping around the countryside! Merry

Looks like this could be the parents' marriage on freebmd Surname First name(s) District Vol Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marriages Jun 1896 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bonfield Samuel Royston 3a 825 Carrington George Francis Royston 3a 825 Gutteridge Annie Jane Royston 3a 825 Stocker Grace Susan Royston 3a 825 ................................................ Can you contact the local register office rather than GRO on this required birth cert? Gwyn

Good idea about the checking point Merry. And you're right, you wouldn't really expect a butcher & publican to be travelling all over the country would you? Especially as Grace's family were butchers as well and George probably joined the family business. And yes, maybe it is the enumerator's mistake - very strange that the 2 boys could be born relatively close together in Southampton & Isle of Wight within a year or 2 of each other, yet the eldest's birth registered in Royston (although of course that could be the wrong district according to FreeBMD). And where on earth is Percy's certificate? :-( Why wouldn't he have one? Think I will order the Royston certificate anyway and see from there.

Regarding the Cowes/Southampton thing. They are only about half an hour apart and there have always been regular ferries. What time of year were they born? It was a popular holiday destination. After all, it was the Heyday of the Railways. Or could they have been part of Queen Victoria's entourage? She built Osborne House just outside Cowes.

Thanks for that Gwyneth, yes, that'll be their marriage as Grace's maiden name was Stocker. Jim - I thought the same about Cowes/Southampton after looking on the map. Very highly doubt any assocation with Queen Victoria's entourage though, lol. As for time of year born - no idea at all for Percy, in fact my dad says Percy was never even sure how old he was. And as for Harold George, the Royston one is registered Q4. Maybe it's possible they could have had him while on holiday in Isle of Wight (but why go on holiday back then when heavily pregnant?), then registered the birth later when they got home??

But what about the 'possible error' with the BMD record? As it says on FreeBDM: 'The page number is not within the range expected for the district. Note that there a number of possible reasons for this, including an error in the district, the page, the volume, the date or the type of entry' Suppose I can only order the certificate with the details given and see what happens.

Gwyneth - contacting the local records office is a good idea. Will see if I can an address try contacting them by post/mail.

Look at the image!!! The query relates to the page no. i think. looks like page 537

Sarah Hi, If your GF and GU both claimed to be born down here there must have been a reason. Unless they had some connection with the sea, the only likely ones may be either that they had a family connection, which you may find a generation or two back, or a holiday, and don't forget the long Convalescences which Victorian Doctors recommended. A Butcher, especially in a Family Business should easily have been able to afford that. It was the Ag Labs who had babies and were back in the fields the next day, bless 'em.

Jim in Soton - I did look at the image. That's the first thing I did, How on earth did I miss that though??? Must be blind! Thanks for looking too - that must be the problem with the entry. :-) Just entered 3a and 537 on FreeBMD and sure enough it comes up with births in Royston. So that's that part of the mystery solved at least, and I can order the certificate. Thanks!! :-)

Births Dec 1896 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Banks Frederic William B. Stortford 3a 527 Boxall George Maurice B. Stortford 3a 527 CAMP John Victor B. Stortford 3a 527 Carrington Harold George Royston 3a 527 THIS IS WRONG Davis Dorothy Annie B.Stortford 3a 527 Hart Charles B. Stortford 3a 527 Ruse William Henry B. Stortford 3a 527 Smith Kate B. Stortford 3a 527 Thurgood Emma Florence B. Stortford 3a 527 Wilkinson William George B Stortford 3a 527 Woodley Florence Sarah B. Stortford 3a 527

Grampa Jim - I have done a bit of searching looking for a family connection there, but no luck yet. As for GF and GU saying they were born there, well I don't know about that. GU was killed in 1916 WWI, and the first we ever heard of GF being born in Southampton was when the 1901 census came out. But obviously their parents said they were born there (unless it was enumerator's mistake - but why only a mistake on 2 people in the whole family - doesn't seem too likely). But now I can order the certificate and find out for sure where Harold was born and go from there. Thanks everybody! :-)

As the message says the error refers to the pages, I think the bit about 'error in the district' means that the error was made in the individual district, NOT that the district in the index is wrong. nell

Looking at your question again, yes you can apply for the birth cert without giving a reference, but they charge you an extra £3. £10 instead of £7.

No, that 'error in the district' means that the page number as transcribed by FreeBMD is not in the range of page numbers found for that district for that quarter; in fact, it is in the range of page numbers that belong to another district. It is explained by the fact that the page number really says 537 and not 527. If you get that message and the page number and volume number have been transcribed correctly, then it probably means that the district has been mistranscribed. Kate.

Thanks everybody. In this case the error is the page number. The image definitely shows 537 and not 527. I entered 537 and the quarter without a name, and came up with births in Royston. Also his parents' marriage was registered in Royston, so this is likely to be the right one. I'm going to order it today. And I have submitted a correcton to FreeBMD. Still no sign of Percy Albert Carrington though (born c1898 Southampton according to 1901 census), even after looking through BMD's by quarter on ancestry. Although - I have found his younger brothers and sisters (Frederick Baden, Edward, Alfred R. and Grace Ena) all registered in St Neots. I've found a Percy registered in Huntingdon 1894 and one registered in Luton 1895, but both of those would make him older than his older brother Harold George. Thanks everyone for your help. Sarah