Genealogy Chat

On a great aunt & uncles birth certificates (they were twins) a neighbour is the informant. Is this quite unusual? I haven't got the death certs yet but they died the same quarter as their birth. I'm assuming that the father was away and the mother ill. It's not something I've come across before.

I have seen something similar on Scotlands People - it had 'close friend' as informant another had neighbour - they were for deaths. The 'close friend' one also had the note - husband at sea. Its rare - I have only ever seen a handful via SP site - deaths - there are 3 on a download page and I have over 400 pages lol Could be as well that the poor dad was in shock - he might not have been expecting twins! or cos the wee ones died the same quarter - he may not have wanted to leave his wife and babies.

Thanks She - I wish this had a note cos it's intriguing me:))

ah well you see - Scottish certs are really so informative - the registrar used to write all sorts on the entries - my fave was 'another b*****d ' on one poor kids birth cert lol You should see what he wrote on my grans! Talk about subtle as a brick!

David Anyone with the right knowledge could register the bith. If the neighbour was female then she was probally preasent at the birth and was asked to register the children. The mum may have given her the marriage certificate for the parents names and asked for paticular names or writen everything down.

Thanks Lunar - I didn't realise anyone could register the birth because it's always been the mother or father so far.

Hubbies rellie had a neighbour reg the birth of her daughter (1872). The mother was ill.....she died a few days after the registration. Guess who eneded up bringing up the child???? The neighbour!! Meanwhile the husband did a vanishing act - never to be seen by anyone (or a census enumerator or an undertaker!!) again. All their older children went to the workhouse along with the husband's old dad who was probably supposed to be caring for his grandchildren, but wasn't up to it. What terrible lives some of these people were forced to lead........ Merry

Hi David One of my birth certificates showed a birth in 1882 that was registerd by a lady who was present at the birth. I went on to find her on the census and she was shown as a midwife Dee xx

They did have hard lives Merry - makes you quite sad sometimes:( Hi Dee - irritatingly this is in 1920 and so census is no use:) I would liked to have find out who the woman was without going into any mroe certificate buying lol

David is it a common name - we could try and find her in 1901 see if there's any clues

Not wanting to chuck buckets of cold water, but isn't the informant likely to be a married lady?? (but prob single in 1901) Merry

Merry ;o( yes - okay I'm just bored Z xx

Hi Zoe:)) I'm just going out but I could try that - her name was Rose A Bond and she lived in Lower Holloway in 1920. And that's it lol

David David David! there are several Rose Bonds - of a likely age on this site - you never know :-)

I have a neighbour as informant for my GGFx4 in 1861 - quite interesting as I trawled the old censuses and could see they had lived near one another in the village for at least 20 years.

Suppose you could check the electoral roll?? Women only had the vote if over 30 in the 1920's (they also had to be either married, or a proprty owner), but she could still be on the electoral roll for local elections if younger. Hopefully you would then get her hubby's name (though how would you know a man in the house wasn't her father or brother? LOL) and then you might be able to find out who she was...... On the other hand they might have hardly known one another.....she might have just been called on for clean towels or hot water or something and ended up helping at the birth!! Merry

Yes my GGreatGrandfathers Death was reported by a neighbour. he was a widower by this time with several children my GGrandfather then had to become a boy soldier at 11.Dont know where his younger brother went but he does turn up in 1883 as witness at brother's marriage.Very frustrating as the neighbour doesn't know the the parent's name & this is one of my brick walls. Anybody was allowed to register anything if the Registrar thought they were competent & in reciept of the facts.Also many people couldn't afford the time off work to register an event like Birth/death.

My certificates show that births are nearly always registered by the mother, followed by father and in a few cases, grandmother. None of them has been registered by anyone else. Deaths - nearly always registered by spouse or child, I have a couple registered by siblings, and two registered by neighbours/workmates. nell

My grandmother was registered by the male lodger who was present at the birth too! Actually both he and his wife lodged there. Thank goodness she was born 1890 so they were still there for the census otherwise I'd have been looking to find out who he was.

Thanks Merry:) I think I've found her - Rose Annie Thompson who married Percy Bond 1903 Islington. Just nice to get a few background details:)