Genealogy Chat

I was absolutely convinced that I had found a missing Ancester.
I found the son's birth entry and sent for the Birth Certificate.
It arrived this morning and the mother had the wrong maiden name!

Back to the brick wall.

Sheila

You're quite right Sheila. I don't know how people manage to do any family history without buying certificates.

I have seen so many people on this site say something like "Oh, I don't want to get certificates just yet", but then reckon they have their tree back to goodness knows when. How on earth are they sure they have the right families? I suppose if someone has a very unusual name it might be a bit easier to do without certificates, but there's nothing like the feeling you get when you see the A4 envelope drop through the letterbox when you've been eagerly awaiting it's arrival.

Kath. x

Looby,

Did you put the father's name on the reference checking page, or just on the page where you fill in the person's details whose certificate it is?

If you just put it on the details page then they don't check it.

Kath. x

Looby

Be careful about checks for names. I sent for a birth certificate of a child down on census as being son to the female living at the address. Intriguingly there were 2 children on the 1881 Census ages 9 and 6 when I knew the father had died early1871. Whereas the 9 year old was a slight chance of being his, the 6 year old there was no chance, so I sent for the birth cert of the 6 year old and put the check on the back as the mother's name, that is the person who was calling herself their mother. Back came the reply that they were not sending me the cert as the mother's name was incorrect!

I was then left with the distinct problem of who were these children's mother and wished I had put no check on. I have not been back to get the cert although I know my curiosity will make me do so before long. I am left at present with an even bigger mystery and possibly the children are sons of her sister or something like that and she is bringing them up as her own. I have had a few problems recently with my Checked ones so I am tending not to put a check on these days.

Janet North London Borders

Janet, when you get a message like that, it's worth e-mailing them back to ask for more information. For example, if you were expecting the name to be Florence Smith, ask them if the name is actually a variation on Florence, because if it is you want to get the cert. If you're lucky, they'll either say "yes it was Florry" or "no it was Mary". I've done this in the past, and they've been very helpful.

Just out of interest - Sheila starting this thread has got me thinking and I've made a list of the marriage certificates I have for the three generations going back from myself (so, to my 2xgreat grandparents).

I have dates for each of the marriages that those generations include (14 couples going backwards from my parents - one great-grandparent was illegitimate) but only have certificates for seven of them. The others, I have obtained dates for from parish records (transcribed and on microfiche).

So - if you had seen the parish record of a marriage on microfiche in the records office and had noted all the details down, would you buy the certificate anyway?

Kate
If I have copied information myself from marriage registers, - not transcriptions, - I don't usually buy the certificates as the information should be identical.

Some might say that there is a possiblilty that not everything will be 100% copied correctly but I double check each one as I copy.....and the GRO copies have been copied by someone in order to be submitted to the master GRO list.

Unfortunately I am in receipt of several 'rogue' certificates, which have confused rather than clarify issues,
eg.
Bride's father named as Janet..like the bride ( instead of James)

Child's mother's maiden name GREEN when next child has expected mmn. shown as BROCKHURST... In all the years since, I've not been able to find the Green connection....if there was one!.

Gwyn

Thanks, Gwyn. I was using the logic that the original scan of the parish record entry eg. for a marriage, on microfiche would be as good as any marriage certificate.

When I went to Wigston records office to look at one parish in particular, I found approximately 30 marriage records and about 50 baptisms relevent to my family (often the baptisms include a birth date) - I shudder to think what that would cost through the GRO, and many of the records I found were for distant cousins on far branches, people that are too distant from my direct line at the moment to justify buying certificates for.

Be careful not to discard certs as wrong. When I was looking for someone on OHs side, everywhere this girl (the wife) was shown as one name and when a birth cert arrived it had another first name. Blow I thought (or words to that effect) but when I actually stopped and checked it, I went for a marriage with just the husbands name and yes, it was the right girl, she obviously used a nickname for census info and her "proper" name for official events!

A lot of people in days gone by had 'confirmation names' - I'm sure just to confuse us. My grandmother was always known as Alma, everyone I spoke to referred to her as this; in actual fact the name on her birth certificate was Annie; so for long enough I was trying to find birth and marriage certificates in the name of Alma and hitting a brick wall. I think the message here is cross reference and never give up!

Happy hunting all.

Bev

Harriet Lavinia Hamilton was known as Maggey: even on her marriage certificate (to James Emery in 1886).
That took a bit of lateral thinking to figure out!

I am the proud owner of six (count 'em) birth certificates in the name of Thomas Henry Jones, none of whom is my great grandfather....

*sigh*

Oh Lesley, thats sickening. Is there any help anyone can try for on here if you give all the facts you know about him?

Hi all,
I made the mistake of putting mothers name that was on her marriage and hadn't realised she had been widowed and remarried. so the name I had was her former married name not her maiden name.
Gill

Mary

Had not thought to recheck with Southport and maybe I should have done but assumed that I was wrong! As this was done some time ago,I am going to have to bite the bullet again, and just go after the cert to see who the parents were, or at least who the mother was!

Janet North London Borders

I keep posting this and nobody seems to be interested, but if you apply to the local records office and specify certain information, if it doesn't tally they will refund your money, cancel the credit card payment, or return the cheque. Give them as much information as you can, enclose an sae, and it is a far better way of getting the right certificate (or not getting the the wrong certificate) than from GRO.

£7 a time.

Fully refunded if not correct.

Regards

Margaret

I have got several 'right' certificates which give misleading information....as mentioned in my last posting.
So far I only have one incorrect one, - which I expected as it was in the days before I knew that you could request certain parents, spouse etc.
As Margaret says, there are ways to limit unwanted costs.

Gwyn

Margaret

Your information is fine for those that have some idea of parentage of birth they are looking for. I have to say that in my own case I thought I knew the mother's name, but that was clearly incorrect, and I never knew who the father might be of the child I was lookng for,so I will have to just bite the bullet and go after the Cert and pay the full £7. It will be worth it for me because of the intrique surrounding the child, especially as he disappears to the other side of England in later census, never to return to his "home"!

Having always put a check on the backs of certs for many many years, this was the first of 3 wrong ones and I was left wondering whether or not I should have put the check on! Most times it works, but not always.

Janet North London Borders

I'm the proud owner of 9 wrong birth certs. plus £57 for a 3 hour search of the parish records in my search for my gg grandfather Henry Rose!! I know he was born.....but just can't find where! And even worse, can't find him on any census before 1881. Now that's what you call a brickwall LOL.

Mary

Hi,
Like everyone else I too have several wrong certificates but far more correct certificates. What has been mentioned is that if you do put a name down on GRO and it's wrong, then I often think that common sense does not prevail. A recent example stated on this board (don't remember the names but similar to this) was when someone had fathers name as James X but his name was George James X. He only went under the name James all his life.
Calling in at the local Register Office is like a visit to hell. I feel really awkward going in and having the cheek to ask for a certificate and so prefer to take my chances with GRO
Paul