General Chat

Can anyone please help and tell me where i can obtain dates of births for a person without it costing a fortune. Is there a particular website? etc as i have 6 names, the quarter and year of birth and placename etc from the Saint Catherines index at Matlock but it will cost a fortune to send off for birth certificates for their exact dates of births. thankyou to all that can help sal :-) xxxx

I'm afraid I dont have any scottish relatives mores the pity, wish I had.Thanks for your help though linda, it's just its such a costly job, and all i've got to go on, is a 'name', i dont know if its the right one or not as well, so ive got to pay like you say, £7 for each certificates; and then do a tracing on that person. there is 'tracesmart' but i think that might work out costly, especially as i dont know much info in order find out the birthdates. I have been on BMD but the name's not listed so i'm stuck on that site. I have been on Tracesmart but can only get so far, then you have to pay. :-(

The only other way you MIGHT find out dates of birth is by looking at baptism records. I have come across a few baptism records which also record date of birth, but it is very hit and miss. You would also need to know which church they were baptised in (the registration district covers lots of churches in the area), then either go to the relevant record office or find some very kind person to do a look up for you. I wouldn't pin your hopes on this method, but it's the only possible way apart from buying the certificates.

thankyou for that lesley:-) that's something i never thought of. The place of births i have though are lambeth, durham newcastle,brentford,bridgened,paddington for 44-47 and im in derbyshire so i wouldnt have a clue where to start. i dont know any info regarding churches or any other information im afraid. Alll i know is a 'name' and rough year' of birth for that person so i havent a clue where to go from here. I could try those areas and see about churches and if they were baptised.

Have you tried the IGI on FamilySearch? You might get lucky and find a baptism on there

Hi Linda I dont i'm afraid. All I have is that person's name and a rough year of birth. I dont know anything else about them :-( that's why I went to the County Hall at Matlock and used their St Catherines Index and it's come up with 6 names, the quarter, year, place of birth and mothers maiden name, but i havent a clue which is the one that i need! :-(

Hi Lesley IGI? Family Search? I havent no. would i need to go into Familysearch.com website? :-)

Yes, go to www(.)familysearch(.)org [remove brackets], then click on search, select International Genealogical Index (IGI), then enter the name, region+county and year.

You may not know the mother's maiden name, but do you know the father's christian name? You could narrow down your search by looking for the father's marriage. This isn't foolproof, but you might hit lucky. Or if there is a sibling with an unusual name, look for them in the indexes to find their mother's name. Brenda

At the risk of asking a silly question, how will having the exact date of birth help? Even if you ordered all 6 certificates, if you don't know the names of the parents, you'll be none the wiser.....or am I missing something?

I dont honestly know, how obtaining the dates of birth will help me but im hoping that by getting the dates of birth, then i've at least got a start, but its going to be a long haul at trying to trace them from that as ive got to start from scratch then. It's going to take a long time but i want to try and find that person. then hopefully from that, i will know if they are currently dead or alive (by having a dob) and maybe meet up! i dont know how to find this person at all, although i do have a little information about him but the only positives i do have, is his name and a rough year of birth :-( thankyou all for your help xx

Perhaps you could write to some local newspapers in the areas you're looking at. Say the person's name and possible age - you might strike the jackpot that way. Good luck!

thats a good idea thanks john. the person was born around 1945 so i think i would have to put an advert in London papers with it being brentford, bridgend, paddington although id struggle doing the durham and newcastle. The surname's an unusual name and can be spelt many ways and ive contacted a few on here so im hoping, fingers crossed, i may get a lead :-) although ive come up with a few dead ends upto now, but im still hoping.