Genealogy Chat

Is there any common reason why someone who was born in Uxbridge at the end of WW2 would have their birth registed in Chatham when the mother was usually resident in Uxbridge?

There are no father's details on the certificate and we are wondering if the mother travelled to Chatham to ask the father (who was rumoured to be an american serviceman) to put his details on the certificate (they were not married) but he either declined or she missed him. But I'm also wondering if, for some reason the birth had to be registered in Chatham at the time? (Sorry, I'm quite new to all this and this is an important issue I don't want to get wrong)

Many thanks for any help.

Has the cert got the place of birth of the child?

Births have to be registered within the district they occured.

this is very good for information about certs:

http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, I have the certificate - it says at the top 'Birth in the Subdistrict of Chatham in the county of Kent' and under the column when and where born it gives 'Hillingdon County Hospital, Uxbridge Hillingdon UD' (No idea what the UD is either!)

Stranger still I have a death certificate from a death that occured at the same hospital 4 years prior to this birth and it states at the top of that certificate 'in the subdistrict of Uxbridge in the county of Middlesex'

I guess the districts might have changed but Chatham seems an awfully long way from Uxbridge.

London Borough of Hillingdon - Hillingdon's administrative history16 May 2008 ... It became the Uxbridge Urban and Rural Sanitary Authority in 1874 until 1894 when the Uxbridge Urban and Rural District Councils were formed ...
www.hillingdon.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=9239

The law has only and still does state,

A live birth must be registered,,with all true facts...

Its usual for bith registered where the birth took place.perhaps there was a --*as per declaration* made at Chatham RO but its not been entered on the birth certificate,,,,,

*as per declaration* means its been declared and signed the details entered are true known facts.and applies in cases such as yours ,where birth and registration dont match..but are the facts.

Hi Amanda,

She was a munition worker but she lived in Uxbridge and worked there too as far as we are all aware. Her address at the time of registration was in Hillingdon.

Have a look in FreeBMD and see which district the details are held.
This is a strange situation but you should not guess about the circumstances.

There is another part on the certificate I haven't seen the like of before. It says to one side of the form 'Adopted, then gives the name of a deputy interim superintendant registrar'. The child was adopted but not until she was 20 months old. Just thought it might be relevant!

Another intersting point is that the name of the registrar on this certificate and the death certificate I mentioned previously is the same - both events occurred at the same hospital but are registered in different districts.

Thank you SatNav - They are held in Uxbridge. That is why I was surprised to find a mention of Chatham.

I have never come across anything like this.Everthing else suggests that the district on the cert. is wrong.
I am sure that if you contacted Uxbridge and or Chatham they may have an explaination.

SatNav - Think I'll have to get in touch with Uxbridge / Hillingdon.

Amanda - She was adopted by her aunt, both Mother and Aunt were resident in Uxbridge at the time.

Must be some sort of mistake on the certificate I guess.

Many thanks for your replies

Thanks piglet's pal, No they were pretty local to Uxbridge / hillingdon area and this was her second child.

Stumped!

Jennifer,

Could you PM the details so I can take a look? Sometimes it's much clearer when you are dealing with names.

Rose

It is very unlikely that the cert will be wrong in terms of the place of registration, names and dates perhaps, but not the Register Office - that is stretching it a bit too far. There is something else behind this and I wonder if the adoption is the key.

What is the date of registration as opposed to the date of birth?

It the cert you have the original cert or the adoptive cert? From what you are saying in one of your later postings it sounds like the adoptive cert.

Have you looked at the actual index images on Ancestry? There may be some cross references to indicate more than one visit to the registrar.

Certainly it should be impossible that a birth in Hillingdon could be registered in Chatham.

Rose - I have PM'd you. Thank you.

Inspectorgreenpen - It is the birth certificate I have. The date of birth is 30.09.44, the date of registration is 23.10.44. She was adopted within the family (by her aunt) so we are certain that she was adopted at 20 months and no earlier.

SatNav - they were definitely long term residents of uxbridge though, speaking to family members this morning it seems that there was a later connection to Chatham (about 3 years later).

Very grateful for all your replies.

The GRO messed up as this is a brand new copy that was issued a few days ago.

Looks like they've copied the birth info. on to their standard birth certifcate paper and then typed the Chatham registration district header, along with the date the copy was issued.

The GRO reference for the birth is Uxbridge but the copy of the certificate says Chatham at the top

Contact them and see what they say.

Rose