Genealogy Chat

Does a registered birth without a first name i.e. as Male or Female Smith necessarily mean that the child died soon after birth? I am looking for a birth in around 1841 and there are a couple of possibles with Female rather than a first name, but didn't want to go to the expense of ordering a cert if this is likely to be child that later died.

I appreciate birth registration was not compulsory until mid 1870s and so birth may not have been registered.

Thank you

Helen

No it doesn't, it simply means that the parents had not yet named the child when they registered it. I can't remember how exactly, offhand, but registrations are then corrected when a name is chosed and registered, and I think that the certificates are then both under the same ordering code. Someone with more precise knowledge will explain better, I'm sure.

Kate x

the registration was not always corrected either. My gt grandfather's just says Male & there is no correction and obviously he did not die in infancy! I think if the name was added afterwards it is put in column 10 on the certificate.

If you are certain of the father or mothers name & correct spelling you could put that as a checking point & if wrong it will only cost £3 instead of £7.

thank you both, think I will have to order both with mother's first name as checking point (have her on 2 censuses with this child so that seems to be a constant), sadly surname has been spelled so many different ways on so many different records that I can't use that for ref checking, and only evidence I have of father's name is her marriage cert (but clearly this could be a fib), he is not on any census with family

thanks again

Helen