Genealogy Chat

Hello Jennifer - Yes, I agree that the only way to solve the puzzle is to get Harriet's birth cert. Both Daniel and Mary Heaven were dead by 1860 so it's a mystery as to why their names should appear as the parents! Just when you think you've cracked it...lol. Thanks for your interest and input. Much appreciated. Rich

Harriet is recorded as the daughter of Charles and Isabella in the census, Charles mother would have been very old to to be the mother of Harriet. It is possible that the grandparents took the child for baptism for some reason, perhaps Isabella was ill after the birth, or as happened in my family, the child was sickly. You are only going to solve that mystery by buying Harriet's birth certificate. Jennifer

Harriet is causing me some problems though. The Garrison Chapel archive on the CityArk site, that had a record of Eliza Mary Heaven, daughter of Charles and Isabella Haven [sic], also records the later baptism of Harriet Emily Catherine Heaven in 1865 but the parents are given as 'Daniel and Mary' not 'Charles and Isabella' ?!?!?!?! Daniel and Mary Heaven were Charles Heaven's parents!! So why on earth would the baptismal register have the grandparents recorded as the parents?!

Here is the registration details for the daughter Harriet, so you can get her birth certifiacte instead. Name: Harriet Emily Catherine Haven Year of Registration: 1865 Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec District: Medway (1837-1941) County: Kent Volume: 2a Page: 397 Jennifer

No listing for a marriage on the overseas section of 1837 Reg

Yes, Reg. They're the people I'm trying to track :)

Is this the family in 1861? Name: Isabella Heaven Age: 28 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1833 Relation: Wife Spouse's name: Eather Gender: Female Civil Parish: Gillingham Ecclesiastical parish: Brompton Town: Brompton County/Island: Kent Country: England Registration district: Medway Sub-registration district: Gillingham ED, institution, or vessel: 2b Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 283 Household Members: Name Age Eather Dodd 71 Head Charles Heaven 46 Visitor Eliza Heaven 3 Isabella Heaven 28 Robert Heaven 2 And 1871 Name: Charles Heaven Age: 55 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1816 Relation: Head Spouse's name: Isabella Gender: Male Where born: Kingscote, Gloucestershire, England Civil Parish: Horsley Town: Horsley County/Island: Gloucestershire Country: England Registration district: Stroud Sub-registration district: Horsley ED, institution, or vessel: 3 Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 48 Household Members: Name Age Charles Heaven 55 Eliza M Heaven 13 Harriett E Heaven 5 Isabella Heaven 37 Robert E Heaven 12 Reg

Just found Eliza Mary's siblings' birth certificates :-) At least I know that some of the family was registered and the elusive maiden name is within reach! :)

Thanks for the input!! It's great to get some feedback so quickly. The only reason I'm quite desperate to get the birth cert. for Eliza Heaven is because I don't know her mother's maiden name, other than the fact she was called Isabella. As far as being born overseas is concerned, and it's possible as her mother was born on St Helena in c1834. I think my only option now is to contact the archivist on the island and see if I can find out if a Charles Heaven married a woman there called Isabella. Rich

Until 1875 rgistration was the responsibilty of the Registrar, he was supposed to go out and get the information, and as many people were still resisting regisatration and considered baptism to be sufficient, it is no wonder that many went unrecorded. After 1875 registration became the responsibility of the parents, faliure to do so could result in a fine, so from that date onwards fewer escaped registration. In the case you refer to, Chatham was a huge Naval and Military town, so collecting the information must have been a nightmare for the registrar, many births must have gone unregistered, so thank heavens for CityArk. Jennifer

As she was christened in the Garrison Chapel have you checked overseas births? One of my own children was born abroad but christened in Winchester. Gwyn

Having spent over a year searching for the birth record of Eliza Mary Heaven, 1857, Chatham, daughter of Charles and Isabella Heaven, I eventually found her last night on the Medway record site, CityArk. She's listed as having been christened in the Garrison Chapel at Chatham Barracks in July 1857. The surname given is 'Haven' but it's clearly the right person. I still can't find her birth registration in the GRO indexes though. Would the fact she was baptised mean that a registration was made at the same time? Or could someone be baptised and *still* not have a birth certificate?