Genealogy Chat

Ros, you are 2 months older than me. I was a September, '53 baby. Susan

Just as well my parents married in Oct.1951 -I was born July 1953, Ros

Ros, I would object to being a year older than I actually was!!! At least you were 'legal' a year before your mates. Susan

My birth certificate had a mistake on it and that was in 1953. The Registrar had dated it 1952 and my parents never noticed. I did a few years ago and got a new one dated October 2003! Ros

My grandmother's father was recorded as Arthur when in fact his name was Charles Arthur. It threw me at the time as I was a complete novice. I spent ages looking for an Arthur. As Clive says certificates have their place, but are not the 'be all and end all'. Susan

No, certificates can be accidentally or deliberately wrong. So can censuses. I have a 2x great grandmother Sophia whose father is down as a John Coles but she was one of 6 illegitimate children who may or may not have been his.......if so though he had two families in the same village and a wife and a mistress both called Eliza. Then Sophia lied repeatedly about her age on censuses because she was really older than her husband. Sophia's first son illegitimate Oliver took her husband's name when they married and from then on claimed my ancestor as his father. This will confuse any descendants of Oliver if they try tracing him back. I have been hunting for a set of great grandparents in 1901. I finally found them lurking in Birmingham not Somerset and, on that one occasion only, great grandmother Ellen is down as Clara. I've seen the original and it really does look like that. It's definitely the same family......how many artist/sculptors with a wife born in Falmouth and a daughter called Eflina can there be? All the other names, places of birth and ages are correct too. And no Ellen didn't die and wasn't replaced by a Clara because she was alive and holding me at my christening! So even having copies of originals can lead you astray without other information. Doing genealogy is best described as like doing a huge jigsaw puzzle. This one has no straight edges and no end plus someone has lost a lot of pieces forever. There's no picture on a box either. Sometimes you just have to fill in the gaps and take a leap of faith then hope more research will prove it. I can sometimes work on a hunch for ages before either proving it or throwing it out. Good luck Sue

I think marriage certificates tell most lies!! On mum's side: My g grandmother was Agnes Amelia on her birth and death certificates, but she didn't like the name Agnes,so on her marriage certificate and in 1881 and 1901 censuses she was Amelia. 1891 census she was Avril. Her sister, whom my grandmother called Bella was Beatrice. They had 2 aunts, twins known as Kate and Ada - real names? - Elizabeth and Maud. My G aunt Nell was really Alice. On dad's side: My grandfather known as Sidney all his life - even on his death certificate - was Gifford on his birth certificate - Sidney wasn't even his second name. His brother Ivor called himself Frederick. Even my dad, who was adopted at 14 changed his forenames - then spent the rest of his life using his second name as his first!! My brother is only called his real name by my mum. My father in law and brother in law were always known as Bob. Their real names were William and Philip - and I know my f-i-l had 2 sisters - Violet and Ivy. Can I find Ivy's birth??? Of course I can't - that wasn't her real name!!!! maggie (Margaret to my mum!!!

I am having terrible trouble finding relatives on my mum's side because of name confusions. For instance, my mum's second cousin Barry (Surname) is actually John Barry (Surname). Her cousin Daphne James was actually Lucy Daphne James. Her aunt Liz was really Charlotte Elizabeth. I've been trawling through marriage indexes trying to piece things together and I'm having to look under both possible first names because I don't know what name they married under. One of the things a marriage certificate did help with was identifying a paternal great-great grandfather. I knew his surname, his daughter's full name and his wife's maiden name. Through the certficates of birth and marriage I uncovered his age and occupation (and hence have an idea why he wouldn't be on the 1901 census - he was a merchant seaman) and his father's name and occupation. Sometimes certificates tell fascinating things, even details you wouldn't expect - I now know that, for instance, neither of one set of great-great-great grandparents were able to write.

Hi all What about birth certificates, can they make mistakes on copies. My grandmother's mother was stated as Sarah Hill formerly Taylor late hill. On her sisters certificate (which I know is her sister) they have her mother as Sarah Hill formerly Taylor late Sidaway. Which do I believe. I was wondering if the register office has made a mistake. Any views please. Margaret

This is what I thought you would all say but hoped that you could come up with a logical answer, other than people don't always tell the truth! Never mind. For one Grandfather, his certificate is all I have to go on but perhaps with some links to some other family members they could fill in the missing parts! Gill

Certificates contain all sorts of errors, and often, faithfully record the pure lies told by the informants to the Registrar (or officiating clergyman). They prove nothing at all, and are not nearly as valuable as some suggest. In the absence of collateral evidence, I might have to rely on the contents of a certificate, but I would prefer most other sorts of evidence, if it is to hand. If I have nothing except the contents of a certificate to go on, and no collateral evidence, than I may find that I have one of those fantasy trees that we all love so much.

The certificates arnt always correct (boohoo naughty rellies lol) ive got my nanna who put her own mums name in front of hers and told fibs about her age. On my mums marriage cert it says her dads name is Joseph Arthur when in fact it was cecil joseph arthur even tho he was present at mums wedding. my great grandad told fibs about his age knocking off 5 yrs whilst his wife my great nanna added 5 years onto her own lol. My other great grandad called himself Walter on all his kids birth certs even tho his real name was Alonzo Walter (why drop the Alonzo I luv that name lol) Most of my rellies have told little fibs of certificates, I reckon they must have known they were gonna have a nosy little rellie poking about and decided to make it tough for us all lol.

Hi I tried to find my paternal great grandfather for nearly a year going by the name of Harry on his daughter's marriage certificate. I kept searching for Harry, Harold, Henry etc then one day, by chance, I discovered his name was Matthew Henry!! So it seems possible that on the marriage certificate they could use the name they were known by rather than the name they were born with. Good luck with the search! Hayley

I have been looking at my parents marriage certificate and noted that my grandfather (my father's father) has an incorrect name. In fact the name shown is the same as my father and I know that is incorrect! On my grandparents marraige certificates (my mother's parents) that too shows my grandfather's name to be the same as my grandfather and from my research I do not believe it is. How can I sort this muddle out on my grandparents marriage certificate? Just tobe sure these are differnt grandfathers! Your thoughts, as always, would be apprecaited.