Genealogy Chat

Please does anyone know ................ If a child is registered as eg 'male Smith' would they ever have a certificate with their name on it? and then would I be able to find them????? I've been looking for my grandad for many years. Got his marriage cert with his age and fathers details Got his death cert with age, suggesting he was born 1903/4 Have also found what must be his family on the previous census returns ( his father had an unusual name) Miracles will be greatly appreciated. Thanks Jo

From the excellent website that tells you most of what you need to know about certs - recommend you add it to your favourites now - http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm 'Whether or not the child has been named in column 2, it is possible - by using Column 10 - to alter the name. The reason for this stems from the fact that the Church of England was the established church in existence before civil registration. Names by baptism in 1837 were considered of greater importance than names by civil registration and so the facility was given for the name to be changed by baptism provided the baptism took place within one year of the date of registration. The two critical words here are 'baptism' and 'registration', Provided the baptism was done within the year the actual change of name in the registers could be done many years later. The change of name could be by adding a name, taking one out, altering the order, changing them totally, changing the spelling. I suspect that where it is a problem in finding an ancestor, one reason is that the child was registered in one name, baptised in another but the registration not brought up to date. Where a name has been altered by baptism or change of name and added to the register, the indexes should have been updated to show the new name.' But once the child had been registered, the parents may not have bothered about adding the name. Its only relatively recently, with the need to produce birth certs for passports, opening bank accounts, etc that people would worry about it.

You definitely needed a name for a christening.

Perhaps the child only lived for a short time and a name never given. Is there a death registration for a male infant soon after? Sue

Thanks to all of you for your advice - it really helps to stop my mind wandering off all over the place. Clara is noted for reference. Jo