Genealogy Chat

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Eileen Edna Pullen (deceased) always given her birth date as 23rd September 1923 (and so this is the date, given on her death cert) and the family were under the impression she was born in the East End of London. I don't know her mother's surname so I want to order her birth certificate, however having looked at the BMD scans on Ancestry I can only find an Eileen Pullen in the first quarter of 1924, which seems a big gap to me, and it looks like an Eileen D, but it's a very smudgy page; and the reg. district is Hampstead, which is hardly the East End, though I suppose that could be the hospital. Experts out there would you order this cert or just give the 'known' date of birth and pay the extra for not having GRO number? Thanks Mavis

The fact that its in the 1st quarter only means that that is when it was registered - not when the birth actually happened. So I would say it is the right one if there's nothing else likely. Regards, William

Do you know her father's name? You could use that as a checking point when you order the cert. Janice

Sorry, no should have said, don't know father's christian name either, the surviving family are decidely unhelpful, it's my half sister's tree, so we have different mother's. Mavis

hiya, perhaps she died around christmastime which would mean her death being reg'd in following quarter, i have a birth 29th dec 1865, was actually reg'd in the jan 1866, but actual dob was stated on cert, even though reg'd in the following yr. hth julie

I'm just worried that Sept '23 to Jan '24 a 4 month gap is a bit long for registring a birth, plus the smudged letter that looks more like a D than an E to me.

Mavis, Did she marry? Might be better to order the marriage cert first. Rose

It depends if you can afford it but sometimes you have to take a big gamble with certificates. Ann Glos

Mavis, She's listed in the September qtr. 1923 Eileen E Pullen mother's maiden name Edwards West Ham 4a 227 Rose

Mavis I wouldn't under any circumstances give a date of birth as a checking point!!! My Grandmother gave her date of birth as the 28th October for every official document......Turned out she was actualy born on the 26th!!! If you give anything as a checking point and it isn't an exact match then the certificate will not be issued and you may miss the match. Chris

Mavis, When searching Ancestry be sure that all four quarters display for each year. If you look at 1923 for Pullen the September qtr was not showing because of some amendments at the bottom of the page throwing things off. You can get to that qtr by just searching on Pul. Rose

Thank you, Portland Rose, yes I searched and got nothing found for the Sept. quarter so I widened my search! Didn't think to check that it actually wasn't there! Something else learnt about searching scans. You've just saved me another (!) wrong cert. Thanks again. Mavis

Valerie She died 29/1/1989, thanks for your interest, Portland Rose has solved it for me, see above. Mavis