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Do you need a birth certificate to get married?

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Rioja

Rioja Report 16 May 2006 16:35

Can anyone help with this? One ancestor of mine seems to only have 'male' on his birth certificate, ie, no name registered... Would this have an impact on a possible marriage certificate, as I cannot find a marriage for him either. Would he have to prove who he was some other way? Thanks in advance Claire

Rioja

Rioja Report 16 May 2006 16:50

Thanks for that Janine, I guess it can't be him then, now I'm even more stuck! I'm getting married in October so I'll have my certificate redy then!

Kate

Kate Report 16 May 2006 16:58

I don't think that you needed a birth certificate to get married in the 'old' days. After all, what if you were born before the start of civil registration? 'Male' or 'female' on a birth certificate doesn't always mean that the baby had died by then (and if stillborn it would not be a birth certificate as such anyway, but would be on the stillbirths register); it could just mean that the parents couldn't decide on the baby's name by the time they had to register the birth. Kate.

Dizzy Lizzy 205090

Dizzy Lizzy 205090 Report 16 May 2006 16:59

Hubby's 3g-grandfather is called 'Male' on his birth cert (he was his father's 16th child, so they must have run out of inspiration lol), but he got married as Owen. Liz

Rachel

Rachel Report 16 May 2006 17:11

When my great grandparents married in 1924 they couldn't have supplied there birth certificates as the bride's birth was never registered and odds are the groom left his birth cerificate behind when he ran away (at 15) to the army! Although you have 42 days (6 weeks) sometimes people couldn't decide what to call a child. Just imagine if you are on your unpteenth child and you had run out of aunts/uncles to name them after - what did you call them? We nearly had to register my brother as male since my parents couldn't decide on a middle name - my mam took the law into her own hands and gave the kid a middle name and registered him at the last minute

Mandy in Wiltshire

Mandy in Wiltshire Report 16 May 2006 17:15

I'm sure you didn't need to produce a birth certificate 'back then'; so many of my ancestors' ages vary between being born and getting married, or lied about their age! Mandy :)

Rioja

Rioja Report 16 May 2006 17:30

Wow, thanks for all these replies! I think I will order the certificate then, as the registration district is in the right area. My theory (unsubstantiated), is that they where unsure whether to call the child John, as they had had a son called John who died at only 23 months 2 years earlier, and a similar thing had happened a generation earlier. The first born son called John died very young and a subsequent son was given the same name. Maybe they thought it was bad luck(!), but I'm glad to say they managed to keep the name going. Thanks all again for your help!