Genealogy Chat

From http://home*.clara*.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd*.htm [remove * before using] "If there is a time against the date of birth then there was more than one child born alive at the birth. If however a mother had twins, one liveborn and one stillborn, then the live born twin will not have a time against the birth. Until 1926 there were no registrations at all of a still born child. Having said that, again the early registrations are not consistent. The registrar in the Eton district did not put the times of births of twins in the registers at all until 1845 while the one in Stoke-on-Trent put times against all the registrations up until about 1850. It is possible to check for twins by looking for identical or consecutive GRO references in the indexes." nell

Timing used to be important as it was the eldest (especially males) who inherited titles, money, etc. To avoid disputes it was necessary to know who was born first. However, I don't trust the times on birth certs for the poor. Most babies were born at home and I doubt there was a clock placed conveniently next to the bed. Some of my rellies didn't know their ages to the nearest year, so down to hours and minutes was probably pushing it.

My nan's birth certificate is the only one I've had with a time on it, and she is the only twin so far (even though her twin brother died a few minutes later). I was under the impression that you only got a time given if it was a multiple birth, and I saw on here a while ago that Scottish birth certificates always have the time on them even if it was a single birth (was probably you She who posted the thread lol). Mandy :)

you could phone the local office which has custody of the original register. If it was that registrar's habit to put a time on every entry, they'll have noticed

When I spoke to them at Southport about a cert, they told me that English certs only have a time on if the person was a twin or more, but my friend IS a twin and her cert has no time on it so not sure!

I have one or two English certs with a time of birth but as far as I am aware they were singletons.

not neccessarily - I have just been on Scotlands People site and nearly every single birth I looked at - there is a time. but then again - there is a lot more on Scottish certs - prob why they cost £13 each

My friend and I were suprised when she received a birth cert with not only the date but also the time of birth noted. We thought this must have been a very efficient informant or registrar. Then yesterday whilst flicking through a family tree mag it had a piece about the info gleaned from certs. It went on to say that if a time is noted it usually means a multiple birth. Why didn't we think of this before? Has now sent friend along another avenue. Naomi