Genealogy Chat

This may well have been dealt with here before but i cant remember, so would be grateful for some advice. I have found three possible birth entries on the FreeBMD for an ancestor, i know from his marriage certificate that his fathers name is John, however from the LDS site at least 2 of the 3 possibles had a father John. Is there anyway i can find out which one i want without having to pay £21 for all 3 certificates? Yvette

Yvette, you don't give any dates or surnames, is it a common one? Ros

Yvette, You dont have to buy all three if you have any more criteria to select ONS will do a check and only send the cert if it matches all your criteria (they charge about £3.50 per look up). If you can find a census entry for the family (1881 on family search is the easiest to access) and can find a Christian name for the mother this will help to narrow it down. Pam

There is no fee charged for a search of five years if you use the local register office. Other than Chelsea and Kensington I have found all register offices very good, and out of nearly 100 certs, only two have come from the GRO. Ros

Try phoning the offices where they were registered. They are usually very helpful. Maggy, West Yorkshire

Ros Sorry as it was just a general query i didnt think to . Here are the details- William Elliff September quarter 1852 Croydon Vol 2a possibly p125 William Elliffe September quarter 1852 District not clear, Volume 3b p446 William Elliff June quarter 1852 Vol 7a p434, i think the district is Spilsby. I beleive William was born in Croydon from census returns, but not 100% sure. His father was John Elliff. Hope this explains everything Yvette

Wow, lots of replies while typing to Ros, thanks everyone. Yvette

Yvette, I would try the Croydon one as it sounds the most promising. I will find the address of the register office if you want. Ros Mint Walk Croydon Surrey CR0 1EN 0208 760 5617 ext 2540

Ros and Maggy Do you mean for me to contact Croydon reg office? If so i have tried them before to chase up an unsent but paid for certificate and found them to be most unhelpful. Pamela I have found William on the 1881, but unfortunately(for me) he was married by then and living with another family so it doesnt give me any help. If only i could get hold of the 1871 or 1861 census to look for him....... Yvette

Looks like we can add Croydon to the list of unhelpfuls as well!

Hi Yvette, Sorry that the register office wasn't very helpful. The ones that I have dealt with have been really good. The one in Redcar and Cleveland even looked up my phone number to check that I had got some details correct! Maggy

I sent for a certificate a day or so ago to Blaeneau Gwent, and they phoned me this morning to double check the details. The registration district was Crickhowell and according to genuki, registers went to 2 offices, so I picked one, put in a stamped envelope in case they needed to pass it on. Also Ireland Register Office, sent a note first with the details, just to check they had the right one, as I had got the first name wrong. There are some good ones out there.

Maybe i will give Croydon a second try, i might have caught them on a bad day. Lets hope they can help. I will be crossing everything in the hope i can finally find my William. Thanks to everyone who answered my query. Regards Yvette

Anything is worth a try Yvette! Good Luck, Maggy

Maggy and Ros Took your advice and tried Croydon again, after trying in vain all day was ready to give up when i got a call from a very nice, and very helpful lady called Anne. Not only was she able to find the certificate we thought most likely she asked me what i knew of William, so i told her what i wanted to hear.......and i was in luck.....its my man and everything is now falling into place. certificate is going into the post and i am VERY happy. Thanks for the help and tell anyone who asks in the future that Croydon is a nice office to call, lol Yvette

Brilliant Yvette, told you it was worth a try! Must go to bed some time tonight, can you tell that my hubby is away??! Maggy

Yvette I know Croydon to be very helpful. Had to get a copy of my own birth cert. Always thought it came under Croydon registration district, so sent off for it. Got a very nice letter from them to say I should actually have applied to Mitcham, they had sent my application there and told me to ring them if I had not received the cert. within 3 days. Got it in two days, rang Croydon to thank them, they were so nice and said happy to help. Kathleen