Genealogy Chat

Iv got my gg grandfathers marriage certificate and it names his father as James, also on the 1881 census hes called James, I have sent for his birth certificate online and they said there is no match for him, so i went to my local register office and they did a search for me 2 yrs either side and they also said there was no match, so what do i do now any ideas Christine

Hi, I would go to 1837 online and see if you can find it that way. Laurie

I did the same thing and had to pay £4.50 for the search as no birth certificate was found. It turned out that I was looking at Tunstall Stafford which it stated on the 1881 census but it really was in the registration district of Wolstanton. Some kind person on the tips board found it for me. Do you think that you might have the registration district wrong. Just a thought. Regards May

Laurie iv checked on the 1837 site got 4 possible matches, but none of them have come up with father called James May yes iv got the right district.

Christine, I had terrible problems with my Gt Grandfather who had a very common name, in the end I had to get the birth certificates of siblings with less common names to sort it out. It is just possible that he had more than one name and both are on the birth cert, as the information on that would come from the mother or father themselves, while on the mariage cert the information would come from the parties to the marriage and could be less accurate. Pam

Hi there. I've had similar problems and later found out that second names were commonly used. eg my father was william charles and so was his father. Consequently dad was known as charles and thats how he came out in the census. Roger

Christine, Is it possible that your GGrandfather had a second name. If for example he was called James Edward and maybe registered as James E and you just ask for James, they won't send it. It has to be accurate in every detail. Father's name and registration district too hato be exactly right. It is best if you fill in as few details as possible, probably just sticking to mandatory details. Ann Glos

Hi It is quite possible that his father was'nt James. My ggg grandmother was illegitimate and she gave a false fathers name on her marriage cert. George

Hello Everyone His father was called james almost sure of that as i have his sons marriage certificate and also his daughters, and they both have james as the father and its also on the census as james

Christine, Seems like you have two choices, 1) go for the sisters birth certificate, then you will have a more definitive version of his name, if you want a dob you can then apply for his with both father and mother (or look for the baptism if you know which church it would have been, or 2) get the 4 likely index refs you have checked by ONS at Southport. Pam