General Chat

hi i new to this. what does volume number mean on the records and if you find two people with the same volume number will they be related

thanks

dan

Hi Daniel and welcome to the boards.

Every birth, adoption, marriage, civil partnership or death registered in England or Wales has a GRO index reference number. It usually consists of the year, volume number, page number and district in which the event was registered.

GRO provides a public index that lists basic details of every event (birth, marriage, death etc) recorded in England and Wales. You can use these records to order certificates and build your family tree.

The GRO index reference number is a separate reference number to the Census or International Geneological Index (IGI) number and helps GRO locate the correct certificate for your family research. Using the certificate index reference reduces the time it takes to find what you want.


For more information.....and a better understanding.......Google this...


Frequently Asked Questions for UKBMD - Births, Marriages, Deaths.

And this....

Using the General Registers Office.

When looking for births..........if you found say a William Brown and a Henry Brown in the same year, the same district, the same quarter and the same Volume and Page number...........they would be twins!!

When looking for marriages.........The people you find that married in the same year, the same district, the same quarter and with the same page and volume number.........married each other.

But sometimes there are more than two people who married in the same place at the same time etc..........and the fun is..........working out just who married who!! :-D

I hope that makes sence!!

Just to confirm, Dan, no, finding 2 people with the same volume number doesn't necessarily mean that they are related....unless they have a HIGHLY unusual surname, then it could be a possibility. If that's the case you could try and cross-match the names against census records.
Or, as mentioned above by Prickly, in the case of everything matching including the page number, yes they are likely related but nothing's certain.
The only way to be sure is to purchase certificates.


The Volume number given (in the GRO index of births marriages & deaths) is the registration district, ie the district in which the event was registered, not necessarily the actual place the event occurred.
Example - If your ancestor was born in the tiny hamlet of Hamlet-ville, it's unlikely there was a facility to register the birth there, it's more likely to have been in the nearest town. So the Volume Number will correspond to that town, ie Registration District, not the hamlet where they were born. That information is likely to be on the birth certificate.

You can add your fourpenneth anytime you like Barry!! :-D

I have PMd Daniel to help direct him back to this thread.

HERE'S MY FARTHINGS WORTH (IM OLD)
DONT ASUME YOU FOUND GREAT GRANNY COZ YEAR & PLACE MATCHES..I WAS TOLD 1900 TURNED OUT 3 TO CHOICE 3 CERTS IN LATER NONE OF THEM .HER PARENTS LIED ABOUT HER AGE TO GET HER IN SERVICE,SHE WAS A YEAR YOUNGER .
AND WORSE MY UNCLE LAUGHED HE KNEW ALL ALONE

Thanks all for your help. it all very intresting but at times you feel you have hit a brick wall. especially when your search brings up several people. also i have found my great grandads marriage and death certificates but are strjggling with his bith certificate as there are several people who it could be. any tips on finding out who it could be. again im a novice. any comments appreciated. thanks in advance

Hi Daniel...........don't worry we all hit brickwalls,part of the fun ;-)
and you have to become something of a sleuth when searching for lost rellies.
I've been looking for well over twenty years and only recently found my grandparents through trial and error.Except I cannot find when grandad died so will keep on digging.

You say you have your Great grandad's marriage cert.? you will have the date and his age,does it not also name his father at all? have a look on census to see if you can find his family,his name should perhaps be in the household.


Hope I've helped a little
Mau

another clue on marriage certs are witnesses, often they are relatives....

on death certs, the informant "COULD " be the spouse.....or another relative...

freeBMD marriage lists show the possible spouses.and female maiden names
after 1911? (or is it 1912?)april, births show the fathers surname(usually) and also the mothers maiden name

another clue on marriage certs are witnesses, often they are relatives....

on death certs, the informant "COULD " be the spouse.....or another relative...

freeBMD marriage lists show the possible spouses.and female maiden names
after 1911? (or is it 1912?)april, births show the fathers surname(usually) and also the mothers maiden name, so a search on freebmd using only the mothers maiden name might help.

so if a birth was registered by an unmarried woman and the fathers name not known.... a search for the maiden name might find it..