18th Oct 2009

The Advent of Birth, Marriage & Death Registration

• We have to thank Henry VIII for the advent of formal records of Births, Marriages and Deaths.

• Initiated in 1538 but the clergy (C of E) would write details on any scraps of paper!

• Laws passed in 1558 defining the means by which records would be kept – parchment.

• Further laws passed in 1597 to ensure the Parish records were copied to the local Bishop.

• Government legislation (Eng & Wal) to make records compulsory - not passed until Jul 1837.

18th Oct 2009

Bishops Transcript – Washford Pyne, Devon in 1716

A sample of a Bishops Transcript in 1716. This was copied by the Church Warden and noted all Baptism, Marriages and Burials.Note not necessarily the same as Birth or Death dates!On next slide a sample of Baptism records but not in Birth Date order, so difficult to find particular entry

18th Oct 2009

Parish Records, Baptisms – St Pancras 1854

18th Oct 2009

Index of Births – Alfred Taylor (b Q4 1855)

Key to finding an entry is to obtain the reference Index. Here samples show District (note not Parish), Volume and Page details for a particular Quarter of the year.These Index are on line from websites such as FreeBMD (see next slide)

18th Oct 2009

Searching FreeBMD for Birth Reference

18th Oct 2009

A Birth Certificate – Alfred Taylor (b 1855)

The Certificate gives the Fathers name and Mothers Maiden name from which the marriage certificate can be found.You can obtain the actual Certificate from the General Registry Office via website: http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/It will cost £7 and take about 2 weeks to arrive

18th Oct 2009

Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates

• Local County Records Office (CRO); personal search of an individual county’s records on Microfiche

• FreeBMD.co.uk website; records of BMD with good search facility from 1837 - 1930

• Ancestry.com website; complete records; births and marriages searchable by individual through to 2005

• Birth Index data included “Mother’s Maiden Name” from 1912

To help one find the correct BMD index ref:-

To Obtain a Certificate, you need to accurately identify the District (Parish), Year, Quarter, Volume and Page of the appropriate Index for the person you want

18th Oct 2009

Death Certificate

18th Oct 2009

Death Certificate

To help one find the correct BMD index ref:-• Death Index data included “Age” of deceased from 1870• Death Index data included “Date of Birth” from 1970

The Death Certificate is not often that useful but it does help one trace the year of Birth and the Occupation can confirm the correct Certificate has been found

18th Oct 2009

Marriage Certificates

18th Oct 2009

Marriage Certificates

The Marriage Certificate gives one the fathers name and occupation that can then be used to trace earlier ancestors through the census data.

18th Oct 2009

Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates

• Use data from other Certificates – • mother’s maiden name from Birth certificates • age at death to determine year born – not always accurate but a good guide

• Use the Census data to understand when someone was born and from the age of eldest child possibly determine marriage date.

• Use occupation to confirm identity

• For Marriages, click on “Page” to see who else was married on that day; compare Christian names.

To find BMD index information:-

18th Oct 2009

Using the Certificates & Census data to unravel a Mystery – The Gates family, Ada my grandmother and Arthur her brother – the 1891 census

Arthur was born 4 years after William’s wife Martha had died!

18th Oct 2009

Using the Certificates & Census data to unravel a Mystery – But Martha had died in 1884

So who was Arthur’s mother?

18th Oct 2009

Using the Certificates & Census data to unravel a Mystery – Getting Arthur’s Birth Certificate

Obtaining Arthur’s Birth Certificate from the Index Reference

18th Oct 2009

Using the Certificates & Census data to unravel a Mystery – Arthur born in 1888

Arthur’s Birth Certificate showed William had remarried a Katie Johns, but she must have died before the 1891 census

18th Oct 2009

Using the Certificates & Census data to unravel a Mystery – William Gates remarries in 1885

Using FreeBMD to find the Marriage Certificate Index

18th Oct 2009

Using the Certificates & Census data to unravel a Mystery – Kate Gates also dies

And to confirm Katie Gates (nee Johns) had died before the 1891 census

18th Oct 2009

Arthur Gates, living with the Braggs, marries in 1923

However Arthur went on to get married and a copy of the Certificate threw up some problems:- Arthur’s father was William, not John, who was William’s brother- Arthur’s age is wrong. At 29 he would have been born in 1894So could there be another Arthur?

18th Oct 2009

Arthur Gates, born in 1893

Sure enough, another Arthur was born in the same District in late 1893

18th Oct 2009

Arthur Gates, born in 1893

The new Arthur’s Birth Certificate showed he was the illigitamate son of Ada Gates (William’s youngest daughter) my Grandmother!)Note Ada gave birth in the local Workhouse – presumably William had kicked her out!

18th Oct 2009

Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates

You may not be successful because:-• The ages may vary widely from census to census.  • Registration may occur up to 3 years after actual birth• Spelling and juxtaposition of Christian & Middle names.  • The Parish in the census is not the "District" used in the BMD Index• Parish boundaries changed over time; use something like

“Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers” or the “District Description” in FreeBMD (actually points you to GenUKI website) to check changes

• You don't get any other info from FreeBMD with which to check whether the person you found is correct.    • The birth certificate was never raised; it was not compulsory to register birth until 1875.

18th Oct 2009

Other Denominations:

Although the registration process was aimed at the majority Anglian / C of E population:-

• Some Non-conformist religions still registered their births in Dr William’s Library in London; from 1716

• Similarly Wesleyan Methodists were recorded centrally from 1773

• Roman Catholics – banned until1778 so records are very sparce  

• Quakers were established in 1650 and kept very good records

18th Oct 2009

Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates

• General Records Office (GRO) for England & Wales (1837 onward);

“www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/”• General Records Office (GRO) for Scotland (1855 onward); “http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/famrec/bdm.html” or “ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk”• General Records Office (GRO) for Northern Ireland; “http://www.groni.gov.uk/index.htm”.• Cost of Certificates from these sites is normally £7 and take about 5 to 10 days to arrive

Main sources of actual certificates:-

18th Oct 2009

An Original Birth Certificate – My Mother, Lucy Taylor (nee Bragg and Ada’s daugther by Thomas) who is 100yrs old and still living