The Advent of Birth, Marriage & Death Registration

1. 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.

2. 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

3. Parish Records, Baptisms – St Pancras 1854

4. 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)

5. Searching FreeBMD for Birth Reference

6. 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

7. Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates • 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 • 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 • To help one find the correct BMD index ref:- • Birth Index data included “Mother’s Maiden Name” from 1912

8. Death Certificate

9. 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

10. Marriage Certificates

11. 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.

12. Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates • To find BMD index information:- • 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.

13. 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!

14. Using the Certificates & Census data to unravel a Mystery – But Martha had died in 1884 So who was Arthur’s mother?

15. Using the Certificates & Census data to unravel a Mystery – Getting Arthur’s Birth Certificate Obtaining Arthur’s Birth Certificate from the Index Reference

16. 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

17. Using the Certificates & Census data to unravel a Mystery – William Gates remarries in 1885 Using FreeBMD to find the Marriage Certificate Index

18. 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

19. 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 1894 • So could there be another Arthur?

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

21. 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!

22. 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 afteractual birth • Spelling and juxtaposition of Christian & Middlenames.  • 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 tocheck whether the person you found is correct.    • The birth certificate was never raised; it was not compulsory to register birth until 1875.

23. 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

24. Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates • Main sources of actual 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

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