GRO Ref written at the bottom

[Legacey]

Hi all,

Ever since I started my tree, something has been bugging me! I found that my grandad had a family previous to meeting my grandmother and having my mum. He had a son in the first quarter in 1944 and also a daughter in the first quarter in 1944 but by two different women! When I look at the son's GRO ref it all looks normal. When I look at the daughters GRO ref it has been hand written at the bottom. Now from previous searches of other family members, it has meant that if it was written on the bottom, it could mean an amendment to the original record or that a adoption occured. Could someone confirm this or point me in the right direction? It has been written on the page twice, with the first one being crossed out. If you would like to have a look (which may make things a bit clearer!!) Pamela Doris Trenfield, birth 13/02/1944 born in Staines, mothers maiden name Gill.

[salcat]

Hi Legacey

Usually this just means that they missed the entry out when they were compiling the index, and added it later - if you look at the son's entry there is a X in the margin to tell you to look at the bottom for an additional entry. There is another on the same page, though that has been typed in.

I'm afraid I can't guess why it was crossed out and written again though!

Also it says "see S45", and doesn't have a proper reference, but the typed one also says See S44, so maybe a reference to the source of the addition?

hth

Sally

PS Just had a look at Gill - she is also there as Pamela D T Gill, ref Staines 3a 27, so it is probably a reference to the fact that she is entered twice, under both names

[Legacey]

Thanks for that. I found that my grandfather didn't divorce his first wife and never married my grandmother so I wondered if he could possibly be the father of both the children with their births being so close together. I'll order a copy of Pam's birth certificate using the ref number that you have shown and see what has been put on that.

[Peter Goodey]

The crossing out is simply correcting a mistake.

A note along the lines of "See S45", usually means a re-registration. If you turn to the September quarter of 1945. you'll see the registration 1945 Sep Staines 3a 24

[Legacey]

Would it be possible to get a copy of the original entry then? My reason for asking is that I think that she may not share the same father as my mum and so it would be interesting to see who the mother named as the father on the birth certificate, if any.

[Peter Goodey]

You could order the original GILL registration and see what you get. I wouldn't like to forecast what might turn up ;).

The inference from the indexes is that the first registration showed the mother's name as GILL with no father's name and that the re-registration the following year shows the father's name as TRENFIELD but that the parents were unmarried.

However that's conjecture. In odd situations like this, you need as many certificates as you can get hold of. I wouldn't recommend skimping on certificates.

[Legacey]

Thanks Peter. Certificates are a must have so I shall order as many as it takes!!!