Long forms?

[British Viking]

I see the occasional mention here of "long forms" when referring to B, M or D records.

What does this mean?

Could this mean that the B, M & D certs I have had so far from GRO (formerly £7.00 now £9.25) were the shortened versions meaning I'd have to start all over again to gain further information?

Thanks

BV

[Margaret08]

I think the term refers to the size of the paper, the old certificates that I have measure about 14" by 6 1/2" whereas the new ones are on standard A4 which is about 8" by 12". No doubt someone will correct me if this is wrong! I think that the only form of 'shortened' certificate that you can buy is the Birth Certificate and I think that is only provided when the birth is first registered, not at a later date.

Margaret

[SBSFamilyhistory]

Yes people often had a short birth certificate if the family wanted to save money. It gave only the basic details relating to the child. It did not give information on the parents. It was a bit bigger than A5 but not as big as A4.

My Great grandmother had one for her first son to cover up the fact that his father was not named, and that the man who he thought was his father was not.

They could be purchased after birth and were often purchased when joining the services or purchasing a life insurance policy.

Sue

[notanotherminer]

I agree with Margaret BV. Some of the early certificates I obtained from local Registrars were in the long format which is a nuisance fitting into A4 pockets.
They've still got exactly the same information on as the copies you get now in A4 format.

[terrysfamily]

For anyone who hasn't seen a short certificate, here is a mock up of my original one.
http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt58/tjds_album/cert.jpg

[pattenwalsh]

Yes got my children short form birth certs when they were born because it was cheaper.Now, the two youngest are applying for passports and only the long version is an acceptable document, so have to fork out 9.25 for long copies of each one,so not a good money saving idea that I thought it was at the time.

[British Viking]

Yes got my children short form birth certs when they were born because it was cheaper.Now, the two youngest are applying for passports and only the long version is an acceptable document, so have to fork out 9.25 for long copies of each one,so not a good money saving idea that I thought it was at the time.

Gotta admit that made me laugh! Thanks!

[notanotherminer]

I think it needs British Viking to get back and clarify his original question; i.e. Was he referring to the "long forms" as per the actual size and shape of the old fashioned certificates or did he mean the difference between the "short form certificate" and the "full certificate".

The certificates to which he refers that came from GRO are obviously the full version cert. as opposed to the short version but the question itself, as shown by the replies, is a little ambiguous.

Over to you BV

[British Viking]

Ah, my mining friend!

If you read the first two lines of my original query I had no idea what these were.....just something I saw mentioned elsewhere in B-G, thus I had no idea what I was referring to!

But thanks to everybody for your help - nice to know I have'nt got to fork out £9.25 umpteen times!