Inconsistency on marriage certificate

[lostinspace]

Hello all, newbie on here and new to genealogy, though I'm hooked already. But I have a strange problem which the more experienced may be able to help me resolve.

I have the original marriage certificate of a couple married in 1912. But the marriage date is listed as 4th August, and the "witnessed by" date say 4th July. Is there any way of finding out which is right?

As both possible dates fall in the same quarter, the listing from the registry district is no use.

[Jan1954]

Hello lostinspace - welcome to Brit-Gen,

The Parish records could be the way to go. The marriage may well have taken place in the August but, whoever was completing the "witnessed by" date, suffered from slight brain-fade and recorded the previous month instead. The marriage was early in the month..... However, finding the marriage in the Parish Register should nail the actual date.

Provide some details and, if anyone has access to the appropriate records, they may be able to help. If not, they should be able to point you in the right direction.

By the way, 4th July 1912 was a Thursday and 4th August 1912 was a Sunday - if that is of any help......

[Guy Etchells]

Marriage certificates (England & Wales) do not normally show a date the witness signed.
Are you sure the second date is not the date the certificate was extracted?
Cheers
Guy

[lostinspace]

Marriage certificates (England & Wales) do not normally show a date the witness signed.
Are you sure the second date is not the date the certificate was extracted?


Cheers
Guy

Thanks for the welcome and the advice.

Not sure what "extracted" means, but the exact wording is "witness my hand this 4th day of July 1912".

The marriage was between Alfred Ernest Hope and Florence Elizabeth Lee in Birkenhead, entry number 310 if that helps.

In the scheme of things, this anomaly isn't that important; it's just that being new to the game, it's interesting to learn how you "big hitters" sort out the problems!

BTW, is there any way of attaching an image if I don't have a URL for it?

[Peter Goodey]

"witness my hand this 4th day of July 1912".

This isn't a form of words that appears in the register. It must surely be the date of certification which should be on or after the date of marriage. You could always order a copy from the GRO, the local register office or the diocesan record office.

[lostinspace]

Thanks for that; hope this is right!

[Peter Goodey]

As mentioned in message #5 above, it's the date of certification - the date the certified copy was produced. Something is obviously wrong. The curate has either copied the register incorrectly or has dated the certificate wrongly. To be certain which is right, you simply have to order another certificate.

Some friendly register offices if you catch them on a good day may resolve the issue without charge.

[jac65]

Hi

Familysearch.org has a transcription of the marriage and has the date as 4th August 1912. This is from the St Mary, Birkenhead Parish Register. Your best option would be to see the actual Parish Register as it would be in date sequence, FMP are in the process of adding Cheshire Parish Register images but this one does not appear to be there yet

Andy

[Pam Downes]

Seems as if the curate had a senior moment - like the vicar who said that my uncle who was baptised in February 1917 was born in December 1917.

Lucky you, having the certificate gvien to the bride and groom after the ceremony. You need to have the dates of the entries on either side checked.
The parish registers are held at Cheshire Record Office https://
archives.cheshire.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=10
The 'second register' is now held at Wirral Register Office. https://www.
ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/reg/regoff.html#037
Tell them the name of the church (St Mary's, thank you Andy ), the entry number and the date beside it and the names of the bride and groom.
Emphasise that you have the copy given to the bride and groom. By giving the full details of where they need to look, neither office should make a charge for what amounts to taking a book off the shelf, turning to a certain page, and looking at it. You certainly shouldn't be forced to go to the expense of having to buy another certificate.

Pam

(hoping that this will be third time lucky for posting this message)

[lostinspace]

Thanks to all for the help.
You're pinting me in directions I have no experience of yet, as I've restricted myself to what I can find using the library version of Ancestry, and free BMD. As I'm out of work ATM, I've had to do what I can without spending anything!
But at some point, we intend to visit some of the places where distant relatives lived and worked; Birkenhead is on that list.

Thanks again to all.