John Wilcock birth record 1882

[strawberrymivvy]

Hi, I am getting seriously rusty at this, been years since I've done any active research on my tree, and my brain just isn't in gear again yet!

I've updated my software, tidied up my tree by clearing out duplicates, making sure place names spelled correctly and so on, now it's time to actually get moving again!

I'm trying to validate all the information I already have for my direct ancestors, which of course means checking up on certificates I don't have.

Currently missing birth certificate for my paternal great grandfather John Wilcock, but can't see (the wood for the trees!) his details online to order certificate.

I believe him to have been born January 1882 in Winstanley, Lancashire to Thomas Wilcock and Mary, nee Rigby

I'm sure it's really obvious online somewhere, but as I say, head just not in gear and need a shove to get me back on track or my tree will be put away for another couple of years...

Any help gratefully appreciated!

[Pam Downes]

As there's quite a lot of John Wilcock birth registrations to choose from let's try to narrow it down.

Is your John the one who married his step-mother's daughter, Laura Littler, in June quarter 1901 in Wigan registration district?
And is therefore living in Winstanley in the 1901 RG13/3566 folio 7 page 1.
And in 1891 living in Winstanley RG12/3063 folio 8 page 9.

If so, then he's living in Winstanley in 1881, aged 2 months - RG11/3778 folio 10 page 13

Winstanley is in Wigan registration district, so I think he must be the John registered in March quarter 1881 - vol 8c page 129
Found on FreeBMD https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl
If you order the certificate online through the GRO you can specifiy that his father should be Thomas Wilcock.
https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

Though far better is to order through the 'local' register office https://www.
lancashirebmd.org.uk/ which confirms that the mother's maiden name is Rigby.

ADDED: If you haven't got John and Laura's marriage certificate. you can order that through the LancsBMD site as well.

Pam

[catfordcrooner]

I have found a John Edward Wilcock baptised in Warrington in 1880 with parents named as Thomas and Mary
Warrington is about 10 miles south of Wigan

[catfordcrooner]

I agree that Pam has the right birth registration

Unfortunately I can't find anything with the parents names on it, I've searched just about everywhere. You could gamble and order the birth certificate

Jeff

[catfordcrooner]

Message to Pam

I didn't realise that counties had their own BMD records. Thanks for enlightening me there, it is a very useful tool to have. Is this typical for counties throughout the country?

Jeff

[Wilkes_ml]

All registration districts used to have their own register offices where copies of certificates could be purchased. Over time, these register offices were amalgamated, often into Counties. Genuki has a useful list of Registration Districts and how they changed juristiction over the years, and I'm sure they have current contact details for those that cover the old registration districts.

The advantage of obtaining certificates from "local" register offices is that you have one less step for transcription error to creep in, and for marriages, you often can get a direct photo copy of the original parish church entry with original signatures.

[pwholt]

There is a group called UKBMD which operates at the local level; not all counties participate, and the indexing is at different stages for those that do. However, some of them include more detail than freebmd because they include ages at death, for instance, from 1837 rather than from 1866, and if you know how to read the entries, it is clear which births are for illegitimate children. Mothers' maiden names are available from before 1912 for some. It is always worth checking to see if your area is covered because if it is, you can get extra information. Google UKBMD to get to the site. I forgot to mention that they get access to the originals so they can be more accurate. This is because the local registrars want good indexes done on computers rather than the old ones created manually over the past 170 years. pwholt

[catfordcrooner]

Thanks to both of you. This is really helpful

Jeff

[strawberrymivvy]

Pam, thanks for this, yep, my John married his stepsister - which makes for all sorts of confusions later on as you might imagine.

Sorry not to respond and say thanks sooner, life got away from me this week!

Like Jeff, though I'd previously known, I'd forgotten about using local sites to order certificates and therefore having the option of specifying mother's name. Will get certificate ordered and get back in the game

I swear, I literally some days just look at my tree and don't know what to do next. Perhaps coming back after a long break wasn't the best time to also buy a new software package! Determined to get back into it...