Looking for GGGrandpa Johns birth cert

[jeffrey.bean]

I've been looking for my GGGrandfathers birth cert.I've ordered two and both where wrong. His name was John Spencer, born in Liverpool ( some documents say West Derby). I've ordered Sept 1863, LP, 8b, pg 86, June 1864, WD, 8b, pg 324 and I just tried June 1862, WD, 5b, pg 461. I havent heard back yet (fingers are crossed ). What can I do if the last one turns out not to be the right one. I have his parents names.

Is there a cheaper way to get birth certs, it tends to add up. I'm in the states so I have to order them. Does it cost less for a person to go into the GRO and get them himself? Can you get photo copys of the certificates for less?

Cheers,
Jeff

[Wirral]

Hi Jeff
The cheapest & fastest way to get BMD certificates is through the government site http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificate/ using the General Register Office (GRO) reference details. They cost £7 each. You cannot get birth or death certificates any other way than by buying them. If you know the church & date where a marriage took place, then someone with access to the church records may be able to look up a marriage for you. Or you can arrange to view the relevant church record microfilm through a local Family History Centre.
Local & county libraries have church records which include marriages, baptisms & burials. The information for the last two is not identical to that of the civil records of births and deaths.

West Derby is the name of an old "village" in Liverpool, dating back to pre Domesday times. It is also the name of one of the main civil registration districts of Liverpool (Liverpool, West Derby & Toxteth Park).

Try posting some more info on your family. I will be going to Liverpool Central Library, but it proablaby won't be until the New Year now.

[Wirral]

The other thing is that if you already know details such as the parents' names, you can specifiy on the certification request that these details must match. If they do not match & a certificate is not issued, then you get a partial refund of your money (£3 or£4). You have to be careful how much info you want the certificate to be checked against. eg the father's name may be correct, but not the mother's.

[HelenVSmith]

If you have any confirmed information regarding his parents names you can ask for a check on these when you order the certificate. You then pay a reduced fee if the certificate is wrong.

This can be problematic if you are unsure of the parents names as they recorded them at the time of registration.

Also there are a number of births which were not recorded. It was not mandatory to register a birth until the 1870s and some people still thought that the baptism counted as registering the birth.

And then you have transcription problems from where the local registrar office sends off their quarterly details to London. Sometimes a name is missed (this happened to Leslie Smith born 1916 in Northfleet, luckily I had the original receipt for registering the birth and ended up ordering it from teh local registrars office) Sometimes you can order from the local registrars office if you have an idea of the date. Births and deaths are recorded chronologically while unfortunately marriages are recorded by church.

Regards
Helen

[jeffrey.bean]

Thanks for the info.
Wirral, I'm on my third try, if this fails Ill post the info. Thanks for offering to help.

Regards,
Jeff

[jeffrey.bean]

Wirral, I found Johns birth certificate, 3rd time's a charm. Thanks for the offer to help.