birth certificate query

[Angelaj]

Hi,
My mother has found my gt. grandfather's birth certificate recently. He was born 08/02/1889 Ashbourne district, Derbyshire but the certificate has 07/05/1921 as the date the birth was registered. Why would this be?

Angelaj

[jeeb]

Hi Angela,

Probably because the original birth certificate could not be found or perhaps he had not been registered at birth. It is then likely his birth certificate was needed at a later date ie 1921 for legal reasons, perhaps marriage or named in a will and your great grandfather or someone else needed proof of his birth.

Jeremy

[Colin Moretti]

Barbara Dixon has this to say:
registration could not take place after 1 year without reference to GRO.In which case I suspect that the certificate would have to be signed by the Superintendent Registrar of the relevant district and probably the Registrar General as well; the certificate will give the positions of the persons signing (column 9, Signature of Registrar). The other point she makes is that in this circumstance (late registration) it will appear in the GRO index in 1921, the date of registration, not in 1889. Have you found the entry in the GRO indexes?

If it was a later copy the date of registration (column 8 of the certificate, When registered) will remain as the original but the date of issue (below the main text of the certificate) will be the date the copy was produced; it will say something like: Certified to be a true copy of an entry in the certified copy of a Register of Births in the District above mentioned. Given at the General Register Office,... under the seal of the said Office the 7th May 1921 (or something similar if it was obtained from the District Register Office).

Colin

[Peter Goodey]

Can Angela confirm that it looks the way Colin described it? Were there any other non-standard features? Was anything written on the back of the certificate?

[Pam Downes]

Hi Angelaj,
If you give us a name and the registration district (at the top of the certificate box)then the more experienced can look at the GRO Index for the relevant quarters to see if there's a cross-reference. I have a brain cell trying to tell me something about a re-registration taking place if people changed their name. (Though Peter will probably tell me I'm talking rubbish and send me to the corner wearing my |dunce2| :D )
Pam

[Angelaj]

Hi,
I haven't seen the certificate but I've been told it is pink and white like other birth certificates and is handwritten. I will ask her to check the details for me. The name is Robert John Tarlton and it's in Ashbourne district (Derbyshire).
Angelaj

[jeeb]

Hi Angela,
Your greatgrandfather was registered in Jan/Mar 1889 in Ashbourne, vol 7b page 635. The 1921 version will be as suspected, a copy made in 1921.

Jeremy

[Peter Goodey]

I haven't seen the certificate

That's the problem, I'd suggest.

[Angelaj]

Peter,
Your reply seems to me rather terse in tone. I clearly stated at the start that I had not seen the certificate - I was merely after people's thoughts on the matter.
Angelaj

[Geoffers]

I haven't seen the certificate but I've been told it is pink and white like other birth certificates and is handwritten. I will ask her to check the details for me.

Ask her to check where the date appears on the certificate.

Is it in column 8 of the certificate - 'Date Registered'

or does it appear below the table of details after a paragraph which begins
"Certified to be a true copy of an entry............"