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  1. #1
    dipat
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    Default Falsifying Birth details

    Can anyone help me with this problem please? I have a Birth certificate for a baby girl born in 1885. I am positive I have the correct one. The date of birth is correct....day and month but the name of the Mother I think is incorrect. The baby was illegitimate so no Father is named. However, the child's Father is known and she appears on the Census with him. The Mother's name on the Birth certificate is slightly different from the Baptism record. She gives her name as Mary Sarah Kelly on the Birth certificate and only Sarae Kelly on the Baptism. How easy would it have been then to falsify a Birth certificate? Did she have to give any kind of proof that she was the Mother? I believe , in this case, that the family of the Birth Mother were trying to hide the illegitimate birth by asking someone else to register the Birth. Did this happen? I have tried researching this topic but have not found anything to help me. Thank you.

  2. #2
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    I would think they are correct probably she was known as Sarah and that is why the baptism only has this its not unusual for 2nd name to be used I have several in my trees and one line of my husbands use one of three names depending on what they felt like at the time.
    The names are so very alike I would say they are correct

  3. #3
    Brick wall demolition expert!
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    In 1885 no one would have had to produce proof of identity, in fact I would guess that very few had such proof.

    There are known cases where people were prosecuted for falsifying certificates and declarations. In the case of illegitimacy grandparents declaring themselves as the parents etc.,

  4. #4
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    I would agree, and , in passing will mention that my name on my baptismal certificate (which is somewhere, though not sure where)has a middle "Henry" which is missing on the birth certificate (in 1943)

  5. #5

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    Yes. Also, there was (is?) a time limit within which births had to be registered. Baptisms were more relaxed. People didn’t know what sex the baby was until it arrived, and might decide between the two events that they should have added another name.
    19th century (and often early 20th century) certificates often vary - death certificates especially since they rely on what the person did the registering knew. One example - one of my Uncles was known as Harry all of his life and that is what is on his death certificate despite the face that his birth certificate reads Henry Thomas.

    I think that most cases are accidental rather than “falsifying”.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lesley Robertson View Post
    Yes. Also, there was (is?) a time limit within which births had to be registered. Baptisms were more relaxed. People didn’t know what sex the baby was until it arrived, and might decide between the two events that they should have added another name.
    19th century (and often early 20th century) certificates often vary - death certificates especially since they rely on what the person did the registering knew. One example - one of my Uncles was known as Harry all of his life and that is what is on his death certificate despite the face that his birth certificate reads Henry Thomas.

    I think that most cases are accidental rather than “falsifying”.
    There was also a custom of adding a "religious" name on baptism.
    Cheers
    Guy
    As we have gained from the past, we owe the future a debt, which we pay by sharing today.

  7. #7

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    Thanks Guy, that’s not so common in Scotland, so I’d forgotten about it!

  8. #8
    dipat
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    Thanks all of you for the help you have given.

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