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  1. #1

    Default Same GRO index for different names & qtrs

    Hello,

    Can someone please explain/give possible reasons, how/why 2 births in the same year, different qtrs can have the same GRO index?

    On Ancestry I've found the following:
    Sarah Elizabeth A WHITE - 1870 Mar qtr Poplar 1c 636
    Sarah Elizabeth WHITE - 1870 Mar qtr Poplar 1c 636

    Both are the same images and both give name as: Sarah Elizabeth A WHITE

    On FreeBMD I've found the following:
    Sarah Elizabeth A WHITE - 1870 Mar qtr Poplar 1c 636
    Sarah Elizabeth WHITE - 1870 Jun qtr Poplar 1c 636

    Both are different images

    I'm a little baffled??
    Amora2

  2. #2
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    They are two different girls.

    If you search the GRO's own web site for Sarah White 1870 in Poplar you can see a few entries, but you know that they are different because the GRO site shows the mother's maiden names.

  3. #3
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    I have to admit that I always thought they used different page numbers in different quarters, though obviously not.
    Something in the back of my brain tells me that Ancestry at one time used the FreeBMD transcriptions as their index for BMD 1837-1915, but things may have changed since those early days.

    What you really need to look at is the GRO's own website which has updated entries which now give the mother's maiden name on the birth certificates. (No name usually means that it was an illegitimate birth.)
    https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/c...ates/login.asp
    You have to register, and then select 'search indexes'.)

    Sarah Elizabeth A WHITE - 1870 Mar qtr Poplar 1c 636 is actually Sarah Elzabeth Alice White, mother's maiden name Ellis.

    Sarah Elizabeth WHITE - 1870 Jun qtr Poplar 1c 636 - mother's maiden name Scott.

    Pam
    Vulcan XH558 - “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

  4. #4
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    On Ancestry I've found the following:
    Sarah Elizabeth A WHITE - 1870 Mar qtr Poplar 1c 636
    Sarah Elizabeth WHITE - 1870 Mar qtr Poplar 1c 636

    Both are the same images and both give name as: Sarah Elizabeth A WHITE
    That's because Ancestry have decided that because they had the same page number and registration district that they were the same entry, despite the different names. and so have linked the wrong image to the Sarah Elizabeth White, whose birth was registered in June quarter.

    On the FreeBMD result you will see some specs to the right of the details. Click on the icon, scroll down the next page a little until you see 'view the original', click, and you'll see the correct image headed 'April, May June 1870'.

    From what I can see from their website Ancestry are still using the FreeBMD transcripts for BMDs 1837-1915 (which is why the index is marked 'free').

    Far more reliable to use just FreeBMD and the GRO's website.

    Incidentally, never, ever, order certificates through Ancestry. They charge more than twice the price of ordering direct from the GRO, and more than three times the price of a black-and-white PDF copy. (£11.00 and £7.00 respectively from the GRO.)

    Pam
    Vulcan XH558 - “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

  5. #5

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    Many thanks to you both, Megan and Pam, for your helpful advice and the information contained in your quick replies .... and to Pam for the link too.

    All very much appreciated
    Amora2

  6. #6
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    The full GRO index must include the quarter and year and therefore one reference can't possibly be duplicated in another quarter.

    BUT here's a thing...

    Because of the way page numbers started again each quarter, there is something you can tell from volume and page numbers, particularly in relation to marriages.

    Here are a couple of databases which may help you to tell just from a GRO reference which church the marriage was registered in...

    https://surname-society.org/marriage-finder/

    https://www.marriage-locator.co.uk/

  7. #7

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    Thankyou for this information and the links Peter.

    I tried both sites out - marriage-locator site came up trumps every time.

    Unfortunately on one particular test marriage that I had input into the surname-society.org/marriage-finder site, it replied with this message:
    "Sorry no record of this marriage found. You searched for page number 949. The highest page number for this registration district in 1867 quarter 3 is: 106. It is probable that this marriage was at a non-conformist church, Registry Office or the page number is incorrect"

    All details that I entered were correct. I have the marriage certificate, ordered direct from the GRO, with the reference info. stated here as above!!

    Maybe just a few teething problems with that website??

    Grateful for your input all the same
    Amora2

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Amora2 View Post
    Thankyou for this information and the links Peter.

    I tried both sites out - marriage-locator site came up trumps every time.

    Unfortunately on one particular test marriage that I had input into the surname-society.org/marriage-finder site, it replied with this message:
    "Sorry no record of this marriage found. You searched for page number 949. The highest page number for this registration district in 1867 quarter 3 is: 106. It is probable that this marriage was at a non-conformist church, Registry Office or the page number is incorrect"

    All details that I entered were correct. I have the marriage certificate, ordered direct from the GRO, with the reference info. stated here as above!!

    Maybe just a few teething problems with that website??

    Grateful for your input all the same
    Amora2
    And where did the marriage take place? Was it in a non-conformist church or a Registry Office? If so, then the website was correct in what it said.

    THe marriage-locator website says "if you know the Anglican Church in which the marriage took place" though people tend to ignore the 'Anglican' as they read the sentence. The system only works for C of E marriages. I suspect that the surname-society website also only works for C of E marriages.
    Vulcan XH558 - “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

  9. #9

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    Hello Pam,

    The marriage took place at St. Dunstan & All Saints Church, Stepney - C of E marriage I believe?

    The marriage-locator website found the church with the same index that I put in to the surname-society website.

    I tried two more marriages with the same indexes in each of the websites and they both found those churches, which is why I thought it just might be down to teething problems.

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