Genealogy Chat

Hi all, been looking for my grt grandfathers birth for about 5years no luck. Talking to a lady from the bmhs and she surggested i ask the registrar to look in the register not the index for his birth, she said she had the same problem with one of her rellies and they found her in the reg but she hadn't been indexed. Sent off last week for the cert taking her advice,it came back 2 days later, not possable to look in register to time consuming. Rang up the next day, to ask if i could look myself but but no, public arn't allowed to look at the register. Does anyone know anything about this? Gill

Gill Unfortunately the public cannot look in the register office records:-( Thre seems to be a wide range of service from register offices. Some of them are incredibly helpful and respond by return of post, and offer online ordering. Others, including several London ones, refuse to provide any certs for genealogy purposes. How big a time span are you looking at? Is it possible for you to find a baptism record to narrow down your search? How certain are you about where he was born? nell

Hi Helen, thanks for the reply. My cousin and myself have gone through every parish in Hanley s-o-t and we can't find a baptisam for him. On the 1871 census he's 6 and it say born in Hanley. on the next 3 census it say born in Hanley. I have a cert for an older brother and that's Hanley. Just don't know were to go from here. Gill

Probably yes, I suppose, but worth asking, just in case... Have you tried the IGI - remembering what's been said on one of these threads: that they cycle the database over a period, so what isn't there now, may be in a couple of weeks' time and vice versa. Christine

On a weekly basis for last 5 years Christine the IGI grones when i start putting his name in. lol Gill

Give us his name, you never know! nell

Can you post up his name and when you think he was born according to censuses? Is it possible that the older brother had a different mother from him? If so, could it be that he (your great-grandfather, not the brother) was born with a different surname from the one he used later? Kate.

Thank's Helen, Kate His name is John Thomas Shenton on 1871 aged 6 est birth yr 1865 Hanley parents Enoch and Elizabeth. 1863 Henry Shenton(didn't survive) marrige Enoch and Elizabeth (without checking month) sept 1863 Sorry think sept was Henrys birth. Think it was April 1863

Do you know about Staffordshire BMD? And if not, did the unhelpful register office not mention it?! http://www.staffordshirebmd.org.uk/ Presumably one of these is the parents' marriage (both 1863): SHENTON Enoch HANKERS Matilda Elizabeth Cobridge, Christ Church Stoke-On-Trent 6/2/018. SHENTON Enoch SMITH Elizabeth Bucknall, St Mary Stoke-On-Trent 2/03/178 Then there is this one for 1866 which may or may not be connected: SHENTON Enoch HUNT Jane Cheddleton, St Edwards Staffordshire Moorlands 17C/1/399 Looking at the births index, it doesn't look as though they have transcribed any of the Hanley births yet, so you may have to wait until they do. (Maybe that's why the register office didn't mention it.) Let's hope you don't have to wait another 5 years! Kate.

Yes Kate iv been on staffs bmd found lots on there but not this one. It's the Elizabeth smith marridge, Buchnall that's the one. Smith was her previous married name ,Taylor was her maidan name.

The thing is if his birth hasn't been indexed i'l never find him

I expect you've seen this and dismissed it because its not Hanley, but there's always a possiblity that he wasn't born in Hanley, but assumed he was as that;s where the family lived: Shenton, John Record Type: Births Dec 1865 District: Dudley County: Staffordshire Worcestershire Volume: 6c Page: 40 nell

No but Gill, it could be that it is on the Hanley Register Office's register but was missed off the GRO's index for some reason (by mistake, probably). That's why whoever it was advised you to ask the register office. But I guess you could just order the certificate from Hanley Register Office without knowing if they have it or not, giving them a date of 1864 or 1865? I don't know if they would charge you anyway if they don't find it, but if you've been looking that long surely it would be worth a try for the few pounds you might waste? Oh, sorry, that's what you already tried!!! Well, then we may have to wait until it gets transcribed onto Staffordshire BMD after all. Kate.

Not your chap, but a rellie: GEORGE HENRY SHENTON Christening: 25 JUN 1866 Wetley Rocks, Stafford, Parents: Father: ENOCK SHENTON Mother: ELIZABETH nell

and Hannah SHENTON Female Birth: 1867 Ogates, , Shropshire, England Parents: Father: Enoch SHENTON Family Mother: Elizabeth SHENTON nell

and Sarah SHENTON Female Birth: 1865 Wellington, Shropshire, England Parents: Father: Enoch SHENTON Mother: Elizabeth SHENTON Which means that either there were two Enoch & Elizabeths, or that they moved around from Hanley, or that your John was born in the same year as Sarah, or that his birthyear is wrong. Or something else!!!!! nell

Thanks Helen , yes parents arn't right on that one. i have 3 differant certs here all for John Thomas and one for Thomas but he turned out to be his cousin. Begining to think he wasn't Enoch and Elizabeths child. They just took him in, that being the case il never find it.

and there are! 1871 Enoch Shenton abt 1835 Wetton Rooks, Staffordshire, Head Burslem Staffordshire Elizabeth Shenton abt 1845 Wydunbury, Cheshire, Wife Burslem Staffordshire Thomas M Shenton abt 1870 Burslem, Staffordshire, Son Burslem Your lot: Enoch Shenton abt 1834 Hanley, Staffordshire,Head Hanley Staffordshire Record Elizabeth Shenton abt 1833 Hanley, Staffordshire, Wife Hanley Staffordshire John T Shenton abt 1865 Hanley, Staffordshire, England Son Hanley Staffordshire William A Smith abt 1857 Hanley, Staffordshire,Son Hanley Staffordshire and this lot: Enoch Shenton abt 1860 Wellington, Shropshire, England Stepson Wombridge Shropshire Hannah Shenton abt 1865 Wombridge, Shropshire, England Stepdaughter Wombridge Shropshire Sarah Shenton abt 1863 Wellington, Shropshire, England Stepdaughter Wombridge Shropshire Elizabeth Vale abt 1835 Wellington, Shropshire, England Wife Wombridge Shropshire William Vale abt 1871 Wombridge, Shropshire, England Son Wombridge Shropshire Bang goes another promising lead! nell

Gill It is possible they just didn't register him, which was easier to get away with then, but it is quite odd that they didn't baptise him either, unless they were non-conformists. Unless of course his registration or baptism were recorded so badly as to be illegible! nell

One other thought - you could see if the relevant local family history society have done transcriptions of baptisms and would look him up for a small fee? nell