Genealogy Chat

I imagine you have seen the baptism for this last child too? Dad was Thomas on that?? Maybe Mary just got stressed about this new procedure of registration, 'Don't see why I have to do that - have never needed to before' etc etc. On the other hand, did you get the cert from the GRO or from the local office? If you got it from the GRO then you are not looking at a copy of the original record (because the entry will have been hand copied once to send it to the GRO). If you got it from the local office, you MAY not be looking at a photocopy of the original - maybe it is a typed copy or a handwritten copy, transcribed by the current day registrar. This is a roundabout way of saying that mistakes do occur!!! There have been a couple of threads on here lately where someone has got a GRO cert and later found that they already had the original in g-grannies paperwork only to find the details don't match exactly!!! It would be worth phoning the local office explaining that you have a copy of the cert (either from them or from the GRO) and that you can read it all except the first name of the father (so you are lying here, but it's the best way to get a result!!). Hopefully that will look up the original and tell you what that says. This worked for me the one time I have had to do it. In my case I had a marriage cert from the GRO with a fictitious witness on it!! Best Wishes Sarah PS sorry to ramble on...... PPS Maybe Reuben is Mary's father's name?? The registrar may have said, 'and the name of the father?' and she said, 'Reuben', coz that was her father lol, so he wrote Reuben Martin!! Could Mary sign her own name?

My 5xgrandparents are Edward and Mary Martin. Possible marriage for them in Thorpe le Soken, Essex, 11th May 1815. Edward Martin to Mary Keeble. I have them in 41, 51 and 61 living in TLS. Edward died sometime before the 71 census, Mary is living alone and dies in 1873. Thanks to some wonderful help I've now got the baptism details of all their children and you can imagine my excitement to discover they'd had one child inside civil reg so I sent off for his birth certificate to confirm if the marriage found was correct. The cert has now arrived and I'm gobsmacked! John Thomas Martin born 16th August 1840 at Landemere Landing, Thorpe le Soken (same address the family are at in 41 and 51), birth registered by mother Mary Martin formerly Keeble. Father....REUBEN Martin! Now I don't know what to do or think! Who is Reuben and why was he having a baby with Edward's wife 20+yrs before Edward died? Or is Edward actually Reuben and for some reason he's on the birth cert as Reuben but married as Edward and is listed on all the census and the children's baptisms as Edward? The father on John Thomas's baptism is Edward, as are the other 10 Martin children. Will shut up now...would appreciate any thoughts! Lou

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