Genealogy Chat

Well i`m stuck.Has anyone any advice please. My grandmother was born on 23.01.1908.Thats the date we all celebrated with her.I`ve looked on the 1837 site and can`t find her.I´ve also checked the quarters before and after but still no luck.Another problem is that after she died a few years ago no one in the family seemed to have a birth cert.Odd.Does anyone have any ideas as to what I could do now.Next step. Thanks Julie.

I had a frightening moment in Chichester Record Office when I couldn't find either of my grandparents and thought I'd found the skeleton my grandad always used to say we had - think he said it to put us off researching the family tree for some reason. Then a kind lady there told me to search the quarter after, or even the quarter after that, as the fiche relates to the registered date rather than the birth date. Unless your grandma lied about her age for any reason? Perhaps try looking up her marriage certificate instead, where she would have had to put her age? If I think of anything else I'll let you know. Unless you're just a figment of your own imagination!?! :0)

My grandmother lied about her age! She was actually born in 1876, but on her marriage certificate said it was 1873 (which made her 'of age' to marry). Consequently, when she died, the age on her death certificate was wrong. She appears to have been 3 years older than she actually was! Janet. Northamptonshire

Thanks Paula, I hadn`t thought of looking for her marriage cert.I`ll get onto that next. Julie

Hi Julie. My experience has been that 5 years either side will get you somewhere. I've had discrepancies of 3 and 4 years in my tree. They! used to lie for what seems to be the strangest reasons to us but were obviously was important to them

They didn't always lie deliberately! Sometimes their parents told them wrongly - to hide your previously mentioned skeletons - or they just didn't know exactly - especially if they lost 1 or both parents at an early age, or the family was illiterate (very common) or the cert was lost etc etc. Always take ages on censuses or death or marriage certs with a pinch of salt and be flexible when searching for births. Good hunting!

Julie 1908 is still relatively recent for records to be available on these sites.There is a wish not to record information about persons who could still be alive. Tracey - it was 1837 when compulsory registration of births was introduced. Prior to this date it was only baptisms that were generally recorded. John

Hi Patricia, Was just reading about why you weren't going to apply for your relatives death certificate and just thought I'd add a quick comment. I seem to have a couple of death certificates, of which I have two of my grandparents and their birth dates are documented on it. But I have great grandparents certs that don't. Not sure whether it was something they added after a certain date or whether it's a regional thing? Might be worth sending off it? But then again, it might be one of those that don't give any extra info! Paula

Julie As you know your grandmother's date of birth you can apply for her birth certificate from the GRO. Lynne

Thanks to all of you who are interested and trying to help.I`m now going to get a copy of my grandma`s wedding cert. and also her birth cert.(if she was born when she said) My problem is that I now live in Austria (married an Austrian)and I`m dependant on the internet and telephone. But next time I`m home in England I`ll probably be spending a lot of time at various librarys ect.. Thanks again to all of you. Julie

Hi I have several death certs which put the place of birth. George

I have checked the 6 Death Certs. I have - alas none of them show the place of birth, only place of death.

My Grandmother's death certificate(died 1984) had her date of birth on it. Very useful as I had an inkling she was good at embellishing the truth. Now I have her birth certificate, and her parents marriage certificate, but her father apparently wasn't born. The marriage certificate has his age as 27 in 1907. I've looked from 1870 - 1890, no luck.

My grandfather died in 1958 but I was told his date of birth wouldn't be on it, just his age at time of death. Putting date of birth on was added some time later. Jan.