Genealogy Chat

While looking for the birth index of a relative, I came accross what looks to be his twin:

Alice Rapley 1883 Jan-Feb-Mar Hoo Kent
William Rapley 1883 Jan-Feb-Mar Hoo Kent

William shows on 1891 census with the rest of his family. Can find no other info on Alice, including no death record. Do you think im right to assume this was williams twin? Any ideas on where I could find more info on Alice? Hoo is a pretty small place. Thanks.

Not necessarily. It could be a cousin, a relative or someone totally unrelated. You would need the birth certificate to be certain.

Sam x

Hoo is the registration district.....not necessarily the actual birthplace.....these are the places covered...........

Allhallows
Cooling
High Halstow
Hoo
Isle of Grain
St. Mary Hoo
Stoke

Reg

Hi Raych,
They do have the same page number which they quite often did with twins, but to be certain your best sending off for the certificates

Annette

I've had a look on the IGI and there is a submitted entry for a Alice Rapley, parents Frederick Rapley and Jane Coulter, but nothing comes up when I enter William Rapley.

Annette

If you know the parish where your family lived you could look for a baptism of the 2 children.
That would name the parents.

If you can't find a death, was Alice later known or buried with a different forename?

Gwyn

Hoo might come under Medway in which case you might find baptisms on the Cityark site.

Jill

As she isnt on the 1891 census, I would presume she died young if she is his twin. Why might there not be a bmd entry for this?

Have you looked for her in 1901.....or is there a person of the correct age?
She could be with a relative or elsewhere in 1891.

Gwyn

I can find no record of her at all apart from her birth.

I dont know that birth certs from 1883 would have the time on? Anyone any ideas?

You could be a bit cheeky like I was.

I had probable twins born 1862.I knew both names.
I wrote to the local registration office for one of the birth certificates saying that I was trying to establish that Daniel was a twin.
When the cert arrived, enclosed was a slip of paper from the Register Office saying NB Daniel was a twin.

No time was mentioned.

Gwyn

On 1901 census there is an Alice Rapley, aged 20, working as a housemaid for Thomas Church, a grocer and draper, and his wife Annie R Church at 45/46/47 High Street, Northfleet, Kent. Birth place is given as Hundred of Hoo.
There is also a marriage for Alice Rapley and Joseph Henry Warren o/n/d 1901 ref 1d 2134 at Woolwich, Greater London, Kent.
Doesn't answer your question as to whether she was a twin but highly likely to be her in 1901 as there aren't many Rapleys coming up on search. Hope this helps but as everybody has said, you can't beat getting birth certificates.

Raych

I think you will find they were twins.

I am a twin, and I am listed directly after my sister.

I also have twins and likewise, they were listed on same page....because I registered them together!

I would go for it and order a certificate.

I am presuming you have checked all years upto the census for a death for Alice?

Good Luck
Dee

I recieved a pm on this topic, so thought it best to post here for other peoples future ref:

kay New message from kay 15/11/2007 16:41:18
Request Allow
New message to Rachel

From kay
Hi Rachel/

THese two people were certailny twins,,,,as they carry the same reg index gro number of ,,,,,2a 557..........Hoo,only twins or muti birth have the same GRO index,,,,hope this helps,,,,,

My reply:

Hi Kay, thank you for your message, I was under the impression that 2a referred to the volume, and 557 the page of the registry, therefore they would have been born close together time wise but not necessarily related, am I wrong in this?? Thanks.

This is the entry that Jeanette mentioned earlier, the dob doesnt quite match, the birth index is 1883, but it doesnt mean this isnt her, i have plenty of census' with approx dob on, can anyone track her down either on the 1891 census or a death record?

Name: Alice Rapley
Age: 20
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1881
Relation: Servant
Gender: Female
Where born: Hundredghes, Kent, England

Civil Parish: Northfleet
Ecclesiastical parish: Northfleet St Botolph
County/Island: Kent
Country: England

Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status: View Image

Registration district: Strood
Sub-registration district: Northfleet
ED, institution, or vessel: 4
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 198
Household Members: Name Age
Mary Bates 36
Annie R Church 50
Thomas Church 51
Emily Hall 20
Jessie Ives 20
Alice Rapley 20

Re: Re: New message from kay 15/11/2007 21:51:50
Request Allow

Hi Rachel,

Yes any two births that carry the same GRO numbers on the national indexes are twins,,,,,,,,,,,
2a is the GRO area ,,and 557 is the same page,,,,,

If you send for at least one of the certs you will see that a time is in place for the birth,,
all muti births have the time on them,,,,,,,,
I know I am not wrong on this one,,,,,
each birth entry had a different page number so 4 could have been born in HOO and each will be diffrent ,when two are the same --then its def twins,,,,,,

regds,
kay,

Had another look. The baptism record on Family search for Alice Rapley gives her parents' names as Frederick Rapley and Jane Coulter. The 1891 census return you mention where William appears shows his parents as being John and Ann. I think as mentioned earlier that it is likely they are related some way or another but not twins. By the way, William does not come up on Family search. Hope this helps.

Having the same page no on the GRO index does not mean twins. The page number is for the GRO index not the original local registry office page. I have two cousins born in the same quarter with the same vol No and page no (also the same name!).

Someone on this board a while ago had the opposite problem - what looked like twins on the census but only one birth registration. She phoned the local Registry office and confirmed that there was a twin. The second one's registration had been ommitted from the GRO index.

Sorry to contradict you Raych, but having the same GRO reference does not indicate a multiple birth. These are all the births with the same reference as the Rapley pair:

Births Mar 1883 (>99%)

BEER Ernest Frank Hoo 2a 557
BENNETT Olive Ann Hoo 2a 557
Hammond George Hoo 2a 557
Hassell Violet Hoo 2a 557
Kenknight George Henry Hoo 2a 557
RANSLEY Isaac Robert Hoo 2a 557
RAPLEY Alice Hoo 2a 557
RAPLEY William Hoo 2a 557
THARP John Caleb Hoo 2a 557
TUCKER Elizabeth Hoo 2a 557