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Birth registered before being born?

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  • Birth registered before being born?

    Alfred George Colthup had his birth registered in Sep qtr 1898 ref Braintree 4a 738. But on the admissions schedule for both his first and second schools his dob is given as 31.10.1898. His sister Doris Rosa was registered in Sep qtr 1899 Braintree 4a 753 but on two school admissions her dob is given as 27.10.1899. (Both children had their Christian names reversed at school but there is little doubt that they are the same people).

    Now one of them might be some sort of simple error but both is too much of a coincidence. Is it possible that the parents falsified the dobs because the children should have started school a year earlier?

    Or any other ideas?
    People: Canton, Wiseman, Colthup, Scrace
    Places: Pembrokeshire, Kent.

  • #2
    Did the person compiling the school registers make the error of copying the dates both births were registered rather than the actual dates of birth? Do you have the certificates to check this?

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    • #3
      Originally posted by GallowayLass View Post
      Did the person compiling the school registers make the error of copying the dates both births were registered rather than the actual dates of birth? Do you have the certificates to check this?
      Can't be this as if the birth was registered in the September quarter the registration date was between 1st July and 30th September.
      Judith passed away in October 2018

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      • #4
        No I don't have he certificates. Would a child need to present one when starting school? Also, it would mean that 2 or 3 different school secretaries made the same mistake in different years, which seems unlikely.

        Judith you are right that the registration date will be in the quarter (regardless of the date of birth), but the date of a certificate is the date the certified copy of the registration was made - I think. If you apply for a certificate today it will have today's date on it. I think Gallowaylass meant the date on the certificate.
        Last edited by webwiz; 04-10-14, 16:38.
        People: Canton, Wiseman, Colthup, Scrace
        Places: Pembrokeshire, Kent.

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        • #5
          No I very much doubt whether birth certificates were needed to register at school in those days. Your theory about the parents altering the date to avoid some real or imagined trouble seems likely except how would they persuade the children then to keep up the pretense that they had October birthdays?
          Judith passed away in October 2018

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          • #6
            Just a sugestion. Might the Sept quarter refer to children born within the last quarter of the year? Or the school intake in September?

            Twiglet
            Twiglet

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            • #7
              Twiglet

              September quarter (Q3) is the registration period which covers births registered in the months of July, August and September. December quarter (Q4) covers the months October, November and December.

              OC

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              • #8
                Doris was born on 27-Jul-1899 according to the marriage and death index:

                Marriages Sep 1925
                Colthup Doris R Neal Hendon 3a 990
                Neal Basil E Colthup Hendon 3a 990

                Name: Doris Rosa Neal
                Birth Date: 27 Jul 1899
                Date of Registration: Dec 1991
                Age at Death: 92
                Registration district: Bournemouth
                Volume: 23
                Page: 414


                Alfred's death is registered in the September quarter of 1963. The age as death was given as 65, so if this is correct then he must have been born before October 1898.

                Deaths Sep 1963
                COLTHUP ALFRED G 65 LEWISHAM 5D 47


                I would say that, whether deliberate or not, the school registers are in error!

                Cheers,
                Richard

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                • #9
                  Oh and Alfred's probate is on Ancestry (he died 2-Sep-1963). Probate was granted to Basil Emmerson Neal - so the marriage/death for Doris above must be right
                  Last edited by Richard in Perth; 07-10-14, 01:49.

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                  • #10
                    Do you happen to know the occupations of the children's parents? I believe it was not that unusual for farming families to give false dates of birth so that their children did not have to start school until the harvest or some other major farming task was over. This meant that the children could help out with the work before being enrolled for school as even very little ones could be found some useful job to do. I was told about this practice many years ago by a farmer who had been brought up to believe his birthday was in December rather than in the July when he was really born but I've never found any written confirmation of the practice.

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                    • #11
                      Richard - Thanks for that. It is still a puzzle as to how or why three different schools have made the same error.

                      LynB - Their father was a grocery manager. I guess the kids may have had a role in the grocery. If they were sent to school late in order to keep them working a bit longer and the later birthdates were fabricated either they were instructed to maintain the pretence or maybe they never knew that wrong dates had been given by their parents. I don't suppose birthdays were celebrated by the school and their real dates may have been in the school holidays.

                      As far as I can see Doris Rosa had no children but whoever registered her death at age 92 reckoned they knew her exact date of birth.
                      Last edited by webwiz; 10-10-14, 22:54.
                      People: Canton, Wiseman, Colthup, Scrace
                      Places: Pembrokeshire, Kent.

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