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GRO Errors on certificates

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  • GRO Errors on certificates

    Having at last received 2 of my death certs with errors (9 are still outstanding) I am most disappointed to find errors in the Registration District Box.

    One chap's death was apparently registered 10 years before he died!
    The other has a transcribing error Withyham has been recorded as Withingham. :(

    Unable to wait longer than 20 minutes for a real person to answer my phone call, I have emailed them - only to get an automated reply saying I will have to expect a delay of 9 working days before they look at it.

    If they are so busy, why can't they use some of the profits they are gathering to invest in more staff?

    Sorry folks, rant over, I just needed to off load to someone ... it is comforting to know you are there! :D
    Bridget

  • #2
    Originally posted by BridgetM View Post
    - only to get an automated reply saying I will have to expect a delay of 9 working days before they look at it.
    I sent an email query to them a few days ago and had a similar automated reply.
    In fact my query was answered within 24 hours - hope you are as lucky!
    Elaine







    Comment


    • #3
      Bridget

      Not sure what you mean by "transcribing errors". The GRO send a copy from their filmed copies, so what you see is what was copied originally in the registration office and sent on to the GRO. Or do you mean you've had a typed copy?
      ~ with love from Little Nell~
      Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

      Comment


      • #4
        Little Nell - the copy of the film is the centre part of the cert,
        the errors I observed are in the typed top box (which I have never carefully checked before .....!)
        Bridget

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        • #5
          Yeah, I've had a few of those too.
          KiteRunner

          Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
          (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

          Comment


          • #6
            Can't say I've ever looked at that bit. At least you know what it's meant to be.
            ~ with love from Little Nell~
            Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

            Comment


            • #7
              I sent an e-mail to the GRO, including the letters GQ in the subject which is what you have to do if you want more than an automated reply. Never heard back from them!
              Helen

              http://www.familytreeforum.com/wiki/...enSmithToo-296

              Comment


              • #8
                I have had a couple with errors.

                I can save you an e.mail...

                They tell you to send the certificate back with a covering letter for the attention of the Customer Services Department.

                I have received the corrected certs within a couple of days.
                Avatar....My darling mum, Irene June Robinson nee Pearson 1931-2019.

                'Take nothing on its looks, take everything on evidence. There is no better rule' Charles Dickens, Great Expectations.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Do not forget all details on certificates supplied by the GRO are transcripts.

                  The details are recorded at the local Registrar's office, once every three months he/she transcribes the details of all registrations in the preceding three months and sends these to the Superintendent Registrar's Office. The Superintendent Registrar in turn forwards these transcripts to the Registrar General every three months.
                  When the registers are full the Registrar forwards the full registers to the Superintendent Registrar who keeps them in his/her office.

                  If you wish to see your ancestor’s handwriting on marriage certificates you must apply either to the church where they married or the Superintendent Registrar's office, not the GRO.
                  Cheers
                  Guy
                  Guy passed away October 2022

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Don't assume parish records to be correct either.

                    One of mine was (according to parish records) born in July 1865 and christened a week later. His christening date might have been correct, but he had actually been born 13 months earlier!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Don't assume anything is correct. I've found errors in censuses, on certificates, in parish registers, other records and even on a tombstone.

                      I did read once that each piece of information should be verified with 3 separate records, but I doubt if I could manage this with most of my rellies!
                      ~ with love from Little Nell~
                      Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        "Whenever man picks up a pen, an opportunity for error presents itself"

                        said an old chap to me in a Records Office. I have never forgotten that.

                        It is estimated that there are over one million errors and omissions on GRO certs. Considering that there must also be errors on the original certs too, it is a wonder that any certificate is ever correct.

                        OC

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                        • #13
                          Yes, but these errors with the registration district / subdistrict and date on the typed bit are surely sloppier than most of the errors on certificates, don't you think? Because a moment's checking would have shown they were wrong, with no need to be good at reading handwriting or anything like that.
                          KiteRunner

                          Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
                          (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            You'd have thought that the header-info would have been generated automatically by the request-data.

                            Christine
                            Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Agreed KiteRunner!
                              Does not the Certificate state:

                              CERTIFIED COPY OF AN ENTRY OF .....

                              & further down

                              CERTIFIED to be a true copy of an entry .....
                              Last edited by BridgetM; 30-05-08, 18:44. Reason: clarification
                              Bridget

                              Comment


                              • #16
                                Well, the header info contains the name of the sub-district, which can't be generated automatically from the request data.
                                KiteRunner

                                Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
                                (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  Originally posted by KiteRunner View Post
                                  Well, the header info contains the name of the sub-district, which can't be generated automatically from the request data.
                                  Yes. As I was typing that, I had a sneaky feeling in the back of my mind that I'd missed something!

                                  Christine
                                  Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                                  Comment


                                  • #18
                                    I'm not disagreeing with anyone! Yes, completely and utterly sloppy, I agree.

                                    This is why I prefer to get my certs from the local Registrar. At least I am only contending with one possible lot of mistakes. I do realise it isn't always possible to get certs from local offices, though.

                                    OC

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