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Which certs do you find most useful?

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  • Which certs do you find most useful?

    I've been looking through my "collection", (not very many so perhaps not quite a collection!) and have been thinking which ones have shed the most light on my "mysteries" and I have decided the deaths certs for the people who have done the registration.

    I have a few which have either shed light on a complete brick wall, eg the name a son was using or through the relationship on the cert helped me tie people "in", especially with my Smiths!

    I was wondering what other people found most useful.

    Clare
    Clare

  • #2
    Oh, the birth cert of my great-grandmother.

    This was the first piece of paper which proved that she had changed her forenames between birth and marriage. Once I had this (took about five or six years to get to it) I was able to take the tree back about 250 years in one afternoon!! lol (Yes I did check everything afterwards!).

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    • #3
      There's no hard and fast rule.

      The least informative one was a marriage cert from 1850s. Bride and groom were "of full age" so no idea how old they were. One's residence was "Upper village" and the other "lower village". Both their fathers were labourers.

      So not terribly informative.

      But other certs have provided useful sources of further research.

      Birth certs may show that between censuses father had a different occupation - or a different address from the census. It will give a maiden name if you haven't found one elsewhere, enabling, perhaps, the tracing of a marriage.

      Marriage certs can give ages, which helps finding births/baptisms. You might find a clue in father's occupation enabling you to find the family in a census, especially useful if the surname is very common.

      Death certs - the cause of death may show a genetic trait, or shed light on living conditions. I did once find a 2nd marriage because the informant was a married lady described as daughter, and the surname was that of her 2nd husband not her 1st. From that I was able to locate her with new husband on the census, and find a death for 1st husband and her remarriage.
      ~ with love from Little Nell~
      Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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      • #4
        Some of my most useful certs have not been for my direct ancestors but for their siblings. Two of my gg grandfathers were born before civil registraton started in 1837, but by buying their younger siblings certs I found the parents' names.

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        • #5
          What a result! I don't think I have quite such an impressive cert!

          I have just found that someone my mum knew growing up was a relation not just a family friend from a death cert, after I did some digging on the electrol roll and 1911 census but that is interesting for my mum, not a massive breakthrough!
          Clare

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          • #6
            For quite a while I bought mostly birth and marriage certificates not bothering too much with death certificates.

            Then I started buying death certs as I wanted to know who was around for my GGGrandmother when she died etc and it catapulted from there. I find them so informative not only telling you what they died from but the informant + possible relationship to deceased and address also the address of the person who died.

            You cannot assume too much from death registrations I had twins that died in the same quarter so assumed they died from the same thing but no they died from different problems weeks apart. My GGGrandmother died from Syphlis (eek) which shocked me but she did have different children from different men unfortunately only two out of four lived. She married her Husband four days before there Son married his Wife. I had to order both certificates hoping one of them was mine as Father and Son were called Henry both in the same quarter and they were both mine a memorable moment I hadn't long been researching then.

            Definately death certificates for me too.

            I love receiving all certificates though it feels like Christmas every time the excitement of opening the envelope with even more information to be had.

            Regards
            Jill

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            • #7
              I love opening the envelope too and have been known to come home at lunchtime to get the post if I know a cert is due!!
              Clare

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              • #8
                I suppose if i had to pick two that have made a huge difference then it would be a death cert for a great uncle, the informant was the coroner so i still couldn't work out who he married but the death was due to a works accident, i found newspaper cuttings and although they didn't name his wife or children it did mention how many children, From that i could build the family group from the bmd quite readily.

                The other one was the birth cert i received on Thursday, it made the last few days of if, but and maybe questions make a lot more sense and led to a conact who knows an awful lot about the family, the only problem is that is has probably meant my tree is about to double in size and i need to get organised.
                http://www.flickr.com/photos/50125734@N06/

                Joseph Goulson 1701-1780
                My sledging hammer lies declined, my bellows too have lost their wind
                My fire's extinct, my forge decay'd, and in the dust my vice is laid

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                • #9
                  My Dads birth cert, i found out what his mothers maiden name was, then after some research, i found my Dad had an elder brother - never no mention of this uncle and i dont think he lived with my Dad....i have made contact but sadly had no reply - so i left it there.

                  Today, i think i have found an older half sister of my Dads..........her name was Lucy, i had a doll called lucy when i was a child, and thinking back now, i'm sure my Mam said at the time - your Dad had a sister Lucy............i need to follow this up now.

                  I too, get excited when i know a cert is due.
                  Jacky

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                  • #10
                    The best certs, I think, are any from 1855 in Scotland. Tons of info - eg a death one lists all the person's children, their ages and whether they are living.
                    Plus loads of other info.
                    After 1855, they reduced the amount of info. f you have a B, M or D in 1855 in Scotland then go for it.
                    herky
                    herky
                    Researching - Trimmer (Farringdon), Noble & Taylor (Ross and Cromarty), Norris (Glasgow), McGilvray (Glasgow and Australia), Leck & Efford (Glasgow), Ferrett (Hampshire), Jenkins & Williams (Aberystwyth), Morton (Motherwell and Tipton), Barrowman (Glasgow), Lilley (Bromsgrove and Glasgow), Cresswell (England and Lanarkshire). Simpson, Morrow and Norris in Ireland. Thomas Price b c 1844 Scotland.

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                    • #11
                      Definitely the death cert of one of my great great grandmothers.

                      I knew her date of death as I had seen the headstone. Put off getting the cert because of this as all it would tell me was the cause of death.

                      Oh how wrong I was!

                      I wasn't sure I had the right person as she didn't die where I expected her to, turned out she was in a hospital.
                      It said widow of........, so I knew I had the right person.

                      Best thing was the informant: a brother in law I had never heard of.

                      That lead me to a whole new family for her father in law, he married a third time, and her father in law and my great, great, great grandfather's death cert and burial. Better than that though was finding him on the 1851 census and then finding out exactly where he was born.
                      I didn't know that before as he had spent 26 years in the army in India. All I had was the place he joined the army, which was not the place where he was born.

                      Never skimp on death certs.

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                      • #12
                        Hard to choose but I agree, don't ignore death certs!

                        My best death cert told me that my 2 x GGF had married a THIRD time between census and death and had had two more children I knew nothing about. I am now in touch with one of the descendants of this marriage.

                        Herky

                        I have an 1855 certificate with all that extra information on it. What a fantastic help it would be if only the information had been true, lol.

                        OC

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                        • #13
                          My favourites are my stash of non-conformist birth certs before civil registration. If you can find any non-cons, get the certs.

                          Every one of mine has three generations, exact date and place of birth and all the witnesses (with signatures).

                          Any Australian certs are great value as the list a lot more family than English ones.
                          The death certs have all children (even those who have died) and spouse/s.
                          Marriage certs have both mother and father of bride and groom and most of mine have mothers maiden name.

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                          • #14
                            I have to say that all my certificates are informative even the ones that do not state a father on a birth cert. As above, never ignore the death cert and in any case ancestors should be killed off whereever possible.

                            One of my most informative death certs was a sibling of my great g father who had intrigued me from the beginning. Nobody except myself has ever had this person on the family tree. He does not appear with the family in the 1841 Census but is there in the village for 1871/81/91/01. He does not appear on the microfilm oarish registers but when asked for the original registers to be seen he is there in the original register. I have since discovered him in the 1841 Census and then discovered he was in the army in the 1851 census but mysteriously ill and in an infirmary in the 1871 Census. Through Free BMD I obtained a date of death. I knew he had been in the army but did not know his regiment and when I received the death cert it had on it his regiment and was signed by his son in law and again through free BMD found which daughter married this son in law and have now tracked another side of the family as well as looking into his army career which linked into my grt g father so you never know what you will find until you get certs. Get as many as you can afford is my siuggestion as they are ALL worth while.

                            Janet

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Harrys mum View Post
                              My favourites are my stash of non-conformist birth certs before civil registration. If you can find any non-cons, get the certs.

                              Every one of mine has three generations, exact date and place of birth and all the witnesses (with signatures).

                              Any Australian certs are great value as the list a lot more family than English ones.
                              The death certs have all children (even those who have died) and spouse/s.
                              Marriage certs have both mother and father of bride and groom and most of mine have mothers maiden name.
                              Where do you obtain the pre 1837 certs from. I have a number of non conformists in my family.

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                              • #16
                                Originally posted by holcan View Post
                                Where do you obtain the pre 1837 certs from. I have a number of non conformists in my family.

                                From here:
                                BMD Registers: The Official Non-Parochial BMDs Service

                                But not all the births on there will have as many details so don't be too disappointed if you find one with not much info.
                                KiteRunner

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

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                                • #17
                                  Originally posted by KiteRunner View Post
                                  From here:
                                  BMD Registers: The Official Non-Parochial BMDs Service

                                  But not all the births on there will have as many details so don't be too disappointed if you find one with not much info.
                                  Kate!

                                  THANK YOU!!!! I have now 'just' found my 3xgt grandad and 4x gt grandad... whoooooo hoooooooo
                                  Julie
                                  They're coming to take me away haha hee hee..........

                                  .......I find dead people

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                                  • #18
                                    If you happen to find a lot of records you wnat on that register, it is cheaper to buy a sub to The Genealogist than get then one at a time. I need a serious lot.... and at 2pound 50 each, the sub for unlimited records is much cheaper for me.

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                                    • #19
                                      Not sure of most useful but I know the one that was the least useful :( That was for OH's g grandparents marriage certificate from 1838. I wanted to know his g g grandfathers name and all the marriage certificate had against brides fathers name was deceased.
                                      Daphne

                                      Looking for Northey, Goodfellow, Jobes, Heal, Lilburn, Curry, Gay, Carpenter, Johns, Harris, Vigus from Cornwall, Somerset, Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, USA, Australia.

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