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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: PaulThommo on Thursday 02 February 17 08:22 GMT (UK)
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I recently ordered and received a wedding certificate, unfortunately it was the wrong person. Apart from the disappointment of not seeing an ancestor in print and being able to carry on with the search you think of the money wasted. Placing the certificate on the 'Unwanted certificates' I noticed that some people have placed quite a few wrong certificates to 'go to good homes'. Being fairly new to researching my ancestors I have only had 2 wrong certificates, but how many wrong ones have other people ordered? At £9.65 a go it can get expensive.
Paul W. Thompson
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Not as much as my friend whose family surname is Smith ;D I think he could wallpaper a small room
Kay
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I'm starting to try and find a great uncle of the Thompson family (not quite as common as Smith, but not far off). Thomas Thompson, there are 29 marriages in Gateshead (where he was born) 1895-1925, 27 in South Shields where his parents moved from, 28 in Sunderland which is just down the road and if you cross over the river Tyne to Newcastle there are 21. Oh boy
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Would be cheaper to have a day out to the nearest record office to their address if possible and search yourself, very rewarding
Louisa Maud
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A few - three perhaps. One of those was just to make sure - we didn't expect it to be correct. Usually we only bet on 50-50 or better, after checking as far as we can.
If you join your local FHS you will probably find an exchange for unwanted certs.
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I'm starting to try and find a great uncle of the Thompson family (not quite as common as Smith, but not far off). Thomas Thompson, there are 29 marriages in Gateshead (where he was born) 1895-1925, 27 in South Shields where his parents moved from, 28 in Sunderland which is just down the road and if you cross over the river Tyne to Newcastle there are 21. Oh boy
Do you have a birth date for him and is he on the 1939 Register to check for a wife or children??
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I have been very fortunate and have only had two 'wrong' certificates in 12 years of research. I have spent untold hours in the archives and online to find the references to the correct ones though.
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Would be cheaper to have a day out to the nearest record office to their address if possible and search yourself, very rewarding
Louisa Maud
Unfortunately not for me as I live in Western Australia, mind you I am visiting my brother later this year who lives just outside Newcastle so a good idea, it's bound to rain at least one day when I'm there!!!! Paul
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If Thomas had siblings Henrietta Thompson born 1878 and William Dobson Thompson b 1880, both born Gateshead (from your other posts) then he should be
Dec 1875 Gateshead 10a 810
Thompson, Thomas Murray
mother Dobson
Seems to be nobody else of that name about
Possible marriage
Sep 1903 Burton 6b 682
Thompson, Thomas Murray
Wildes, Beatrice Amelia
Marriage was at Rangemoor, All Saints (Staffordshire BMD)
You could try looking for them in the 1911 census perhaps.
John
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I did say "if possible" I do realise it isn't possible for everyone to visit local archives, I have even arranged holidays to fit in with where I have wanted to research, luckily my husband likes walking, so I research and he walks
Happy Hunting
LM
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Too much is the answer, and I have even been known to order certificates I've already got :-[ There's no excuse because my family tree program has a "To Do" list where I enter the names of the certs I want to order sometime. These are marked as "Open" and when I receive a cert I mark it as "Closed" so all I need to do is check the Closed list before ordering. I guess there are two snags, occasionally I forget to mark the name as "Closed" and other times I just order certs without putting them on my to do list first.
Of course, if having received the cert I then updated my program it would help. ::)
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I have never bought a wrong certificate! ;D
I don't like wasting money, so I do lots and lots of research first.
I use the Free Ancestry Library Edition at my local library, and make the best use I can of free sites (FamilySearch, FreeBMD and so on)
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I use the Free Ancestry Library Edition at my local library, and make the best use I can of free sites (FamilySearch, FreeBMD and so on)
I always do lots of research on free and paid for sites (except when I re-order the same cert!!) but with common names, sometimes it's impossible to know whether you have the correct certificate or not and it works out cheaper to buy an incorrect certificate, even at £9.25, than take a trip across the UK.
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I have only bought two wrong birth certificates and that was in the early days of my research.
I applied on three separate ocassions for a marriage certificate from Lancashire Register Office and my money was returned as the details I gave didn't match ::)
I emailed the office and told them the problem I was having as there was 6 possible matches...they asked me for registration numbers of the likely matches and the details of the marriage that I was looking for and they gave me the right registration number to order and I sent for it ;D
Carol
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I think I've probably bought 5 wrong certs in over 17 years of researching, so some were much cheaper than £9.25.
Always, always put the details onto FreeBMD in a Postem so that you don't order the same one again and to help others.
Before you order a cert, check FreeBMD to see if there is a Postem to help you.
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If Thomas had siblings Henrietta Thompson born 1878 and William Dobson Thompson b 1880, both born Gateshead (from your other posts) then he should be
Dec 1875 Gateshead 10a 810
Thompson, Thomas Murray
mother Dobson
Seems to be nobody else of that name about
Possible marriage
Sep 1903 Burton 6b 682
Thompson, Thomas Murray
Wildes, Beatrice Amelia
Marriage was at Rangemoor, All Saints (Staffordshire BMD)
You could try looking for them in the 1911 census perhaps.
John
Hi John, many thanks for that. You have got the right family, William Dobson Thompson is my grandfather and Thomas M was born in December 1875 in Gateshead (the family had just moved from South Shields). He is on the 1891 census as a 15yr old joiners apprentice living with his parents. I can't (as yet) find him on the 1901 census, there is a Thomas M Thompson boarding with a family in Berkshire, same age, born in South Shields who is a carpenter but I have put it aside for a look at a later date.
I was aware of a Thomas M Thompson marriage in Burton on Trent, my information did not state that he was born in Gateshead so, again, I had put it to one side to try at a later date but now it is more interesting. I will have to buy some more credit from Find my Past to see what information they have re occupation in the 1911 census (family search give no information) and then it could well be ordering a marriage certificate (which is where I started the post!!!!!). A Thomas M Thompson died in Burton upon Trent in 1949 aged 73 which is probably the same person.
Thanks, Paul.
Oooops forgot to mention Thomas and Beatrice Thompson were living happily in Outwoods, Burton upon Trent in the 1911 census
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I'm starting to try and find a great uncle of the Thompson family (not quite as common as Smith, but not far off). Thomas Thompson, there are 29 marriages in Gateshead (where he was born) 1895-1925, 27 in South Shields where his parents moved from, 28 in Sunderland which is just down the road and if you cross over the river Tyne to Newcastle there are 21. Oh boy
Do you have a birth date for him and is he on the 1939 Register to check for a wife or children??
Hi Kay, a post further down, Jonw65 has got the right family and put me on a track that could be fruitful. Many thanks, Paul
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I don't want to count but quite a few!
I have names with so many variants it's invariably going to happen especially with couples with same forenames in same areas & of course elusive ones who's age on index just 'may' be wrong in the hope of finding them ::)
Annie
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.... You have got the right family, William Dobson Thompson is my grandfather and Thomas M was born in December 1875 in Gateshead (the family had just moved from South Shields). He is on the 1891 census as a 15yr old joiners apprentice living with his parents. I can't (as yet) find him on the 1901 census, there is a Thomas M Thompson boarding with a family in Berkshire, same age, born in South Shields who is a carpenter but I have put it aside for a look at a later date.
Interesting, that. My wife's grandfather was from Tyneside and was similarly a joiner apprentice, living in Southend with one or two others about that time. Was there a strong drift south for building work? He returned north before very long though.
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When I first started I made many mistakes, they were cheaper then, you also could put in father name so if you ordered the wrong one, you got a bit of a refund.
Later used the LMA and now the free sites at the library.
Only had one person asking for one of my unwanted certificate.
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Looking for a Morgan in Wales.... quite a bit!
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I have only bought two wrong certificates in about 60 years of buying certs, however I should clarify that by also saying that until the mid 1970s I used to browse the registers to find the correct entry when there was any doubt.
Cheers
Guy
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Quite a lot (Jones, Wales/Shrophire border...)
The cost of buying the occasional wrong certificate is still cheaper than buying a round of drinks in the pub though.
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I ordered far too many wrong certs for my late Grandfather William James Wilson, who was allegedly Born Manchester 1860/'61... Such common names! And no other info to go on...
I still haven't found him, but I've drawn a halt now...:-(
I did offer the certs, but nobody was interested.
Romilly.
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If Thomas had siblings Henrietta Thompson born 1878 and William Dobson Thompson b 1880, both born Gateshead (from your other posts) then he should be
Dec 1875 Gateshead 10a 810
Thompson, Thomas Murray
mother Dobson
Seems to be nobody else of that name about
Possible marriage
Sep 1903 Burton 6b 682
Thompson, Thomas Murray
Wildes, Beatrice Amelia
Marriage was at Rangemoor, All Saints (Staffordshire BMD)
You could try looking for them in the 1911 census perhaps.
John
Hello John, just thought I would send you a quick note re above. I have just received the marriage certificate and it is the correct TM Thompson, so he must have moved down south for work. He died in 1943 in Burton upon Trent. A big thank you for putting me in the right direction.
Cheers, Paul Thompson
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English/Welsh Certs all perfect - they're too dear to take a chance on, and I haven't many relations there.
Irish ones - plenty wrong, especially at first when they were cheaper - but at 4euro each, I can afford to take the odd chance!
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TOO MUCH,! ;D ;D