Certificate bloomers

[criggy]

The object of sending for a marriage certificate is to gain more information in order to take another step back in time and to gain clues with which to continue the search.

In 1985 (gosh – was it really that long ago) I sent for the marriage certificate of my gt gt grandparents William Naylor and Mary Ann Luddington Sargent. Mary Ann was from Marsh Chapel and her lineage has been interesting to trace with clues and snippets from all over (including valuable help from RootsChat) to take me back that little bit further.

However William Naylor, and his father Albert Naylor, shoe maker of Reedness, Yorkshire (marriage certificate information) has been a different story altogether.

William Naylor and Mary Ann were married at Marsh Chapel, Lincolnshire in 1853 where they had two children including my gt grandmother Amelia Ann. As William was born in 1831 I couldn’t send for his birth certificate and the IGI didn’t have his or Albert’s birth. The 1851 & 1861 census (a trip to London) had no Naylors at Marsh Chapel. It seemed likely therefore, that William was not from Marsh Chapel so could have been born anywhere!  The 1881 proved negative for William, Mary Ann and Albert Naylor although I did find Amelia’s brother living in Hull. I sent for info from the 1871 census for Naylors at Reedness but the only ones there at this time were Robert and his wife Mary, relatives perhaps? I sent for the 1851 census booklet for Reedness & area – negative again – only Robert and his wife Emelia (1st wife?).

The first link came with help from RootsChat finding William & his wife Mary Ann at Reedness in the 1861 census. William had acually been born at Reedness, had married and had then moved back but where was Albert?  He wasn’t there in 1851 but had been named on the certificate in 1853 as being from Reedness. Someone suggested he may have died by then, the registrar only putting down what he was told. No sign of a burial for Albert in the NBI or BMD.    The next stop seemed to be the 1841 census for Reedness.

However I had wanted to find out more about Mary Ann’s mother who had spent 21 years in a mental institution (chronic mania), being committed shortly after the birth of her 13 child! I decided to send to Lincolnshire Archives for her case history (a very sad tale)  and ordered some Marsh Chapel fiches whilst I was there (copies can be made for 90p each) as the IGI doesn’t cover the whole of Marsh Chapel.

I borrowed a reader and started checking out the fiche, finding the original marriage entry of William Naylor and Mary Ann Luddington Sargent.

Guess what I found – William’s father was ROBERT not ALBERT!!!!!!! 

So the Robert at Reedness whom I had discovered had had a son William bp 1831 (IGI) was really mine all along.  Now I can see that Amelia was named after William’s mother. If only Robert had been a shoe maker elsewhere rather than an ag lab perhaps I would have cottoned on sooner!

Do you think it’s too late to get my money back! 

[BarryBear]

  Criggy, I bet you were jumping around the room after finally figuring that one out   Well done though

[corinne]

My best certificate bloomer is that my greatgrandfather was registered as a girl!  The name Francis could have been mistaken, but you'd think the registry office clerk would have checked if male or female.  The error seems only to have been discovered when he went to get a copy of his birth certificate at retirement age in order to claim a pension.  Of course bmd records are not allowed to be changed in any way once recorded, so all they could do was put a pencil note in the margin saying that Francis was a male.  Not quite sure what happened with pensions after that - whether he received his as Mrs or Mr!

[criggy]

Thanks Barry. The funny thing was I'd grown quite attached to Albert!

Feel I should have been more excited about finding Robert but thought about all the time I'd wasted searching for Albert when I could have been searching for Robert. I suppose I also felt a little let down by the system.  

However we all know how easy it is to make mistakes. We wouldn't be human otherwise.

I'm now trying to search through my notes to see just what info I'd stored about Robert and his family. Not an easy job as I'm sinking rapidly under all the bit & pieces I've collected over the years. Am supposed to be putting it all in computer format but it's taking an age. I'd still like to find him as a shoe maker though - once bitten twice shy as they say! (perhaps I ought to post that in the silly sayings section!)

Will feel differently once I get the bit between my teeth though. (Hmmm, more silly sayings!)

Moral of the story - write everything down, you never know, it may come in useful one day and don't believe everything you read - check the original if you can.

PS Have since discovered two more children for Mary Ann's mother which makes the total 15, poor woman! 12 survived (good going in those days) and erected a memorial to her after her death.

Corinne - Yes can quite believe it would be very difficult to get things changed. A close family member had the wrong christian name put on the death certificate which wasn't noticed straight away. In order to change it the rigmarole needed to do so was such a hassle that it was left as it was. So mistakes are still being made even in this day & age.

criggy

[Darcy]

The wrong christian name was put on my mother's death certificate in 1967. The name should have been Carrie but somebody recorded the name as Caroline.

The death was registered by my eldest sister and she certainly didn't give the name as Caroline so it's a bit of a mystery how this came about.

I had a bit of a problem finding her birth on FreeBMD but no problem finding her 8 siblings. That's when I discovered that she was registered as Shephard and all the rest of the family as Shepherd.On her marriage certificate the name is Shepherd.

On the 1901 census her christian name is spelt 'Carry' I checked the original and it's not a transcription error.

The only place her name is actually correct is on her headstone.

Darcy

[criggy]

Just goes to show you how much of an open mind you need with regard to spellings.

In our case it was the doctor who made the initial error but once written was not easily rectified as we were told when it came to registering the death. The registrar was not allowed to correct the error. This was probably what happened in your case as well. If the person doesn't see the same doctor regularly or a different doctor records the death then mistakes can happen. I expect the doctor thought Carrie was short for Caroline and wrote down what he considered to be her full name.

criggy

[Darcy]

Hi again Criggy,

that's what I always thought - somebody decided  that Carrie was short for Caroline. It was actually the coroner who wrote the death certifcate as there was an inquest due to it being a sudden death.

I got a bit of a shock when I discovered that the wrong name was on the certificate. I am the youngest of 7 children with a big gap between myself and the eldest so didn't know anything about it.

I felt really sorry everytime I found an incorrect spelling of her name thinking  "can't somebody get it right just once!"  It seemed to demean mother - as if she was not important enough to care about.

Now I realise just how many mistakes were made and I no longer take it personally. As I said - it's correct on her headstone and now reads

                         Carrie McDonald

There! now it's correct in two places!

Darcy

[Jo New]

when i had my little boy registered i had to write out all the details, then the registrar copied what i had written. She still made a spelling mistake on our surname, so my sons actual recording had to be amended.

When i queried it she said, well ive never spelt it that way before !

joanne

[criggy]

I've always gone through life spelling out my surname and now I'm married I need to do so even more but still the variations come thick and fast. I keep meaning to write a list. No wonder they had problems in the past when so few could read and write. In a literate society we still can't get it right!

It does add to the problems in family history though. I'm still wondering if Nancy Luddington's death is that of Ann Luddington! She was the right age and there were no others about so think it must be her. Does anyone know if Nancy was short for anything or used in place of Ann?

criggy