Correction to Birth Certificate

[stevechelt]

Hi everyone,

I recently obtained a birth certificate from the GRO for my G.grandfather and found that the record was amended some months after the original entry, leaving the boy without a named father. There is one part of the amendment that I do not understand and as it originated in the Hemel Hempstead District I thought I'd try here first to see if anyone can help. The details are -

1. This is for a birth registered in January 1867 at Hemel Hempstead.
2. In col 4 under 'Name & Surname of Father' a father is named, starting "Son of .."
3. In the margin after col 10 there is a written amendment that says -
"In No. 152 Col4 omit the words "son of. Corrected on the thirteenth Oct 1867 by me William Frowd Registrar in the presence of Saml. Stallon Supt. Reg, Robert Taylor U.... Children."

It is the position of Robert Taylor that I am interested in as I cannot read the (abbreviated?) word starting U.. giving his official position. I did look him up in the 1861 and 71 census and in both he is listed in Hemel Hempstead as a 'schoolmaster'.

I have attaced an image of the correction.

Many thanks for any help with this!
Steve

[Little Nell]

I'm not certain but I think it is another name, not Robert Taylor's position.

My first reaction was "Alfred" with part of the A missing.  I'm not convinced by Children - the y in Taylor confuses things.  I would agree the word starts Chi... and it may end ..ers.

Just my thoughts.

Nell

[patrish]

I totally agree with you Nell, it looks very much like Alfred to me, as to other it could be anything, perhaps Chiltern?

[stevechelt]

Yes, I also think you're right, it had not occurred to me that it could be another witness!

Thanks, Steve

[corinne]

Just a thought - if you are just omitting the words "son of", then you are still leaving the fathers name in there.  In that column, you shouldn't ever have to put words like "son of" as the column heading asks for the name of the father.  This correction could  really be just clearing up something legally rather than actually changing the entry.  To add to this theory, I believe that once names go onto a certificate, then you legally are not allowed to change those names or details.  In some circumstances you can add details in the margin, but not remove any names, even if they are not correct.

[stevechelt]

It looks like you are right, as the column is already titled 'Name and Surname of Father' there would be no need to include 'Son of'. It does seem a little picky though. It appears the poor boy died the same quarter, he had no given name on the birth certificate and there is what appears to be a corresponding death record at Hemel Hempstead for an unnamed male with the same surname.

I now have a copy of what appears to be the birth certificate of my real G.grandfather and this one certainly has no name for the father! Later I will post a request for advice on any further channels of search I can follow, being relatively new to tracing my ancestry I'm not sure what options may be available.

Steve