English Birth Certificate

[Miss Poohs]

Being Scottish, I've just ordered my first English birth cert (my MILs)

Don't give much away do ya 

Anyway, what have I got?

Her fathers name
Her mothers name (and maiden name)
Her fathers occupation with an address in the same box and her mother as sig with the residential address of the family.

What I'm wondering is - the address that's stated with her fathers occupation, is that his work address, or didn't he live with the family?

Can anyone help?

[PrueM]

Hi Miss Poohs 

It's a bit of a shame about English certs, isn't it    Never mind, it just makes it all the more "challenging" and thus the reward (if ever discovered) that much sweeter 

Sounds like the father's address is related to his job - can you tell us what his "box" says?

Prue

[stanmapstone]

The certificate gives 'when and where born' and the 'Signature, description and residence of the informant'
Where the baby was born can be at a different address to where the family lived, at the home of the wife's mother for example. It was sometimes the custom for the wife to return to her mother's home for the birth of her first baby.

Stan

[stanmapstone]

See http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/births.htm

Stan

[PrueM]

Hi Stan 

I did think of that possibility but Miss Poohs said that the address was in the same box as the occupation of the father, and the informant box gave another address entirely.

It also sounds like the father's name is in a separate box from his occupation - now I'm really confused   

Prue

[stanmapstone]

I have now found one birth certificate, which I have, where in the 'occupation of father' column it has ' Engineman at Ballast Wharf' and in the informant column it has the mothers name and address which is the same as where the child was born. So although she has put the address of the father's place of work it is not necessary to do so, although useful information. This apears to be the same situation as Miss Poohs has.
Stan

[Miss Poohs]

What I have is

Under occupation of father is says

"Dock Labourer", then in that same box beneath the stated occupation it says "99 Beaufort Street".

The informant was the mother and the box there states her name as her married name and the address as "144a Brownlow Hill".

The registration district is Liverpool

[stanmapstone]

99 Beaufort Street was a private house, but interestingly there is no 144a Brownlow Hill in the 1881 or 1901 censuses. Numbers 145-147 was a pub, called 'The Tiger Vaults'.
Stan

[stanmapstone]

144a Brownlow Hill is the street number of Liverpool Workhouse.

The Brownlow Hill workhouse grew to become one of the largest workhouses in the country with an official capacity of over 3,000 inmates (and accommodating as many as 5,000 on occasion).
See http://www.workhouses.org.uk/
The use of the street address was a device to avoid revealing an embarrassing reality on a certificate. Registrars' instructions required that this be done in the case of a birth or death in an asylum or a workhouse


Stan