Birth Record Oddity

[jeune-romantique]

I was looking for a birth record at my local family history library and I cam upon this for an ancestor (can't remember exact names/reg numbers):

John Sandie Smith B: 1/Jan/1869   Reg Number: 1870/xxxxxx
John Simon Smith B: 1/Jan/1869    Reg Number: 1880/xxxxxx MB

I was thinking MB meant Marine Birth.

These two people had the same parents. The mystery is: why are there two people, born on the same date, with almost exact names and too the same parents? Why was on registered 10 years after the other? I thought it was a double entry but the reg dates confused me.

Any thoughts?

[Tati]

Hi Jeune-Romantique,

Just guessing but maybe the 2nd one is an amended one of the first, ie a correction of the 2nd name?

Still don't have a clue what MB would be the acronym for if it was the case ...     

[jeune-romantique]

Hi Jeune-Romantique,

Just guessing but maybe the 2nd one is an amended one of the first, ie a correction of the 2nd name?

Still don't have a clue what MB would be the acronym for if it was the case ...     

That's possible...if so I wonder who amended it? If the parents then how did they discover their son had been given the wrong middle name? Did they have birth certificates in 1880 (when it would have been amended)? And perhaps the parents, or whoever made the amendment, decided to change it to a Marine Birth, as they didn't have that marked?

Who knows...lol

Here's the real name and dates:

Alexander Sandie MacLellan B: 14 Nov 1869
Alexander Simon MacLellan B: 14 Nov 1869 (MB)

Alexander Simon was married in 1899, which leads me to believe he has, in fact, the real middle name. However, who gets Simon and Sandie mixed up lol?

[Old Bristolian]

What exact records were you searching in the Library? Perhaps this was some transcription mistake - there could of course be a mix-up with Sandie/Alexander rather than Sandie/Simon as Sandy is a short-form of Alexander in Scotland I believe

Steve

[jeune-romantique]

What exact records were you searching in the Library? Perhaps this was some transcription mistake - there could of course be a mix-up with Sandie/Alexander rather than Sandie/Simon as Sandy is a short-form of Alexander in Scotland I believe

Steve

They were IGI microfiche's at my local family history library. They were Australian birth records from 1865-70.

[trish251]

Hi j-r

Which state was being searched? I thought only Tasmania & Qld indexes gave exact dates but it could be SA as I am unfamiliar with their records.

Could the MB be Multiple birth - and you have twins?

Trish

Edit: See http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,208941.0.html - If SA

If you put a query on the Oz board & gave a state, you may find a definitive answer 

[jeune-romantique]

They were Queensland records. It could be Multiple Birth but that doesn't solve the 10 yr later registration of the birth or the fact that both twins have nearly the same name.

[trish251]

They were Queensland records. It could be Multiple Birth but that doesn't solve the 10 yr later registration of the birth or the fact that both twins have nearly the same name.

Gosh - I couldn't find them in Qld - I'll have another look

I agree it doesn't resolve the 10 year gap. Interesting

Trish

[trish251]

OK - found them this time
There are 5 children that all appeared to have been registered in 1880
John Donald born 1862
Christina Ann 1864
Catherine Flora 1865
Your Alexander 1869
Thomas Muir 1875

Your Alexander seems to have been the only one registered twice. They had other children registered somewhat closer to the birth date.

All of the above have MB as the reference, so I would discount my Multiple births - and the CD gives the following explanation

MB and LR - notification of birth received outside the statutory period.  I would think, they thought Alexander had not previously been registered. The name change is presumably related to  mistakes by the registrar or the parent (often accents gave names as misinterpreted).

Hope this helps - if you want any more information on the BDMs let me know

Trish

Edit: The Qld registry is now online, but date of birth is not given (nor are the codes it seems)
http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/bdm/IndexSearch.htm