Raine birth

[Silver Shrink]

I'm looking to apply for the birth certificate of Norman RAINE.  I know from family members that he was born on 16 Sept 1918.  His parents were living in Sunderland and his mother's maiden name was DUKE.  But I can't find any record of him on the Indexes in Findmypast, FreeBMD or Ancestry.  Am I doing something wrong?  Any help from more experienced researchers than me would be appreciated.
Viv

[mackim]

Hi VIv, i have looked on the Sunderland births and the only Norman Raine i can find was born in 1923, do you think you have the right year? i will look elswhere and see if i can find one for 1918....mackim

[nanny jan]

Hi,

FreeBMD births for 1918 are not yet fully transcribed.


Nanny Jan

[Silver Shrink]

Many thanks for the 1923 notification.  I've taken a look on Findmypast and the mother's name is not right.  And while I realise that FreeBMD isn't complete, shouldn't a birth be on the registration indexes available through, say, Findmypast?  Or have I got that wrong?

I do appreciate the effort you both have made so far.  Thanks.

Viv

[O1dgobbo]

Hi Viv

I do not know exactly what bmd data is available through Findmypast, Ancestry has film of the GRO bmd indices.  I have looked for Norman Raine in 1918 and the first quarter of 1919 and could not find him.  In my family this sort of thing arises for a variety of reasons

the family do not know the exact year of birth,
the birth was registered under the first forename but the child was always known in the family by a different name,
the child was registered under the mother's maiden name because she was not married to the father at that time.

I have looked for a Norman Duke born in Sunderland in 1918 and not found him.  I have also scanned the 1918 films rather quickly looking for a male Raine with a mother called Duke and could not find one.  (It might be worth trying this again more carefully and slowly than I did.)

Freebmd has a Norman Raine born in Sunderland but the date is very different from the family date

Births Mar Q 1905  Raine Norman Sunderland 10a 725.

This predates the inclusion of the mother's maiden name on the index so there is no inexpensive way to tell if she is or is not a Duke.  However Freebmd also has a marriage between Lilian Atkinson Duke and John Albert Raine in Sunderland in the same quarter - reference Sunderland 10a 827.

There is the slight possibility that Norman has been missed off the national index as a result of a copying error.  Fortunately you can search the Sunderland Registrar's index on http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/pages/registrars/

There is no Norman Raine listed as born in 1918 but there are two other male births, Charles Raine and George Raine.  Charles is listed in the national index as Charles E, mother's name Cowan, so he is not your target.  George is missing from the index and unfortunately the Sunderland search does not reveal his mother's name.  So it is just possible that George is your Norman but to check you will need to negotiate with the Sunderland Registrar.  If they are very kind they may be willing to tell you over the phone the name of George's mother.

Good luck

Gobbo

[Silver Shrink]

Hi Gobbo

Thank you everso for all your useful suggestions and for your hard work on my behalf.

I agree that there are a number of reasons why the family information could well be wrong, especially wrongly remembered birth date and using a middle name as the name you are known by.

I think the first thing I'll pursue is the idea of the birth date being in the same quarter as his parents marriage (yes, you did indentify the correct marriage).  I'll apply for that certificate.  If this is not right, you have given me a number of other useful leads I can try, and I'm very grateful.

Viv

[O1dgobbo]

Hi Viv

One thing that I forgot to mention - a name like Raine is very easy to transcribe wrongly - Rain, Raines, Rainer, Raime, and Rayne.  Luckily there are not too many names beginning Rai and they usually all lie on one or at most two pages in the national index.  I did half-heartedly look for a Rai.. with mother Duke but did not find any in 1918.  The Ray.. variation would require a completely separate search since they lie several pages from Rai and I did not look at them.

Good luck

Gobbo

[Silver Shrink]

Thanks for the tip, Gobbo.

Regards
Viv