I have been allowed to borrow an original birth certificate from my oldest living relative, born during the early 1920s in England.
When a small envelope was handed to me I thought I had been given an empty enveope by mistake. However when I looked inside there was a very thin lightwieght piece of paper about 4 x 5 inches in size. It looks very fragile and has several tiny holes and darker greasy looking stains (from sweaty hands I should think) especially where it has been folded.
Every other birth certificate I have seen has been at least A4 in size and has information about parents etc. This one just has name, birthdate, signature of Registrar and district of registration. I was quite disappointed at the lack of information although I know parents, occupations etc already. The parents had been married for about 17 years and already had 5 shildren.
Can anyone tell me anything about this type of certificate and why it has so little information? If I sent to GRO would I get the usual information with names of parents and occupation of father?
Would also appreciate any tips on preservation of this very fragile document. I have already scanned it and will NOT be laminating it. I assume it should be kept unfolded in a dark dry place, but what else can I do to stop it from disintegrating.
Angela