NSW birth -- David E J DAVIES: look-up please!

[CelticAnnie]

Thank you so much, majm, for your further thoughts and information on Portview House -- both of which are much appreciated.  I will certainly have a hunt for the house on google maps and take a peel.  Although it's a shame (if hardly surprising) that the original structure has not survived.

Well, my first thought on waking this morning (yes, I've got the genealogy bug bad!) was: could this David E J Davies b1856 entry in Ancestry records actually be a really bad transcription for what should have been Owen E M Davies b1854's entry?!!!  Owen jnr was born in November 1854, and with what you've kindly explained to me about babies being registered born up to 18 months before when the register started in March 1856, he certainly could have qualified for being so registered.  If this is him, then we are looking at 3 transcription errors here: wrong first name, one wrong middle initial, and wrong year of birth -- but I guess that's not uniquely unusual, if certainly unfortunate!  At any rate, I have ordered a transcript of the full entry (rather wish I'd ordered the original, now), and I will, of course, report back once I receive that -- as well as, of course, offering an amendment to the record on Ancestry, if appropriate.

CELTIC ANNIE

[CelticAnnie]

Mystery finally solved -- through the discovery of a really quite appalling transcription error!!  It has turned out that this "David E J Davies" birth certificate is in fact the birth certificate of Mary Constance Davies (referred to in earlier posts); and "David E J Davies" is a mix-up with the name of the minister who baptized her!  The final column of the certificate, which is for "Name if added after Registration of Birth" on the original reads: "Mary Constance Baptized by David Evan Jones, Minister of St Matthias Church, Paddington on the 6th day of December 1856."

!!!!!!

A sobering lesson for me on the importance of accessing original documents, rather than relying on transcriptions.  But I've learned some other stuff about the family through starting this post, however, and I'm very grateful for that.

CELTIC ANNIE

[majm]

Hi there,

May I suggest you send an email to NSW BDM and ask them to correct the online index, to read  "2445/1856    DAVIES    MARY C    OWEN    JANE    PADDINGTON" with the following reason:  "as that better reflects the actual details of this birth registration based on the section of the registration under the NSW BDM heading 'NAME IF ADDED AFTER REGISTRATION OF BIRTH' "  And if you want, you could add, "David E J seems likely to be a mistranscription for David Evan JONES, the Anglican Reverend of St Matthias, Paddington who baptised Mary Constance DAVIES, 6 December 1856."    It can take several months for the online index to be updated, but they seem to be more willing to update this online index now, than in past years.   

May I send you a PM with my email address, as I would be interested in a scanned copy of the registration.   I have rellies who are retired now, but formerly senior officers with NSW BDM   

Cheers,  JM