yet another GRO problem

[Ashtone]

If a birth is illegitimate the GRO index the birth as MMN (-). That is your clue the birth is illegitimate.

[Mr.Brown.]

Looking at the 1841 birth cert the OP attached above, I can see why the GRO has correctly indexed it as MMN (-). The mother and informant is Margaret Crudace (unmarried) but she names the father: Oswald Storey. This is an illegitimate birth. So what is the issue?

Ahh yes I can see what you mean - Thank you.

[Ashtone]

In this instance, the GRO must've gleaned from the record itself the birth was illegitimate, even though the child is registered as STOREY. Hence the MMN (-) index. The devil is in the details. 

[PaulineJ]

The indexes show the MMN only when the mother is wed.

Unmarried mothers birth surnames are not indexed.

Pauline

[Rosinish]

It's worth knowing, if an illegitimate child is registered without the father being present then the child would be registered with the mother's surname.

Your illegitimate child was registered with the father's surname i.e. he must have been present, however, the column you have a query with is MMN (which is blank) because she wasn't married i.e. didn't have a Maiden Surname.

That column only relates to married women.

Annie

[Guy Etchells]

It's worth knowing, if an illegitimate child is registered without the father being present then the child would be registered with the mother's surname.

Your illegitimate child was registered with the father's surname i.e. he must have been present, however, the column you have a query with is MMN (which is blank) because she wasn't married i.e. didn't have a Maiden Surname.

That column only relates to married women.

Annie

Sorry but the above is not correct there are a number of circumstances where a child's birth can be registered without the unmarried father being present. Up until 1875 the father did not have to be present for the mother to give the fathers name when registering the birth. The laws regarding this have been changed a number of times including one, using form GRO185 where the mother does not agree to the father's name being added.
The subject is too complex to deal with here.
Cheers
Guy

[jonw65]

Oswald, Margaret, and John are together in Newcastle in the 1841 census.
Oswald may have been married to Dorothy Gibbon in 1838.

You certainly have the wrong birth certificate.
Death
CRUDICE, JOHN  STOREY     
Age at Death (in years): 0 
GRO Reference: 1841  S Quarter in NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE UNION  Volume 25  Page 201

Incidentally, Margaret's death in desperate circumstances in 1850 is in the newspapers, with inquest reports, and at first Oswald was under suspicion!

[jonw65]

Marriage, 13 Jan 1847, Newcastle, All Saints
Oswald Storey + Margaret Crudace
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLWP-8FJ5

I searched the GRO for a John Storey of 1841 who I knew to be illegitimate
Can anyone tell me what I can do to get my money back or the correct record if there actually is one

You could post more details about the John you are actually looking for?

[BushInn1746]

Hi - this is the second time this has happened to me
I searched the GRO for a John Storey of 1841 who I knew to be illegitimate and there was only one record with no mother shown in the correct area so ordered it.
What arrived was a record for 'a' John Storey of the correct area but with a mother and father shown so obviously the wrong person.
I have queried it and they reply saying the record they sent is the one I ordered.

Can anyone tell me what I can do to get my money back or the correct record if there actually is one...Thanks, Gordon.

I've had a good handful of Births purchased via GRO gov.uk Online, relating to a surname study where the Mother's Maiden Surname was blank on the GRO Online Births Index when ordering, but a Mother's Maiden Surname was originally recorded on those corresponding Certificates when they arrived.

The GRO used another already digitised Index to go online.

Check if Baptised Before Ordering from GRO
Although not every child was baptised or birth recorded by a Chapel or Meeting, especially after Civil Registration began in 1837, I try to see if their bapt and a Mother is recorded on my subs site images, etc., but a baptism date is not usually a birth date.

Newspapers and London Gazette
I search Newspapers from circa 1800 (fewer Births early on), especially Marriages, Deaths, etc., as I want to see if they contain the slightest extra snippet. Not everyone inserted a notice, but if in business or owned property, one family surname line was mentioned over 25 times 1815 to about 1890 (not including same notices which occurred in up to 5 newspapers).

Correcting an Entry
If signed in to GRO gov.uk on the GRO Menu, there was a button to report an error or update (one Certificate at a time), they check it and respond with either updated, or no further action (NFA) against my report.

I've asked for some checks after getting the Certificate, but you will need to note all the Index details down, year, qtr, vol, page, Reg District, name, to enter it with your correction update.

Having helped GRO add/correct quite a few I'd reported, I did give Birth Index details on one I was unsure of purchasing (because the baptised child had a mother recorded - bapt Register) and ask GRO where the mother's surname was and it came back NFA, so I knew there was likely no mother recorded in their GRO Volume either and unlikely to be the Birth Certificate I was seeking.

Mark