Help with names on birth entry

[BlueBell]

Now I hope I dont come across as totally clueless, but I have only been into family research for two years so sometimes come across things that Im not sure about.

I ordered a birth entry for a birth in Victoria, Australia, the last born child to parents Francis and Frances Cutts, who emigrated here from Nottinghamshire in 1852.     

My problem is with the second and third names in the previous children listing.   It says, from what I can make out..  Tryphena and then under it Tryphous(I think), both have a bracket next to them, linking them together and dead is written next to each name, also a bracket listing both the words dead.     From knowledge, would this mean they were twins?   or am I way off the mark and it means something else?      Their first child Joseph was born in 1848 and came out to Australia with them in 1852, so I'm assuming the above births occurred whilst they were still in England but I havent been been able to locate their birth entries in the English registers.

Sorry for the long post, once I get started it always seems hard to stop typing.

Thanks.

[Fitty]

Hiya Bluebell,

I googled "Tryphena" and it is a female name, so i,m assuming that "Tryphous" is the other childs name ( that did'nt bring anything up on Google). 

It certainly indicates that these were twins.   IMHO anyway.

Fitty

[Little Nell]

Hi BlueBell,

How very appropriate at the moment: Tryphena is Greek in origin and means "daintiness".  My little book also suggests Tryphosa meaning the same. 

From what you say, Australian birth certificates include the names of previous children in the family?  This is not the case in England (more's the pity) - the most useful item we get is the mother's maiden name.  So you need a fellow Aussie or expert to answer the question about the birth certificate.  Other than that, it might be worth asking for a look-up on the 1851 census here in Nottinghamshire to see if they were both still alive and the same age, thereby confirming the twins idea.  Hopefully, you will catch them.

I found an entry on FreeBMD for Tryphena Cutts Dec 1848 in Chesterfield RD.  And a death for Tryphena Eliza Cutts in Mar 1850 in E. Retford, no age given. 

But I'd agree with Fitty's opinion - more than likely twins.

Nell

[BlueBell]

Thanks alot for that information.  The death in East Retford would be inline with where the family originates, as the father, Francis, was born in East Retford, but the birth in December 1848, well they already had a son listed as being born in 1848 and their marriage was April 1847.  Altogether possible though, I suppose, if you do the maths, poor woman would have been bearing children for practically two years straight!  I feel I will have to look further into it, as the free BMD records dont list parents online and I would like to find the other child listed as a possible twin.

If I could have your opinions please, being relatively new to this research.  Do you look into something like this to confirm the details of each birth/death, or do you only focus on the brother who lead to your line of descent? 

I feel, and tell me if I'm wrong, that if the births of these first children shows Derbyshire, then it leads me to wonder why the father was born in East Retford, Nottinghamshire, lived and then married in Nottinghamshire, but then moved his family to Derbyshire prior to setting sail to Australia in 1852.    Am I wondering too much, or are these the things I'm supposed to wonder and look into?       

Sorry if the above is a jumble of thoughts, Im just trying to establish my boundaries of research.

[Little Nell]

BlueBell,

Having done the search on FreeBMD, Cutts is an awfully common name in Nottinghamshire area, the registration districts of Mansfield, E. Retford, as well as Chesterfield cropping up all the time.  Don't assume that the Tryphena born in Chesterfield is yours - not all records have been transcribed yet.  And unless you pay for the certificate, you won't get the parents names, they are not shown in the index for that time, let alone online (if only!!)

As regards your other thoughts, I might look for a child with an unusual christian name, just to narrow the target area, if the other names were relatively common.  However, I really only go for a sibling when I hit brick walls and am looking for another way in.  But that might only work if they can be found alive!

For what its worth, I would get someone to do a look-up in 1851 because at least that will give you an address as well as any other children.  They may even be living with the parents or the in-laws (that would be a nice bonus).  At least you wouldn't be spending money for no real result.

Nell