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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Worcestershire => Topic started by: shirlann on Monday 18 February 08 21:05 GMT (UK)

Title: Look- Up Birth certifacte.
Post by: shirlann on Monday 18 February 08 21:05 GMT (UK)
Hi,
Please may I ask if anyone would search for a birth certificate, I am having no luck at all.
William Hill,
Born 1893/4 Stourbridge, Worcestershire.
Father: Thomas Hill
Mother: Mary A.Hill
Registration District.  Halesowen.
The only trace I have of him is on the 1901 Census.
Thank you for looking.
Shirlann.
Title: Re: Look- Up Birth certifacte.
Post by: nanny jan on Monday 18 February 08 21:30 GMT (UK)
Hi shirlann,

A quick look at http://freebmd.rootsweb.com gives 6 possibles:

William Henry  Hill        Mar 1893

William Benjamin Hill  )
William Henry      Hill  )   June 1893
William  John       Hill  )

William   Hill                   Dec 1893

William  Vernon E. Hill     Mar 1894         All registered Stourbridge

Not an easy task!

Hope these help,


Nanny Jan
Title: Re: Look- Up Birth certifacte.
Post by: Treelover on Monday 18 February 08 21:49 GMT (UK)
Hi Shirlann,

This may sound an odd question, but do you really need his birth certificate?  I see he has siblings, it may be easier to try and find one of their birth certificates, it will still lead you to the same parents.  Just had a quick look and a likely marriage (presuming it was Stourbridge) would be Thomas Hill marrying Mary Ann Cartwright 1881  ;)

Shirlann,

Just noticed on the 1901 their eldest daughter is 20, just say the word and we can check out the 1891 and 1881 census records if you wish  ;)

Joan
Title: Re: Look- Up Birth certifacte.
Post by: madpants on Monday 18 February 08 23:24 GMT (UK)
As treelover said it's easier to find siblings certs

Maud Mary Hill
Stourbridge
March Q 1892
6c 171
Title: Re: Look- Up Birth certifacte.
Post by: madpants on Monday 18 February 08 23:30 GMT (UK)
The odd thing about that 20yr old you spotted (Nellie), it says Dau in Law, Single, domestic servant, now staying at home  :-\  the the next child, son William is 7, but then daughter Minnie after William is 10!  Hmmm
Title: Re: Look- Up Birth certifacte.
Post by: madpants on Monday 18 February 08 23:34 GMT (UK)
AAAhhh, it's relation to head isn't it?

Thomas is 35, Mary A is 42, he won't be Nellie's dad, she'll be step daughter, often termed daughter in law  ;D

So if that marriage posted by treelover is correct, this could be Nellie

Nellie Cartwright
June Q 1880
Stourbridge
6c 237
Title: Re: Look- Up Birth certifacte.
Post by: Treelover on Tuesday 19 February 08 00:04 GMT (UK)
Hi Madpants,

Nice bit of detecting work there  ;D

I'll watch this space and see what Shirlann thinks.

Joan
Title: Re: Look- Up Birth certifacte.
Post by: madpants on Tuesday 19 February 08 00:32 GMT (UK)
Thank you Joan

/bow  ;)
Title: Re: Look- Up Birth certifacte.
Post by: shirlann on Tuesday 19 February 08 21:27 GMT (UK)
Hi Tree Lover and Mad pants,
Thank you for that information.
As you can see from my messages I have
posted I'm new to all of this.
I had not even put 2 an 2 together to realize the age difference that you pointed out!.
Thank you both again.
Regards,
Shirlann.
Title: Re: Look- Up Birth certifacte.
Post by: Treelover on Tuesday 19 February 08 21:37 GMT (UK)
You are very welcome Shirlann  :)

Presume you are going to purchase the marriage cetificate  ;D  If you need help to look on census records don't be afraid to put a look up on the relevant board.  There are always people on here who can help you search. 

I have an Ancestry membership and can view all the census records, but even I have had to ask for help, its amazing how many times people I have been looking for for hours on end are sometimes found within the hour when I have asked for help. 

This is a brilliant site with even better people  ;D

Joan
Title: Re: Look- Up Birth certifacte.
Post by: kezbomb on Friday 14 March 08 17:55 GMT (UK)
Do you know who he married as i have a william hill also born in the same area and time, and he married my gt gt aunt elsie may whitehouse who went by the name of may.
Would be nice to find a connection.
Regards
Kerry
Title: Re: Look- Up Birth certifacte.
Post by: TonyR on Thursday 20 March 08 10:55 GMT (UK)
Hi Shirlann, in reply to your original request - if you want to find William's birth cert then you have a couple of choices.

One: If you apply in writing to the Registrar for Stourbridge or Dudley & explain that you want the birth cert for a William Hill born around 1893/94 in Stourbridge, but there are six possibilities, one March quarter 1893, three June quarter 1893, one Dec quarter 1893 & one Mar quarter 1894.

If you are confident that his parents are Thomas & Mary then ask the Registrar to only issue a cert if these parents names match.  If you are not sure about Thomas & Mary then say "I think his parents should be Thomas & Mary". Send a cheque for £7 made payable to the Superintendent Registrar & make sure your put a telephone number where the Registrar can contact you during their opening hours.  This way if they cannot find a William Hill born to Thomas & Mary they will usually phone & tell you, THIS MEANS THEY HAVE FOUND SOMETHING CLOSE MAYBE ONLY ONE PARENT'S NAME MATCHES.

Note the Registrar cannot tell you what is on the cert but this gives you the chance to ask questions of the Registrar which they can answer yes/no.  EG if this happens you could ask is Thomas recorded as the father or have I got the wrong mother's name etc.  Depending on your questions & their answers they will ask if you want the cert they have in mind & then it's up to you to make a decision - you could always ask for time to mull it over before ringing them back to order cert.

Outcome of this method will be either: the Registrar finds the correct birth & sends you the cert or the Registrar finds something close & phones you or the birth cannot be found.

Cost would be £7 for a cert and nothing if they do not find the birth.

Only downside to using local Registrar is they issue a 'handwritten' copy of the cert
so you do not see any ancestor's signatures, if they could write of course.

Registrars Offices:

Superintendent Registrar
Stourbridge Branch Office,
Crown Lane,
Crown Centre,
Stourbridge,
West Midlands,
DY8 1YA

Superintendent Registrar
Dudley District Register Office
Priory Hall,
Priory Park,
Dudley,
West Midlands
DY1 4EU

Two: apply to the GRO asking for William's birth to Thomas & Mary from the following possibilities:
William Henry Hill Mar quarter 1893 Stourbridge 6c 167
William Benjamin Hill June quarter 1893 Stourbridge 6c 224
William Henry Hill June quarter 1893 Stourbridge 6c 192
William John Hill June quarter 1893 Stourbridge 6c 171
William Hill Dec quarter 1893 Stourbridge 6c 154
William Vernon E. Hill Mar quarter 1894 Stourbridge 6c 193

The GRO website has this: "If you have done your own searching in the GRO indexes and have found more than one reference to the name you are researching, or are unsure which is the entry you require, we offer reference checking online. The charge is £7 for action on the first entry, which includes the cost of the certificate, and £3 for checking each subsequent reference against the information you have provided. To enable us to do this, you must give us one piece of information that you are sure will appear on the certificate, e.g. the exact date of the event. A certificate will only be issued if the entry we check matches the checking point you give us".

Doing it this way could cost £22, ie if the correct birth is the last one the GRO check it would be £7 to check the first entry plus £3 each for checking the other five entries.

If none of the match I think it would still cost you £18, thats £3 to check each of the six entries.  Only benefit is as above, if they could write, you get to see ancestor's signature.

Three: Again if you are confident that William's parents are Thomas & Mary why not try & find his baptism.  Explain your predicament to the Archive service & see if they can help.

It's got to be worth a try even before applying for any birth certs. For a simple query they might be able find William's baptism & you might be able to get a copy of this for your records or they may tell you where to look if they don't have the records.  I fear that if you ask for lots of info like all his siblings details & parent's marriage they will probably tell you to employ a researcher or call in & look for yourself.

Archives and Local History Service
Mount Pleasant Street
Coseley
West Midlands
WV14 9JR
Tel/fax: 01384 812770
Email: archive@vinl.dudley.gov.uk
Contact: Mrs K.H. Atkins, Archivist

I would advise caution in applying for a sibling's birth cert & then accepting their parents as also being Williams.  In an ideal world this would be true but we are not researching in ideal conditions.  It's even possible that William is the son of the 20 year old Nellie & Thomas recorded him as his son to avoid any embarrassment.  I know this would make Nellie only 13 or 14 when she had William but these things happened, in fact I think girls could still marry at 12 years old around this time!  If it were me looking for William I would try & find his baptism first & that way you will have correct parents to apply for his birth cert if you need it.  Much better this way than get the wrong parents & base your research on wrong info.  Hope this helps & good luck.  Regards, TonyR.