Are mistakes made on birth certs?

[aghadowey]

When my husband and I went to get married we filled out the application form and got the license. From there we went to see the minister and while waiting started looking at the license. Husband's surname was omitted and his 3rd 'first' name put in the surname box, birthplace (and parents') incorrect...
ended up going back to office and the whole thing was re-typed by woman in charge. If we hadn't paid attention (or not been able to read) the mistakes would have been in the records forever. So yes, mistakes can and (often) do happen.

[acorngen]

The question is though do we treat a primary source as incorrect or do we treat it as correct?  Now why hasn't anyone gone to the parish registers (if they were married in church) and checked there to cross reference the information?  Surely that is the logical step in the investigation rather than just assuming.  Is it not possible that the Hannah D'arcy was in fact a middle name and the registrar as not realised that?  There are so many conundrums and in fact it could be that this entry is in fact correct.  For example could he not have been the father of an illigitimate child?  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but one should never assume anything especially when other avenues are open to cross reference this information.

As for marriage certs I never believe ages or parents names unless I can confirm them with the baptisms of the couple getting wed.  There are far to many people lying to get the marriage carried out.  My own ggg grandmother claimed she was 18 and was in fact 15.  Her father is supposed to have signed to say he gave permission however on his own wedding he could neither read nor write.  She claimed she was OTP when in fact she lived 20 miles from the parish and that was just one wedding

Rob

[stanmapstone]

Is it also possible to make mistakes on Marriage Certificates?

In the "Guide to the Clergy with Reference to the Marriage and Registration Acts"  there is a whole section on the correction of errors in completed marriage entries.
See Section 44 of the 1836 Registration Act.
Stan

[Romilly]

Yes...mistakes were made...

My late Uncle, Ernest Rencella Wilson, (1897-1957) was initially registered as 'Alice Rencella Wilson', - the error was noted 3months later, & the name (& sex:-) ammended!! (As a 'clerical error').

Romilly.

[Kazzaqld]

And then there's the "deliberate mistakes". The birthdate on my great-grandmother's certificate is wrong because there was a fine for late registration, so great-great-grandfather fiddled the dates.

If I had not been lucky enough to have been alive before my great-grandmother died, and in the habit of sending her birthday wishes, I'd never have questioned it. But I did, and my great-Aunt (her daughter) confirmed that yes the date was fiddled with! 

[Rapunzel]

What about census information sheets (Scotland)? I have found that my great grandfather has 3 incorrect ages on 3 different census sheets given for himself. I have no explanation for this other than that he might have been trying to make himself younger in order to keep his job. It doesn't look like a mistake of the recorder as the rest of the family is correct. Has anyone else had this kind of thing?

Rapunzel

[bearkat]

Family history information is a bit like chinese whispers - the more times it is copied or passed on,  the greater the risk of a "mistake".

[acorngen]

However a certificate should be a one time thing aftr all the groom gives his name etc so its not a case of chinese whispers.  Now a PR blunder yes because at times the vicar scrawled it on paper and ave it to his clerk to fill in and we all know how peoples writing can be terrible

Rob

[Ecneps]

A man I researched recently was born in 1863, but each census return showed him getting younger, and by the time he married he had lost 10 years...  

Death cert ages are also suspect, perhaps because the informant may not have been sure of the deceased's actual age.

Barbara