Army births

[polidor]

In the GRO Regimental Birth Indices  in 'Find My Past', i  found 3 family names all born whilst their father was in the army. John COPPERWHEAT b 1778 was in the 11th Hussars, his army record shows he spent his army career as John COPPERWHITE !!

His eldest son, my 2nd GT grandfather was born in Carlow Ireland  1809  Gt aunt Mary was born in France and Robert was born in Canterbury.

The page with their names on, shows --Place-Year born-Regiment-Vol & Page no.---As this is all before official registration does the info given mean that i can view or send for these births anywhere other than visiting the national archives in London?

Poli 

[Mean_genie]

If you find an entry in the GRO indexes then you can send for the certificate from the GRO, although in the case of those early army birth regsitrations you won't usually get very much information. The various Army births come from a range of different sources, and some of them are baptism registers.

No matter what the original source is, the certificate you get will be in standard certificate format, and not a copy of the original document. Sometimes there is quite a lot more on the original, but unfortunately there is no way you can get to see it. If you find two or more children in a family and they all have exactly the same reference, it's not worth buying a certificate for more than one of them.

There may be records at The National Archives relating to the family, but they are quite unconnected with the GRO records. You already have the man's service record, which is the single most useful document, but sometimes details of wives and children appear in the regimental records, such as muster rolls.

Hope this helps

Mean_genie

[polidor]

Thanks for replying Mean_genie.

I had hoped that because the names had a volume and page number then i could actually see them somewhere.

I've tried 'Muster Rolls' in the AA but no thing came up for the soldier father but---- 2 of the children have the same vol/page number so thanks for the advise below.  Poli.

If you find two or more children in a family and they all have exactly the same reference, it's not worth buying a certificate for more than one of them.

[SMaryC]

Even though this is an old post on Army Births I have just joined Roots Chat and am interested in the same topic - namely Army Births and Baptisms prior to 1837.  Did you have success in getting more information about your ancestors' births using the volume and page reference?  The index of army births only gives the name of the child/children born but not the parents' names, which is what I am trying to locate.

[km1971]

Welcome to the forum. Civil registration indexes do not give the parents names. You have to buy the certificate.

Ken

[polidor]

I have just dug out the birth cert that i sent for [Army Births]. Below is a list of the info it contained.

At the top of cert was written the name of Army Company the father belonged to.

Date of child's birth   --filled in
Place and date of child's birth--filled in
Baptism date--filled in
Christian name of child--filled in
Parent's names--filled in
Rank of father--filled in
Name of Chaplain by whom ceremony was performed.  'Not Known'
Signature of Adjutant--here was a name but only printed not actually signed.

Hope this gives you an idea of what you may get .  poli

P.s the date of this particular birth was 1809

[SMaryC]

Thank you for those 2 replies.  But how do I get hold of the certificate?  I'm happy to pay for one, but don't know where to go to apply.  The Directgov webiste only allowed me to apply online for births after 1837.  I live in Australia, so need to have some sort of electronic means of requesting a certificate.

[km1971]

This is the page you need - https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/faqs-overseas.asp#o5

Then LOGIN which is top right.

Ken

[SMaryC]

Thanks Ken - I was referred to overseas births by Directgov, but the birth of my ancestor was in Ashford, Kent, not overseas - does this make a difference?  Are all Army Births considered to be 'overseas'?