Which certificate will she get ?

[Nick29]

My older sister was born to my mother and father when my mother was still awaiting a divorce from her previous husband.  Her birth was registered in the 1940's, and she took my father's name.  A while later her divorce came through, and my mother and father got married.  My (late) mother was always acutely embarassed about her first child being born out of wedlock, and she did her best to cover it up.

Then, in the 1960's, my sister was about to get married, and she needed to produce her birth certificate, and my mum panicked, presumably because the original certificate showed her married name to her first husband.  So, she re-registered my sister's birth in 1964, and got a certificate based on that information, and that is the certificate that the GRO supplied when my sister recently asked them for a birth certificate.

Now, my sister wants a copy of the original certificate from the 1940's, and I have found the original GRO reference.  If she applies for a certificate based on the reference I have found, will she get the 1940's version, or the 1960's version ?

 

[Comosus]

If you have the reference for the 1940s then that should be the one you get - although depending on what exactly happened when she was reregistered, there could be an extra comment on the certificate.

[Necromancer]

I have found the original GRO reference

usually in these cases, that entry will have a note against it, something like 'See QYY' - eg 'See D64', which refers the seeker to that quarter (March, June, Sept or December) of a later year.

I believe that you will get the referrred later Cert, unless you can dialogue with the GRO to obtain the original.

Others on here are very au fait with the internal workings of the GRO, so may be able to comment in more detail

HtH 

[behindthefrogs]

I suggest that you deal with the appropriate local registry office rather than the GRO and explain exactly what you want.

David

[skb]

My experience of the same situation is that when I applied to the GRO in the usual way, using the earlier reference, I was sent a certificate with the details from the later reference.

I have a feeling I've read somewhere that, on re-registration, the earlier entry is considered "Closed", and that version is not generally released to enquirers. I'm sure someone will be able either to confirm this or put me right.

[Necromancer]

I think thats right 

so presumably, theres 'good' liaison twixt the GRO and the local ROs - some scope for things to go astray tho .....

[Mean_genie]

A re-registration will replace the original entry, because it usually occurs when a child was born to unmarried parents who subsequently married, and the object was for the child to have a certificate that showed the parents as married. If the orginal certificate was prodeced, then that would be exactly what he/she/they didn't want. It works in England and Wales because the birth certificates don't give date and place of the parents' marriage, as Scottish ones do.

A re-registration might also allowed where the information on the original was proven to be wrong - I saw one case where a couple 'adopted' a child and registered it as their own, then the birth mother went to the registrar and spilled the beans. Only the second one will be issued, because the original is known to be untrue, and therefore cannot be issued as a certified copy. There have also been cases where a husband has insisted on having his name removed from the birth entry of his wife's child, on the grounds that he had been away at sea for 2 years and the child was only 6months old, or thereabouts! Again, it is understandable why the original should not be produced.

Yes, I know there are all kinds of untruths on certificates that are issued, but if the GRO has officially been informed that the orginal is wrong, and evidence produced to back this up, they have to be consistent. So it sort of makes sense...

[Necromancer]

Yes, thats what I have seen in a few instances too .... great to have it all spelled out tho - ta for that.


any comments on how the GRO and LROs work together on these re-registrations ?

[Nick29]

Hmmm...... I suspected that might be the case - thanks everyone.  I'll tell my sister to save her money, because she already has the 1960's certificate