Author Topic: Search birth certificates using mother's first name?  (Read 6677 times)

Offline AndyH81

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Re: Search birth certificates using mother's first name?
« Reply #18 on: Sunday 17 October 21 21:04 BST (UK) »
Stillbirths have a separate register which is not online. 

Miscarriage or abortion would only be noted in her medical records.

So I'd likely be looking at either a sibling or a sibling who had died very young then.

Thank you.

Online AntonyMMM

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Re: Search birth certificates using mother's first name?
« Reply #19 on: Monday 18 October 21 09:44 BST (UK) »
So I'd likely be looking at either a sibling or a sibling who had died very young then.

Nothing mentioned so far suggests that any child (if there was one)  died.

You can't search on the mother's first names because that isn't indexed information - all you can do is work out a list of possible entries and obtains certificates for them to see if the details match.

Offline AndyH81

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Re: Search birth certificates using mother's first name?
« Reply #20 on: Monday 18 October 21 09:54 BST (UK) »
So I'd likely be looking at either a sibling or a sibling who had died very young then.

Nothing mentioned so far suggests that any child (if there was one)  died.

You can't search on the mother's first names because that isn't indexed information - all you can do is work out a list of possible entries and obtains certificates for them to see if the details match.

Well, assuming the same surname thing is always right, then there's at least 10 possibilities. Guess I'd better get cracking.

I'm wondering if, back then, would it have been possible for her to use a fake name? I'm picturing some woman showing up at a convent, giving birth, and then running away before giving a name - but that all feels far too Charles Dicken's for the mid-70s.

Online AntonyMMM

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Re: Search birth certificates using mother's first name?
« Reply #21 on: Monday 18 October 21 10:07 BST (UK) »
Anything is possible (including using a false name), but you have to hope that wasn't the case , and probably wouldn't be.

Also  - don't forget that young mothers could sometimes go to a mother and baby home some distance away to have a child, so don't limit your search to the home district.

Note that if you do identify the child, and the entry is marked as "adopted", you won't have access to anything to give you their adopted name.

In the paper indexes (as used on FreeBMD) an illegitimate birth would normally have the indexed surname the same as the mother's maiden name column (doesn't apply to the new GRO index).


Offline AndyH81

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Re: Search birth certificates using mother's first name?
« Reply #22 on: Monday 18 October 21 11:53 BST (UK) »
Anything is possible (including using a false name), but you have to hope that wasn't the case , and probably wouldn't be.

Also  - don't forget that young mothers could sometimes go to a mother and baby home some distance away to have a child, so don't limit your search to the home district.

Note that if you do identify the child, and the entry is marked as "adopted", you won't have access to anything to give you their adopted name.

In the paper indexes (as used on FreeBMD) an illegitimate birth would normally have the indexed surname the same as the mother's maiden name column (doesn't apply to the new GRO index).

At this point, I'm really just trying to figure out if it is even possible. I really need to see the document from my father to establish exactly what might be going on.

Offline AndyH81

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Re: Search birth certificates using mother's first name?
« Reply #23 on: Monday 18 October 21 11:54 BST (UK) »
Incidentally, how could I order a certificate from the GRO for a period in which they do not have data captured? Is that even possible?

Online AntonyMMM

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Re: Search birth certificates using mother's first name?
« Reply #24 on: Monday 18 October 21 11:59 BST (UK) »
They have the data - it just that the register entries for some years haven't been digitised yet and so don't appear in the  on-line index.

Use the reference from FreeBMD (name, district, volume, page)  and order through the GRO website using the "Place an Order" link, or order through the local registration office (who hold the actual registers)

Offline AndyH81

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Re: Search birth certificates using mother's first name?
« Reply #25 on: Monday 18 October 21 14:08 BST (UK) »
Thank you!

Offline aghadowey

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Re: Search birth certificates using mother's first name?
« Reply #26 on: Monday 18 October 21 15:21 BST (UK) »
Going back to the original post-
Quote
The only information we have to suggest this is an old birth record for myself which shows she had 1 prior admission, but we're not sure whether it suggests a birth, miscarriage, or an abortion, so I am trying to do a bit of detective work to see if I can solve the mystery.

Since this sort of information wouldn't appear on your birth certificate is this some sort of hospital or medical record pertaining to you?
'Prior admission' could just mean your mother was in hospital before your own birth for any number of medical reasons. It might have been just overnight or for a short period but such an event would have been noted in her records.
Away sorting out DNA matches... I may be gone for some time many years!