* Handwritten GRO entry - Confusion

[shaunb1995]

Hi there, I am new here, and relatively new to researching, if I sound silly please bear with me!

I’m wondering if anyone could help clarify something please? I am tracing my grandfather’s history (my paternal side), and am hitting a brick wall. He lived in Rotherham and as far as I know was raised here too.

There are two index records for his birth (May 1930).
The first GRO index is April-May-June 1930 and there is a handwritten entry at the bottom of the page:
Fred, mother’s maiden name Woodcock, Hull, 2a, see D59.

The second GRO index is October-Nov-Dec 1959, and the entry is typewritten as:

Fred, mother’s name Woodcock, Hull, 2a, page 409.

My question is, does this mean the birth was simply registered late? And going from what I know, his parents were from ‘down London way’, I’ve DNA matched as 2nd - 3rd cousins with people who’s parents/great grandparents were all from Caterham, Surrey. However they have not too distant family from Hull too, which is giving me doubt.

Volume 2a in 1959 covered Hull, but volume 2a in 1930 covered Surrey, in particular the page 409 is for Godstone and this seems to cover Caterham (I think).

So, am I right to infer that the birth was registered late, and that grandad was born in Surrey? I am assuming that an error has been made and when the birth was finally registered it shows as Hull because that’s where 2a covered at that time?

Apologies if I don’t make much sense. Unfortunately there’s not much information I can gather from anybody to learn more. Thanks for any clarity, I appreciate it.

[Mark1834]

Welcome to FHUG. It looks like a late registration to me. My advice is to order the actual certificate using the 1959 reference ( directly from GRO, not via a middleman). You will receive at least a partial refund if they cannot provide the certificate for any reason.

Indexes are fine as a finding aid, but you need the original document to draw any firm conclusions.

[LornaCraig]

I agree with Mark. I have found both those entries on Findmypast and looked at the images of the pages.

On the GRO’s own site the 1930 entry doesn’t show up in the search (probably because it's only a cross reference to the 1959 entry), and births from 1935 to 1983 can’t be searched. However as you already have the exact reference for the 1959 entry I suggest you order a copy of the certificate for that one, which is probably when the registration was actually done.

Sometimes the only way to be sure about something is to spend a bit of money getting a certificate I’m afraid!

[shaunb1995]

Thankyou for your replies. That makes sense - I’ve gone ahead and ordered a copy of the certificate; hopefully this will shed some light on what has happened! I appreciate your help

[AntonyM]

Forget the 2A connection to Surrey - a birth has to be registered in the district in which it occurred, so he should have been born in Hull.

It could be a simple late registration, or it could also be a re-registration (which are quite common, and much more so than genuine late entries). Most apparently "late" entries do turn out to have an entry in the original birth year, but sometimes not in the name you expect.

Check when his parents married (if at all ) and did either of them use other names or have previous marriages ?

The certificate you get from the 1959 entry might have some useful further information ( especially if it is a re-reg) as a marginal note.