Dear Ed, Birth records are only publicly available for 100 years after the birth. So if he was born post 1911 the birth does not show on the website. Some listers have CD versions of the BDM which have births up to 1918, those CD's having been produced prior to the 100 year restriction. Poor handwriting, and some poor transcriptions have resulted in errors, so you may have to try different combinations. Where did he die? Was the Death registered in more than one place. Records of a Policeman are held by State Records, at Kingswood, however, although you do not say where you are, it appears that you may not be local. See www.records.nsw.gov.au but a personal or agent visit is required to get access to these Service Cards. There is an Archives in Brief (Help Sheet) on that site for Police Service Records. Sincerely, Bill > Hello - My great-grandfather 'William Ernest Sydney WHITMORE' is > understood > to have born in Sydney and I am trying to obtain a copy of his birth > certificate. >

Hello Bill, You are quite right. I am from Surrey in England and now live in Virginia in the US, and so it does sound like I would need to enlist the services of an agent to dig out state records in Kingswood. Thanks for the pointer. As far as I understand it William was born in Sydney in 1883 and returned to England as a 'babe in arms', this is sounded out by him appearing on the 1891 census (living with relatives). William continued to live in England and had a successful career as a builder and carpenter. He died in Surrey in 1972 at the grand age of 89, I don't believe there would a reason to have his death registered elsewhere. Cheers, - Ed On 13 June 2012 18:21, Bill <oldboybill@westnet.com.au> wrote: > Dear Ed, > > Birth records are only publicly available for 100 years after the birth. > So if he was born post 1911 the birth does not show on the website. Some > listers have CD versions of the BDM which have births up to 1918, those > CD's having been produced prior to the 100 year restriction. > > Poor handwriting, and some poor transcriptions have resulted in errors, so > you may have to try different combinations. > > Where did he die? Was the Death registered in more than one place. > > Records of a Policeman are held by State Records, at Kingswood, however, > although you do not say where you are, it appears that you may not be > local. See www.records.nsw.gov.au but a personal or agent visit is > required to get access to these Service Cards. There is an Archives in > Brief (Help Sheet) on that site for Police Service Records. > > Sincerely, Bill > > Hello - My great-grandfather 'William Ernest Sydney WHITMORE' is >> understood >> to have born in Sydney and I am trying to obtain a copy of his birth >> certificate. >> >> > >