I beg to differ from Geoff's explanation. Lynne's first suggestion is correct: when vicars, registrars etc make corrections in registers, they have to number each one in exactly the way she describes - figures by the alteration, and the number (in words) and initials in the RH margin. Anything in the RH margin should be reproduced on a certificate to the right of the printed boxes, and this is why you'll sometimes get a certificate with a diagonal strike-through to the right of the boxes, indicating that there were no marginal notes to copy. Arthur > In a message dated 18/08/2007 20:13:05 GMT Daylight Time, [email protected] > writes: > > Hi, Regarding a birth certificate, in the "name and > surname of father" box the registrar started writing > the mother's name "Jan", (mother's name was Jane), and > put a line through it and the number 23. On the right > of the last box on the right he wrote "Twenty three > J.E." JE being his initials. Was this simply to > confirm that he, the Registrar, had made the mistake > or that there is another list somewhere giving an > explanation for no father's name being listed, or some > other reason entirely? Any help will be greatly > appreciated, thank you, Lynne. [email protected] replied: > It was just the registrar explaining the crossing-out, admitting > his > mistake and quoting regulation no 23, which allowed him to make the > alteration.

Many thanks to Geoff, JK and Arthur for explaining this mystery to me, I appreciate you taking time to answer my post, Lynne.