I wonder if someone can help me understand a birth certificate I have just received. I sent for it for the birth of a great uncle so as to try and establish the date of marriage of my great grandparents. He was obviously married twice as the eldest child was only a year older than my great grandmother. The certificate I have just received says mother Caroline COCKING now the wife of Francis WELLMAN does"now the wife" mean that she was not his wife when the child was born. He was born at Salisbury, but mothers address was given as Millbrook, Southampton. Also, he was born 26th Feb but the birth was not registered until 15th April, so slightly more than the normal six weeks or was the law different then? Jeanne _________________________________________________________________ It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today! http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger

Hello Jeanne What a fascinating document. I'm not sure I can help, but I can make a few comments anyway! =========== At 11:18 09/06/2004, Jeanne Mayer wrote: >I wonder if someone can help me understand a birth certificate I have just >received. >I sent for it for the birth of a great uncle so as to try and establish >the date of marriage of >my great grandparents. He was obviously married twice as the eldest child >was only a year older than my great grandmother. 'He' being your great grandfather? And is your great uncle the said eldest child? Never mind anyway ... ==== >The certificate I have just received says mother Caroline COCKING now the >wife of Francis WELLMAN > >does"now the wife" mean that she was not his wife when the child was born. == I've not seen this before, but I should think you are right. I presume it doesn't say 'formerly' anything, so it looks as though COCKING was her maiden name. I also presume Caroline was the informant, and Francis was not present to claim fatherhood. Who does it give as the father? Have you looked for the marriage of Francis Wellman within the nine months before the child's birth? ==== >He was born at Salisbury, but mothers address was given as Millbrook, >Southampton. == I presume the registration was in the Salisbury (or perhaps Alderbury) Registration District? The registration is supposed to be in the same district as the birth. ==== >Also, he was born 26th Feb but the birth was not registered until 15th >April, so slightly more than the normal six weeks or was the law different >then? == When was 'then' by the way? I can't see the year. It has always been six weeks for a birth; having to travel back to the birth district might have contributed to the delay although depending on the date there was probably a good rail service between Millbrook and Salisbury. ==== Cheers, Dave Jacobs