In message <02e401c9a32a$e59a2c10$441ecac6@jean> "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> wrote: Thankyou Jean for such an interesting read! Bev in Western Australia > SNIPPET: Per Cork's "Irish Roots" magazine, many researchers tend to believe > that the information in civil registers is correct and worry only about the > accuracy of transcriptions made by various indexing groups. This confidence, > however, is not well placed. > In relation to births and deaths, the local registrar was usually given the > details by a member of the family in which the event took place. He wrote > this information in a register, which was kept locally, and a handwritten > copy was sent to the Office of the Registrar General in Dublin. A birth or > death certificate ordered from this office always involves another > transcription -- from the copy register to the certificates. > Though there is room for error in the two transcription stages, most of the > errors originate with the informant, that is the person who registered the > birth or death in the first instance. A very common error to be found in > death certificates relates to the age of the deceased. When a son or > daughter went to register the death of a parent, the age of the parent was > often unknown to them -- many people are still quite coy about their age. > The registrar, a busy dispensary doctor, would simply ask for an estimate > and put that down as the age. Some ages at death can be highly inaccurate. > It is significant that many elderly people are given decimal death dates -- > ages ending with zero appears to be particularly suspect. > The Mormon religion allows for baptism after death. > Many Irish people were "baptised before birth" -- if we are to believe what > we read in baptismal and birth certificates. This strange Irish phenomenon > is explained by the fact that Irish Catholics baptised their children within > a few days of birth, but often neglected to register the birth with the > local registrar in a timely fashion. In order to AVOID the payment of a FINE > for non-registration within a 3-month period of the birth, some parents > simply gave a later date for the birth. > This little deception comes to light seventy years later when an application > is made for state pension, for example. The birth certificate shows the > applicant to be several months short of the required age. Sympathetic > officials, in these circumstances, are inclined to accept baptismal > certificates as more accurate evidence of age. This is tantamount to > official recognition of the inaccuracy of birth certificates. > For example, when searching in the Vital Records Index for the British Isles > CD-Rom issued by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake > City, 1998, for the children of a marriage between De Courcy EVANS and wife > Charlotte WILLIAMS (birthplaces Newcastle, Wicklow) one would discover that > based on the relatively poor quality of handwriting found in the ORIGINAL > Registrar's Records there were some transcription errors made: > 1. EVANS, De Courcy -- Male, born 10 Nov 1864, Newcastle, Wick, Ire: Father > De Courcy EVANS, mother Charlotte WILLIAMS. > 2. EVANS, Eliza Jane -- Female, born 25 Jan 1868, Newcastle, Wick, Ire: > Father De Conroy EVANS, mother Charlotte WILLIAMS. > 3. EVANS, John -- Male, born 28 Apr 1869, Newcastle, Wick, Ire: Father > Decourcy EVANS, mother Charlotte WILLIAMS. > 4. EVANS, Patty -- Female, born 13 Aug 1870, Newcastle, Wick, Ire: Father > Decamsy EVANS, mother Charlotte WILLIAMS. > Someone searching only for De Courcy EVANS might miss these, but a search > for the less-likely name to be misspelled and/or transcribed incorrectly, > that of the mother, Charlotte WILLIAMS, would bring up all four births. > When using various search engines, it is probably best to use the "Soundex" > feature (if available). While you will get more "hits," you just might find > what you are looking for that contains a minor discrepancy of spelling. > NOTE -- The 1999 Third Quarter issue of Cork's "Irish Roots" magazine > contains a portion of the original Registrar's Records for the birth record > of Eliza Jane EVANS and the birth record for Patty EVANS with the father's > names enlarged, and they do, indeed, appear to read "De Conroy" EVANS and > "Decamsy" EVANS. > It should be kept in mind that there was no particular emphasis on accuracy > in spelling or ages in old records, as there would be found today, so > spelling of surnames, etc., can vary widely, and according to record expert > John Grenham, with the upheaval in Ireland over the centuries, etc., "a > significant proportion of births, marriages and deaths were simply not > registered." > Also, keep in mind that the Registrar's District (where the event was > registered) was not necessarily the townland or village where the event, > itself, took place. An inquiry at your local LDS FHC may turn up additional, > more specific data. Keep in mind that some Registrar Districts even cover an > area of more than one Irish county and that some boundaries have changed > over the years. > Late Registrations -- Per Grenham, although the chances of finding a missing > registration IS slim, a thorough search of the indexes is necessary for > completeness. When the individuals concerned or their relatives later needed > a certificate for official purposes, it became necessary to register the > event after the fact. The index references of these late registrations are > included in the volume for the year in which the event took place. For > example, the index reference for someone born in 1880, but whose birth was > not registered until 1900, is to be found in the index for 1880. In the case > of births and deaths, these references are indexed separately from the main > body of the index, at the back of the volume. For marriages, however, late > registrations are written in by hand at the relevant point in the main body > of the index. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > IRELAND-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- Bev McGuinness, Cinnamon Coloureds Farmstay, RMB 1017 DENMARK WA 6333 Tel: +61 8 9848 1781 Fax: +61 8 9848 1231 Web: http://www.denmarkwa.com.au/cc/