Hi Bob, My advice would be the same as Nivard's. But you will have to order *without* giving a GRO reference, because that is the only way you can access the option to specify the father's name on the order form. Order a certificate for William LEE in the normal way, but when asked if the GRO reference is known, be sure to select the option NO. You are then asked to enter the year of birth, and the place of birth, and you can specify the father's forename as John. The GRO will search for one year either side of the date you've given until they find a William LEE birth that matches your requirements. There is only one registered in Islington in this time period (William Percy LEE), so if his father isn't John they won't produce a certificate. If yours happens to have been registered not in Islington but just over the boundary in a neighbouring district, or William was perhaps his second name and not his first (etc. etc.). the GRO won't find a matching record, and you can try again. The worst that can happen is that they refund your money! HTH Judy London, UK -----Original Message----- From: middlesex_county_uk-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:middlesex_county_uk-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Robert Campbell Hi been some time since I last ordered a certificate from the GRO, do the they still have the facility for reference checking? In this case I want to check out the father's name for a William Frederick or possibly William Percy LEE born in Holborn in 1884 or in Islington in 1885 respectively. This LEE family in the the 1891, 1901 and 1911 census has been fairly consistant with William's age at census time being 6, 16, and 26 and his birthplace being Islington or just London. 1881 to 1901 census finds the LEE family located at Islington so they didn't move away from the registration district of Islington. William had a sister Minnie Florence who was born, baptised and registered in Islington in the April to June quarter of 1882. Her age is consistently shown as 9 in 1891 and 19 in 1901, birthplace Islington so the family were pretty accurate. In 1901 the census shows "F" for second forename initial for both Minnie and William. On the balance may be an error by the census enumerator in William's case, and perhaps the "F" should have been a "P"?. William was not it seems baptised at the same church his sister was. William LEE is one of my remaining brick walls for this particular family. With a second forename of Percy and an exact date of birth may be a step forward and a whole lot simpler towards working around this wall. Any advice welcome before I potentially blow another 9 quid would be welcome. Cheers Bob in Brisbane.