Can someone please help me understand the format of South African birth certificates? I have a 2013 copy of an Unabridged Birth Certificate recording a 1924 birth, which states " PARTICULARS FROM THE POPULATION REGISTER I.R.O.", and the entries are all typewritten. This is the first SA birth certificate I have seen, so can't compare it to others. It lists both the father's name and the mother's name. In the space labelled MAIDEN/SURNAME the mother's maiden name is listed only. Does this have any significance as to whether the mother was actually married to the father at the time? Interestingly both parents' dates of birth are blank, their place of birth listed as "NOT STATED", and their country of birth listed as "UNKNOWN". Is this unusual? There's no information on who provided the information. I'd appreciate any insights you can offer. Thanks. John

Hi John To the best of my knowledge there are 3 types of Birth certificate available in SA, a Vault copy, an Unabridged and an Abridged. As a genealogist always order a Vault copy as this contains the most information which can include father's occupation. I have in front of me a copy of my original "Birth Certificate" (B.M.D. 5) (in 1945) issued shortly after I was born, which is typed and shows Union of South Africa on the top and was "issued in terms of Section 40 of Act No. 17 of 1923". It does not contain the same amount of information which appears on my copy of my hand written Vault Copy. On the Vault Copy it requires info on the "Father of the Child" and "Mother of the Child" and in both cases requires "Birthplace" and "Age". The age is carried forward onto the Unabridged Birth Certificate in the place where it states "Date of Birth". In more recent years Identity numbers and actual date of birth were required under the parents details. When computers were introduced the information had to be captured from the original hand written Register book (B.M.D.1) and this relied on the diligence of the person doing the capturing. There is no way of knowing whether the father and mother were married. It may still be worth your while to order the Vault Copy of the Birth Certificate (at the same price) to see what extra info you can glean. Adrian -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Wynne Sent: 17 November 2013 02:20 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Mother's maiden/surname on South African birth certificates Can someone please help me understand the format of South African birth certificates? I have a 2013 copy of an Unabridged Birth Certificate recording a 1924 birth, which states " PARTICULARS FROM THE POPULATION REGISTER I.R.O.", and the entries are all typewritten. This is the first SA birth certificate I have seen, so can't compare it to others. It lists both the father's name and the mother's name. In the space labelled MAIDEN/SURNAME the mother's maiden name is listed only. Does this have any significance as to whether the mother was actually married to the father at the time? Interestingly both parents' dates of birth are blank, their place of birth listed as "NOT STATED", and their country of birth listed as "UNKNOWN". Is this unusual? There's no information on who provided the information. I'd appreciate any insights you can offer. Thanks. John

Thanks. I'll order a Vault copy. I suppose that means I'll have to wait another 6 months. Is there a quicker way? Cheers, John On Sun, Nov 17, 2013 at 1:27 PM, Milly & Adrian Rowe <[email protected]>wrote: > Hi John > > To the best of my knowledge there are 3 types of Birth certificate > available > in SA, a Vault copy, an Unabridged and an Abridged. As a genealogist > always > order a Vault copy as this contains the most information which can include > father's occupation. > > I have in front of me a copy of my original "Birth Certificate" (B.M.D. 5) > (in 1945) issued shortly after I was born, which is typed and shows Union > of > South Africa on the top and was "issued in terms of Section 40 of Act No. > 17 > of 1923". It does not contain the same amount of information which appears > on my copy of my hand written Vault Copy. On the Vault Copy it requires > info on the "Father of the Child" and "Mother of the Child" and in both > cases requires "Birthplace" and "Age". The age is carried forward onto the > Unabridged Birth Certificate in the place where it states "Date of Birth". > In more recent years Identity numbers and actual date of birth were > required > under the parents details. When computers were introduced the information > had to be captured from the original hand written Register book (B.M.D.1) > and this relied on the diligence of the person doing the capturing. There > is no way of knowing whether the father and mother were married. > > It may still be worth your while to order the Vault Copy of the Birth > Certificate (at the same price) to see what extra info you can glean. > > Adrian > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Wynne > Sent: 17 November 2013 02:20 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Mother's maiden/surname on South African birth > certificates > > Can someone please help me understand the format of South African birth > certificates? > > I have a 2013 copy of an Unabridged Birth Certificate recording a 1924 > birth, which states " PARTICULARS FROM THE POPULATION REGISTER I.R.O.", and > the entries are all typewritten. > > This is the first SA birth certificate I have seen, so can't compare it to > others. > > It lists both the father's name and the mother's name. In the space > labelled > MAIDEN/SURNAME the mother's maiden name is listed only. Does this have any > significance as to whether the mother was actually married to the father at > the time? > > Interestingly both parents' dates of birth are blank, their place of birth > listed as "NOT STATED", and their country of birth listed as "UNKNOWN". Is > this unusual? There's no information on who provided the information. > > I'd appreciate any insights you can offer. > > Thanks. > > John > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >