Genealogy Chat

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Am I right in saying that if the time of birth is on the birth certificate - It has to have been twins (or more than one baby ) ?? Dea x

The only time on a birth certificate is when it is twins to see who is the oldest. Fern.

I've only got times of birth on certificates where the person has been a twin. However, I believe that in Scotland the time of birth is added as a matter of course.

Thanks both, This is England - 1846 - I take it I can be definite in my assumption that this was a multiple birth. Deax

In England and Walse a time on the birth certificate tends to be an indication of a multiple birth (twins, triplets.....) but occationally it's just the registra being nosey or particular. You could ckeak on FreeBMD for anyothers with the same surname on the page that the certificate you have is listed on. In Scotland times are recorded for everyone regardless.

From the excellent http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm 'If there is a time against the date of birth then there was more than one child born alive at the birth. If however a mother had twins, one liveborn and one stillborn, then the live born twin will not have a time against the birth. Until 1926 there were no registrations at all of a still born child. Having said that, again the early registrations are not consistent. The registrar in the Eton district did not put the times of births of twins in the registers at all until 1845 while the one in Stoke-on-Trent put times against all the registrations up until about 1850. It is possible to check for twins by looking for identical or consecutive GRO references in the indexes.'

Thanks Nell, Found them !! GOSH! - My first Twins! - I'm so excited you would think I had given birth to them myself !! Dea x

Dea Steady on!! Well done. I have two sets of male twins in my tree, but sadly they all died in infancy. nell

Hi All, Bit late coming in here - but - time on a birth cert does not mean it's *definitely* twins. It's a good indication, but some registrars noted the time as a matter of course. All my Durham births in one district, have times noted on them, but none of them were twins. The easiest way to check, is the look at the rest of the entries in that quarter for that surname. If there is another child registered with the same or consecutive page numbers, this also a good indication of twins. But if it's a popular surname in that region, could just be coincidence. Debbie

Thanks Debbie, PLEASE do not take my Twins away - I've only just had them. Seriously though - I know what you are saying but I had Peter with the time on his cert (I had him born c1847 when in fact it was April 1846) - I knew he had a sister Eliza born c1846 AND I found, together on the same birth reference page - Peter and Eliza - same surname, therefore I feel safe in saying - I HAVE TWINS !! Congrats to me !! (smirk smirk) Dea x

Just realised - Calmed down a bit !! I am following this line because I KNOW they are attached to my family - I have found many interconnections but as yet have not managed to link them via a Direct line. I have found about 100 in the past 7 - 10 days but can't yet put any of them onto my Tree. So, these Twins could be extremely distant relations BUT every ancestor is precious and one day soon I will be able to add them proudly to my Tree. Dea x

Hi Dea, Sounds like these ARE twins! Wouldn't dream of taking them away from you!! ENJOY! Debbie

Then I may have twins too! I got the birh cert of a Stephen Silby which says he was born at 7 o'clock in the morning. How def is the time thingy for twins?

Heather, Don't get too excited - It's not 100% but always worth exploring. What't his birth reference - go and have a look on the page. Tell me too 'coz I want to look. Dea Xxx

Don't want to put a dampener on your tree but I have had two birth certs recently, both with times on. I thought good, having already got twins in the family but these were single births. They do it to confuse us ! lol

Dea, bless you and apologies. Just checked and it wasnt Stephen (I got 4 certs on the same day - I do wish they had spread them out to one every 5 days so I could enjoy them more) I digress The certificate is for Emma Taylor Name: Taylor, Emma Record Type: Births Quarter: March Year: 1838 District: Wandsworth County: London Surrey Volume: 4 Page: 437 Under when and where born it says 12th Februay at 7 oClock in the morning at High Street, Wandsworth. I will have a go looking but Im not much cop at it. If you find it let me know please.

Heather Emma's not a twin according to FreeBMD - sorry Births Mar 1838 Bain Mary Ann Wandsworth 4 437 Cross Sarah Wandsworth &c 4 437 Elliott Robert Wandsworth &c 4 437 Grossmith Thomas Wandsworth &c 4 437 LEPEORD Mary Ann Wandsworth 4 437 >>Taylor Emma Wandsworth 4 437 Thurlow Clement Wandsworth 4 437 Wilcox Frederick Thomas Cragg Wandsworth 4 437

Oh .................... But there is an Edward Taylor, Wandsworth, same quarter on the previous page - (436) could that fit? If there was a twin he/she died before the 1841 by the looks of it.

Yes, it could, because if one twin was the last on a page the other would have to be first on the next page. But on the other hand, Taylor is a pretty common surname, so we can't really be sure. Kate.