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Missing entries - GRO Online Index

Discussion in 'England & Wales BMD indexes' started by At home in NZ, Jun 21, 2020.

  1. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    Note that whilst the original post was uncompromisingly critical of the GRO's new online index, we now know that the incorrect age for one of the individuals was recorded in the printed version of the contemporary quarterly index, and that the post itself included the wrong spelling of the individuals' surname.

    Perhaps you can now understand why I defend modern transcribers - who generally have to interpret monochrome microfilmed images of old handwriting. sometimes written in pencil or (more often) scratched with a quill pen, relating to people of whom they know nothing!
     
  2. Sigee

    Sigee New Member

    I find a birth index entry for a cousin Mable Cannon on all the usual sites. She was born
    Name: Mabel Cannon
    Registration Date: 1873
    Quarter of the Year: Jul-Aug-Sep
    Registration Place: Nantwich, Cheshire, England
    Volume: 8a
    Page: 321

    However, a search of the GRO index returns no match. I've checked on FreeBMD for other entries on the same page and they are found when I search the GRO index.

    Any ideas why she might not be in the GRO index?

    [Footnote: She appears to be illegitimate and is subsequently described as a child of her grandparents in censuses. Her grandmothers will reveals her true identity. I did spot a Mabel Platt on the same page when I looked on FreeBMD and a quick search for her on Ancestry didn't come up with any further matches. She does appear in a GRO index search but with no mothers maiden name. Is it possible she is in the indexes twice under different names? If I order the birth certificate using the details I have above, even though a search doesn't return a match, am I likely to receive it and will I be charged if they can't find it?]
     
  3. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    The answer will be in my next newsletter, out shortly!

    (If you can't wait, see this article from November 2016.)
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2023
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 1
  4. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    Hope you found the article useful!
     
  5. lindy

    lindy LostCousins Star

    Thanks.

    I've been tidying up a family of 14 children born between 1822 and 1848 in London. I had a missing entry on the GRO index for an 1843 birth which I really wanted to find to confirm the mother's maiden name. The entry was there correct on FreeBMD, mistranscribed one way on Ancestry, another way on FamilySearch and FMP (but no maiden name there). So I knew all the details re quarter etc. But unless I'm missing something I had no way of finding it at GRO. I obviously tried the 'similar' etc options with many variations. Eventually I started changing the initial letter and success! It started with a 'K' rather than an 'H'. Small things....

    I reported the error (9 days ago) and I noticed today it had already been corrected. There were 6 births post 1837 and only 2 were completely correct so I shall go back and report the others now, albeit I had managed to find them. All the children were baptised up to number 9 in 1838. That confirmed the earlier births so now I'm hoping all is spot-on.
     

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