What can you learn from a Birth Certificate?
Here are a few pointers as to what information you can glean from a Birth Certificate that can assist you in your quest to add to your family tree...
Full Name
Some birth certificates will give you both the given names and the family name of the child wheras other certificates will give you the given names of the child and you deduce the family name from the family name of the father. Mostly this will not yield any major surprises - maybe the addition of a middle name or two that you hadn't expected. However, sometimes you may find that the person in question was known by one of their middle names in later life - or sometimes, by a derivitive of one of their names. Occasionally you may find that they took on an entirely different name from their birth name with no apparent explanation as to why!
In our example we can see the child's name was Albert Edward Pinder.
Father's Name
If you are working your way back in your family tree then the father's name is the link to the previous generation and so is a vital piece of information than can then help you locate the child in other records such as census records.
In our example we can see the child's father was Charles Henry Pinder.
Sex
Whilst in many cases it will be possible to identify the sex of the child from the given names, there will also be many occasions when the given names are not a clear indication of sex. Fortunately most birth certificates explicitly state the sex of the child.
In our example we can see the child was a boy.
Date of Birth
Date of Birth is almost always shown on a Birth Certificate. If you know the Date of Birth then you will be able to narrow down your search in other documents such as census records.
In our example we can see the child's was born on the 10th June 1896.
Place of Birth
The place of birth is another fact about a person which is likely to be invaluable in finding them in other records such as census records. If you are struggling to read the placename then it may be useful looking at the residence of the informant if it appears on the birth certificate (as frequently this was one of the parents and so could be the same address as the birth place). If all else fails then the registration district and sub-district (if given) will at least give a general geographical location. If you know the rough location then you can check online maps to see if the place name you think the child was born in actually exists and maybe correct the spelling if you find it doesn't.
In our example we can see the child was born in West Gorton, South Manchester (England).
Mother's Name
If you are working your way back in your family tree then the mother's name is the link to the previous generation and so is a vital piece of information than can then help you locate the child in other records such as census records. If you have both the father's name and the mother's maiden name (family name with which she was born) then you can go on to search for the marriage certificate which can give you the first link back to the previous generation.
In our example we can see the mother was Grace Pinder who was born as Grace Newman.
Father's Occupation
The occupation of the father is again, one of those pieces of information that you can use to narrow down your search in other records such as census records.
In our example we can see the child's father was a Skirt Manufacturer's Manager.
Informant
Frequently the informant is one of the parents although it need not be. If it isn't one of the parents this information can also be used to ascertain an individual that was close to the family.
In our example we can see the informant was the mother Grace Pinder who lived at 5 Clowes Street, West Gorton (which we already know is in Manchester, England).
Date of Registration
The date of registration is perhaps one of the less useful pieces of information we can gain from a birth certificate. Perhaps it may be useful if the date of birth is not clear - for example, if you cannot tell whether the month says "June" or "July" in the DOB field. If the date of registration gave a date in June then this would confirm that the DOB could not be July.
In our example we can see the child's birth was registered on 20 July 1896.
Registrar
Likely to be the least useful item on the birth certificate - unless they happen to be one of your ancestors!
In our example we can see the registrar was an A Hallsworth.
