Is it possible to get a copy of my late father's birth certificate?

[juniperdewdrop]

Just wondered if anyone knows this? To cut a long story short, my dad's mum was pg with dad when the father (grandad) got killed on a motorbike. She used her own name for dad and it was just kept hush hush about dad's dad. We've never known his name and it's always niggled me. I wondered if she put his name on the birth certificate and my mum says she's never seen one but wouldn't he have needed it to get married? Dad's mum isn't alive now but her 94 year old husband is (step grandad) but I don't want to ask him as it's stirring up old memories.

Yes, you should be able to get a copy of his death certificate, you will need to phone the registry office, there will be a fee, but if you are applying for death certificate from a different area, it will need to be sent off with the payment.

You can get a copy of anyone's birth certificate. You need to know the date of birth (just the year would be OK), district they were born in and the name.

Were they married Juniper?

yes i got a copy of my dads....ring the regisrty office in the district he was born in.

cheers for that

Were who married potty1? Do you mean dad's mum and dad? No and as it was 1930/31 you can imagine why it was hushed up.

She probably wouldn't have been able to put his name on the certificate as they weren't married. He would have had to be there to do that, although quite often they gave dad's surname as a 'middle' name.

The fee is £7 for a full birth certificate.

thanks potty.

Think I'll ask my aunty if she knows anything, it's worth a try.

Probably easier to get the death certificate if you could just track down a surname. What about the archived newspapers in your local library? a motorbike accident might have been reported in the papers.

Yes good idea. I'm wondering if this tale is true though tbh. Maybe he just did a runner and they said this? Still a bit of detective work may uncover something I hope?

Yes, I used to work as a registrar and the tales we heard from people who relatives had covered up 'scandal' in those days!

Good luck.

i got birth and death certificate at the same time......if you only have an approxiamate date etc they can search 5 years either side of that

my dad's parents weren't married when he was born in 1933 in Ireland [shock - horror] and we found out in about 1990 when he applied for a passport. He couldn't get one as he only had a "short" birth certificate and not the full length detailed one. I too wondered how he had managed to get married without a full certificate

If you got married in church they sometimes didn't ask for a birth certificate (especially Church of England who seemingly are a law unto themselves ) Families usually stayed in one place and were known in the parish so often they just didn't bother.

I haven't used it yet but there is a website which claims to have details of all births and deaths since 1837. You have to pay to view but it might be an easier option if you are living in a different area to where your dad was born or don't know many details . Its

www.1837online.com

My FILs dad died when he was a baby and before his brother was born - or at least that's the story. I must look up his death certificate one day - been meaning to do it for a while actually as dh has had medical probs in the past and I'm starting to worry if it is hereditary, as more becomes known about it. FILs dad would have been quite young when he died.