BMD Certificates

[Kit]

I've just come across a wonderfully documented ancestry tree that has publicly posted BMD certs for what I assume is the direct line of the tree owner.

I decided to double check my tree to make sure I have my tree in order and I'm stuck on my great grandparents lol. Not too far to travel up the tree.

My query is do I need the marriage certificate if I have a copy of the church register from FMP, or ancestry for other couples? Would there be any extra information on the marriage certificate, or birth or death etc?

Birth and death would obviously have DOB and DOD dates not on baptism or burial records.

[kiterunner]

The marriage certificate won't be worth getting if you have the parish register entry, but birth and death certs do have information which is not on baptism or burial records.

[Phoenix]

Marriage registers show ancestors' signatures/marks. Plenty of the certificates I obtained had transcription errors: gasman for yeoman (in 1840!) etc.

Death certificates are decidedly superior to burials: you get occupations or relationships, and the informant - who might be a married daughter or other relation you might have only suspected. And, of course, cause of death.

[Kit]

Thanks.

I was gifted some money for Christmas and my birthday and haven't yet spent it. I might go through my tree and buy certificates.

[Phoenix]

It is worth it. When I mopped up the last few death certificates, I discovered people dying in unexpected places, of unexpected things. My favourite (though not for the immediate family) was the ancestor who dropped dead in the Borough Police Court. I imagined all sorts of things before I found the newspaper article: his son and a neighbour had had a vicious dispute over.... a cat!

[Olde Crone]

Yes, several death certs have been a surprise, including the 78 year old whose death was registered by his third wife, of whom I had not known until then.

OC

[Margaret in Burton]

Originally Posted by Olde Crone

Yes, several death certs have been a surprise, including the 78 year old whose death was registered by his third wife, of whom I had not known until then.

OC

I had a similar thing. I knew when 2 x great grandmother died as I had seen her gravestone. Decided to get the death certificate to ‘get the set’ and the informant was a brother in law I knew nothing about. 3 x great grandfather had married for a third time. The last I’d found of him was when he retired from the army in India in 1818. Managed to find him then on the 1841 and 1851 census and his death.

[Kit]

I've been to a funeral and discovered a new relative. It's most disconcerting.

[HarrysMum]

Originally Posted by Kit

I've been to a funeral and discovered a new relative. It's most disconcerting.

That is not a statement you can leave hanging. You know how nosy we all are. xx

[Kit]

I'll PM you.