Birth and death certificates

[missprim]

Looking on the 1911 census I found my Nanna and Granddad had a child before my Father was born.

It says;Total children born alive 1 Children still living - Children who have died 1.

It's possible I might be able to find the name of the child but would there be a birth and death certificate for her/him as I don't know how long they lived for?

[Mosaic]

If the child was born - as opposed to being a late miscarriage - there should be certification.
If your ancestors admitted to the census that the child had existed, it suggests certificates must have been issued rather than an informal disposal of the infant's remains (which happened often enough).

[missprim]

Thanks Mosaic.

[craft1948]

I'd go into deaths on ancestry, put in the surname, a possible birth date plus or minus x years, and a possible death date plus or minus x years (obviously before 1911). I don't think there will be too many possibilities for you to narrow down.

[missprim]

Thanks craft. I use Ancestry when I go to the library so I've just subscribed to Find My Past.
There is 1 name in particular that could be the one I'm looking for but I suppose unless I send for the certificate, there's no way I can be sure.
Have you ever used microfiche? If you have, could you tell me what I would be able to find on there i.e would it show the name of the parents?

[Mosaic]

Microfiche - ooh I get nauseous just thinking about a microfiche reader....it's the way the image moves on the screen....
My experience with the fiches is that they are simply documents, books or newspapers, photographed. So whatever was on the original will be there. I expect the cert in question will show the ftaher and mother's name. It was also usual for a hasty baptism to be done, so a church register might also help.

[craft1948]

No Miss Prim it won't show the mother's name before Q3 1911. If you want to give me his father's details so I can find him on the 1911 census I'll have a look and tell you what I think.

[missprim]

On the 1911 census my Granddad James Sellars and his wife Jane are shown to have had a child that was born alive but died.
I have found a Lily Sellars that was born in Jan-Feb-Mar 1909 with the registration district being Chorlton but I don't know for sure if this was their child.
The death of this child was also J-F-M 1909.
When you send for certificates, do you have to be absolutely sure you have the right person or can you send a letter saying Please send if the parents names are ......etc

[dotty.]

yes you can send facts that you know and expect to be included on the right entry, mother's maiden name and father, addresses etc, most register offices will do a check for you over the phone and confirm whether you should then send for the certificate. they won't give you info from the entry, but they will confirm you are on the right track and should send for it. or you can do it all by post, they won't send you the certificate if the info doesn't appear to match. they won't take your fee either. that's usually local register offices but the gro can also do checks to confirm before sending a certified copy

[craft1948]

No I don't think you can ask questions Miss Prim.................having said that I concur that Lily is your best candidate.

[craft1948]

There you go, dotty does know better than me, but I'd go with Lily.

[missprim]

Thanks dotty and craft.

[echokilo]

Searching the distribution of the surname Sellars around this time shows it is not at all common - so I would go with Lily too ........... another check would be to trace backwards, forwards and sideways a little to see if there are other Lilys as it was very common for names ot be a family tradition.

[munchie63]

Lily seems to match your info.
If you want to order copies of the certs from GRO (do it via their site, rather than ancestry etc as they can add extra fees) the details are:
birth 1909 Chorlton Vol 8C Qtr 1 Page 968
death 1909 Chorlton Vol 8C Qtr 1 page 684

hope that helps

[missprim]

Thanks echo and munchie. I wasn't all that certain as Lily wasn't a name I have come across before in our family.
I only have one living Auntie left and this child would have been her sister, but I don't feel I can ask my Auntie about it as she is 91yrs old and I don't want to upset her in case she didn't know about it.
Also, this child would have been born 12 yrs before my Auntie so I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have known about it.