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JessBow
31-07-11, 16:55
Was a short birth cert very different to what we know as a short birth cert today?

was shown one last night - ''here is his birth cert....'' and I am not convinced it IS a birth cert.

anyone else seen one?
Olde Crone
31-07-11, 17:07
Yes, I have my father's short birth cert (born 1921) and it does look a bit odd - it's very small for a start, lol.

OC
JessBow
31-07-11, 17:07
Printed in Red?
Olde Crone
31-07-11, 17:15
Yes, printed in red.

I've just realised it's not the original though, it was issued in 1936 for the "purposes of the Shops, Offices and Factories Act".

OC
kiterunner
31-07-11, 17:18
The short birth certificate was introduced in 1947. What you have is probably a "Certificate of Registry of Birth" which was available before then. As I understand it, you could only get the "Certificate of Registry of Birth" at the time of registering it, but you could use it in many situations as a substitute for an actual birth certificate, and you didn't have to pay for it. But if you lost it, and needed a replacement, you would have had to pay for a full certificate.
kiterunner
31-07-11, 17:19
Sorry, we were posting at the same time.

Ah, I see - yes, there were cheaper certificates if you needed them for certain purposes such as to prove you were old enough to have left school and be employed full-time.
Muggins in Sussex
31-07-11, 17:27
Is it like this, Jess?

http://genealogistsforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=4663
Margaret in Burton
31-07-11, 17:32
Is it like this, Jess?

http://genealogistsforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=4663

I have my mothers and it is exactly as the link Joan has posted.

OH's grandmother has one issued when she needed to prove her age for work purposes. It's very different. It's a full cert but the reverse is signed on the back by her mother confirming the details.
Olde Crone
31-07-11, 17:34
Mine is exactly like Muggins's example.

OC
borobabs
31-07-11, 19:13
My Mams and her brothers is like that as well
JessBow
31-07-11, 19:47
very similar, thank you
Nell
01-08-11, 10:48
I only ever had a short cert, which I used to get bank account, passport etc.

It was only when I was getting into family history that I thought I should get the full one. It showed my father informed my birth "by declaration" (ie he provided the information to his local register office, who then sent it on to the register office in the area where I was actually born).

Only recently when I looked at it again, I found it had a correction too - they'd originally written my mother's middle name as Dorothy instead of Smoothy (her mother's maiden name)!