A 'Full' Birth Certificate

A full birth certificate has much more pertinent information for identification of a person.

Now let me take and explain each of the columns, particularly for the benefit of those new to family history.

Column 1 No- 1285 .this is the consecutive entry number of the Registrar's Birth Register for the year..

Column 2 When and where born - 29^th October 1869 High Range near Picton. Note this is specific. If a person was born in a town it might give street number and name, or perhaps even a house name and street name.

Column 3 Name and whether present of not - Thomas Henry, not present. If a father registered a birth the child was often not visibly present, where as if the mother registered the birth she might have the child there with her. The registrar could visible see the child and could see that a birth had actually taken place.

Column 4 Sex- Male. With many Given or Christian names could be of either sex, it was necessary to state sex, so it could be calculated the number of each sex born for statistical reasons.

Column 5 PARENTS Father (1)Name and surname Thomas George Baxter.

This is the full name of the father of the child.

(2)Rank or profession of the father Farmer

In other words the occupation of the father.

(3)Age and (4) birth place50 years and London, England

How old was the father was when the child was born and where was the father was born.

Column 6 (1) When and where married 1850, The Oaks, Co Camden, New South Wales. Sometimes the actual day, month and year will be entered. This is a great clue to begin your search for the parents marriage certificate or church marriage entry if before 1856. However there are times when this column will be filled in with a fictitious date and place as the parents were not legally married for one reason or another. It was a crime to give a false statement and punishable with incarceration in a prison. Many took the chance of not being found out and filled in this section of the column to 'save face' in the community.

(2) Previous issue living and deceased

Living four males and two females deceased, one male and one female

In this section of this column there is often a list of the children's names and ages rather than just stated numbers. We can see in this certificate that the parents were reportedly married in 1850 and by 1869 they had had nine children, two of whom had died.

Column 7Mother (1)Name and maiden surname of the mother Mary Harriet Mather late Armour This means she was born Mary Harriet Mather and at sometime married a Mr Armour, who had died, and then she had married Thomas George Baxter in 1850.

(2)Age and birth place 39 years and London

She was 39 years of age and was born in London.

You will note that the husband was also born in London. In fact, due to their age we would be seeking church baptism records in London and not a birth certificate of each of the parents.(Civil Registration began in England September 1837). We would also be seeking the ship they came to Australia and whether as a convict or free immigrant.

Column 8 Informant Signature, description and residence of informant- In this case it is the father giving the information, so we believe it is correct, although it is close to the two months given to register a birth. By signing his name with a X for his mark, infers that the father may not have been able to read or write.

Column 9 Witnesses (1) AccoucherNone means no medical doctor

Nurse Mrs Wright. Could possibly be a friend or neighbour or a woman in the district who was experienced with birthing children and be known as a 'midwife'.

Names of witnesses ---------

Column 10 Signature of District date and where registeredW A Antill, 27 December 1869,Picton

W R Antill was the District Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages at Picton in 1869.