* Source 'Type' field

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GeneSniper
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Source 'Type' field

Post by GeneSniper »

When entering a source, how exact should you be about the Type? I know you don't have to use it, but I want to for filtering. What I am really asking is should you use Birth Certificate for all variants eg Original, copy or copy of original or is it best to split them up. I think BC is good enough for me but at the same point, would there be any benefit having them split into BC original, BC Copy etc?
William

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tatewise
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Re: Source 'Type' field

Post by tatewise »

I use just Birth Certificate, and Birth Record, Baptism Record, Christening Record for Parish Records plus similar Types for Marriage, Death & Burial.
Strictly speaking they are all copies as the original is held in the GRO/Church records.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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GeneSniper
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Re: Source 'Type' field

Post by GeneSniper »

I agree Mike about originals, although the original to me is the first copy you get from the registrar. I had to send for a copy BC of my mothers from National Records of Scotland and it looks nothing like the original she had. That was why I was asking. What Type would you put that under? Certificate or Record
William

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tatewise
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Re: Source 'Type' field

Post by tatewise »

I suspect your mother's certificate was the free Short Certificate once issued to parents at registration.
See https://www.vitalcertificates.co.uk/wha ... icate.html.
I think the same applied to all UK countries, but Scotland may have been a little different.
See https://www.ukofficialrecords.co.uk/bir ... otland.asp under Types of birth certificates.
Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_certificate says
Types of certified copies issued in England and Wales
A full certificate, titled 'CERTIFIED COPY OF AN ENTRY' is a copy of the original entry in the birth register, giving all the recorded details. Information includes; name, sex, date, and place of birth of the child, father's name, place of birth and occupation, mother's name, place of birth, maiden name, and occupation. Certificates for births before 1911 do not show the mother's maiden name, before 1969 do not show the detail(s) of the parent(s), place of birth and registration, and before 1984 do not show mother's occupation.
The short certificate, titled 'CERTIFICATE OF BIRTH', shows the child's full name, sex, date, and place of birth. It does not give any detail(s) of the parent(s); therefore it is not proof of parentage. A short birth certificate is issued, free of charge, at the time of registration.
I have updated glossary:birth_certificates|> Birth Certificates to cover those two types.

So if you need to record that distinction, then perhaps you should add Long or Short to the Type field.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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ColeValleyGirl
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Re: Source 'Type' field

Post by ColeValleyGirl »

I of course do things different to Mike :D

I use types of Birth, Death, Baptism, Census etc. -- i.e. the event which lead to the source being produced. I include the details about what kind of X record it is in the source long title. There are things that don't fit exactly into this scheme so I also have e.g. Newspaper, Miscellaneous, Other... And I use Index where I've only consulted an index not a detailed record (e.g. for the GRO Indices).
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mjashby
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Re: Source 'Type' field

Post by mjashby »

William,

If you want to compare the format of the documents you have with samples of Scottish Certificates then see https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=sc ... &FORM=IGRE

I believe what most people find on the Scotlands People site are copies of pages from the original Registrar's Record Books rather than the true Certificates that would have been issued at the time.

Mervyn
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GeneSniper
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Re: Source 'Type' field

Post by GeneSniper »

Oh trust me Mervyn I have seen more than enough different copies of Scottish birth certificates, yes you are right about what you get from ScotlandsPeople

Mike T, my mothers certificate just got lost between her death and my step fathers death (I presume because he had remarried). By different I meant that it came on a portrait A4 page with the information looking like the cert. below but totally different wording below the information and some embossing, the original was like the one below but on paper. The first time I saw a copy of a short certificate was for my second daughters birth when we were given one and had to pay for the full version, I presume Scotland may have always given a Full Certificate (Although don't quote me on that) before then. Every other one including the original one (see below) from my Great Gran from 1872 have all been full certificates.
Janet Jackson b1872 - Copy.jpg
Janet Jackson b1872 - Copy.jpg (108.52 KiB) Viewed 4416 times
I don't even know what the paper is? The blue front part is separating from the backing. My reasoning for thinking that Scotland may always have given a full certificate is that 1 I had never seen any before, having seen quite a few elderly relatives parents certificates and 2 Lots of my ancestors were miners and I couldn't see a reason to pay for something that many couldn't read and weren't going to need for a passport.
So if you need to record that distinction, then perhaps you should add Long or Short to the Type field.
It was more a question of distinction between original and copy certificate from National Register of Scotland and whether there was a need or advantage to distinguish between the two.
William

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