British Overseas Records - Sydney, Australia

edjplummer · Post by **edjplummer** » 23 Apr 2012 16:03

My great-grandfather William Ernest Sydney WHITMORE is understood to have born in Sydney, Australia and we have been unable to locate his birth certificate.

His parents were English and he moved back to England at a young age, his death record indicates that his date of birth was the 30th of August 1883. 1891 and 1901 English census records corroborate the belief that William was born in Sydney.

On enquiring, other members of my family have previously received a statement from the New South Wales state government that informs them that there are no birth records relating to William that they could locate. Our understanding is that William's father was a purser in the Merchant Navy.

What other authorities might have issued a birth certificate for a child born to British parents in Sydney in 1883?

Many thanks,
- Ed

ID:6176

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 23 Apr 2012 18:33

Is it possible he was born at sea, have you checked the BMD records (Find my past have them online).

http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.go ... ths_at_Sea

Also it might be worth checking the UK registers just in case they registered him when they returned to England, remember late registrations are in the Qtr for the registration and not the actual birth date.

If you access your GGGrandfather's merchant records, that should show you what ship he was on at the time of the birth and you might be able to work out from passenger records where William was actually born.

Post by **tatewise** » 23 Apr 2012 19:03

If you purchase his Death Certificate for £9.25 I think it will give his Place of Birth as well as confirming the Date.

On FindMyPast there is a WHITMORE, Ernest William listed as registered in Leicester in Q4 1882, which might be valid for 30 Aug 1882 (not 1883).

edjplummer · Post by **edjplummer** » 24 Apr 2012 18:50

Jane and Tatewise, thank you for your input on this issue.

I do know a little more than previously disclosed, although the long and short of it is that the birth certificate is lost. When William died in 1972 my grandmother and great-uncle registered his death and used his birth certificate to do so. My great-uncle is still with us and told me that the register office used the birth certificate to register the death and they were then asked if the birth certificate could temporarily be kept as it was of interest. When my family members followed up and asked if they could have the birth certificate back they were told that certificates were not stored at the register office and that they did not have the birth certificate. They are the events as have been described to me...

Bearing this in mind, to the best of my knowledge the death was registered using the birth certificate:-
Full Name: William Ernest Sydney Whitmore
Date of Birth: 30 August 1883
Registration District: Surrey South Eastern (Surrey)
Registration Date: 1972 (Oct-Nov-Dec)
Volume no: 5G Page no: 841

My great-uncle informs me that the birth certificate definetly stated Sydney as the place of birth. While he assumed that the issuing authority was the New South Wales government, he did say that he couldn't swear to it. That is why I am trying other avenues.

The family was from Surrey and the first known sighting of William is living with his aunt and uncle in Croydon, Surrey as captured on the 1891 census. At this point the place of birth is quaintly given as 'Sidney'. I cannot locate William's parents in the 1891 census.

With respect to the England BMD records, there is a birth for a William WHITMORE registered in Reigate, Surrey in Q2-1882. I checked and there are also subsequent census records for this other William living in the same area, I don't think this is his birth record.

I do subscribe to FindMyPast and cannot locate any sea births for any variants of the name, I suppose he could have been at sea though. Thank you very much for priving the National Archive URL, I will look to see if I can find anything.

I have previously tried and failed to locate William's father Frederick's merchant navy records, but you are right that they may reveal more about the families location at the time of birth. I will try again, I certainly couldn't locate them using FindMyPast previously.

Thanks again for your input, it is very much appreciated,
- Ed.

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 24 Apr 2012 20:03

I found an online NSW index search here, but can't see your William, but thought you might find it useful if it shows any other members of the family.

There is a Cecil Fredrick son of Frederick WHITMORE and Ernest George son of George F both who appear to be listed for 1883 in Sydney

657/1883 WHITMORE ERNEST GEORGE GEORGE F LOUISA
1715/1883 WHITMORE CECIL FREDERICK FREDERICK MARY

It might be worth an email to see if they can cross check the birth date you have.

edjplummer · Post by **edjplummer** » 24 Apr 2012 20:19

Thank you very much Jane.

I did locate the BMD online historical indexes for NSW previously, and agree that there is not an apparent entry for my William. It looks like the search facility is only bringing up entries that match the surname exactly, so I did try as many variants as I could think of.

I have contacted the records office in NSW just to check that they have all of their indexes transcribed or if there are others that would need to be accessed a different way.

I believe that William only had one sibling, a sister born in the rather less exotic surroundings of Horley in Surrey.

Thanks for your efforts,
- Ed.

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