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Birth Certificate (or death or marriage)
Yes, Donna, I am working on a Mac and using Word. I just put a note to myself in "Extras" to change the date format as part of my adaptation for a newspaper citation, which I sent to the citations discussion. I think Ann has a great idea for the "Date" entry. If we can use that field with some text when adding a date isn't appropriate, then it won't list "n.d." in the citation.
Well, I'm pretty sure they won't program just for us, but the good news is, Zotero is open-source, and we can design our own styles. I started reading up on it, and I think we can make changes that will eliminate things that are blocking genealogy-specific requirements. At least most of them. The challenge at times might be on all of us agreeing to what we need. But I'm excited about the possibilities.
Just another quick question in regards to citing birth certificates. Using my grandma, Dorcas Stokes, as the example again - I don't have the original issued certificate. I have the one that I ordered in 2006 from the General Register Office, UK. Would you put an accessed date/date of certificate issue?
Hi, Megan. There are members on the forum much more experienced at the details of citation than I am, so I defer to them, if they disagree. But a scan of Evidence Explained this morning leads me to believe that you do not need to reflect when the certificate was issued to you. The only time I see EE's citations reflecting a current date are when you are finding a record online. (And I need to mention that the practice of putting the date you accessed something online is no longer used in CMOS. I'm not convinced it's needed in EE, either.)
EE does put a lot of emphasis on documenting whether you are citing the full certificate or one that has been extracted in any way--into a short form or into a register.
The EE discussion starts at section 9.30 (p. 454) in my edition (3rd revised) of EE.
Megan You don't need to include when you received the "certificate." However, you do need to determine if the document is a "certificate," a copy of the register or a transcription from a register. Back in 2007, I spent a month in England researching during that process I obtained a large number of "certificates" from various PRO's. Most are not really a "certificate" in the sense of where the information came from. Many of the ones I received contained a copy of the register entry. Others were a transcription of the entry.
When I cite these they are not cited as a "certificate" I use the word register if you notice the document says "Certified Copy of an Entry Pursuant to the Births and Death Registration Act 1953" and just to the left of the registrars signature is the words "Certified to be a true copy of an entry in a register in my custody."
In the first image, the actual entry was copied on to the "certificate." This is important to note as it is different than the second image where the register was transcribed on to the "certificate." In the first, you know you are getting all the information in the second you don't. These two types should be noted in your citations.
Notice on the second image the box with the name of the father is blank. But I added a note in the box. When I picked up this "certificate" at the PRO the clerk whispered to me, "As a fellow genealogist, I have to tell you. A fathers name is written in this box. But because it was crossed out my boss won't let me tell you what it says." I got this record in 2007 the birth took place in 1838. 169 years earlier. One day I am going to try and order it again and hopefully, the head registrar has retired and I can get the name. With DNA and that name, I might be able to determine who his father was.
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Thank you, Ann! I learn from you every day.
These are my citations for the two "certificates" above. I haven't played with these in Zotero so I don't know which type to use yet. Perhaps book section?
Image one:
Wakefield, England, birth register, vol. 22, p. 682, no. 126, Haywood Eccles, born 12 June 1843; Wakefield Register Office, Wakefield, Yorkshire.
My notes include received in 2007 onsite. Copy of actual entry and the transcription.
Image two:
Dewsbury, England, birth register, vol. 22, p. 24, no. 406, transcribed entry, John Vero, born 15 June 1838; Dewsbury Register Office, Dewsbury, Yorkshire.
Notes include the whispered information and a transcription.
Once I get these into Zotero I will add a note and a link to the image on my drive.
I am humbled thank you, Donna.
Megan my citation for Dorcus would look something like this:
Wolverhampton, England, birth register, vol. 6b, p. 655, [entry no. if you have it], [add "transcribed entry" if appropriate]. Dorcus Stokes, born 19 November 1898; Wolverhampton Registry office, Wolverhampton, Stafordshire .
I did notice that you used/cited the Southport Register Office and not the Wolverhampton office. My question would be does the Southport office contain transcriptions, copies or the original registers from Wolverhampton? Whatever the answer is you should make a note of that in the last part of your citation. ie. If the "certificate" didn't come from Wolverhampton replace Wolverhampton, Stafordshire with Southport Register Office, Southport. The Southport office holds duplicate copies of the original registers from Wolverhampton.
If I am reading your citations the use of the word certificate versus register has a different meaning to me in the US. I don't know about the meanings in the UK. Because of my research in the UK, I know that most "certificates" are not really what I think of as a certificate and are really a registry entry that has been copied to a "certificate." In the US some places will issue you a certificate that is actually a transcription of a register. Unlike a contemporary certificate, these certificates are notorious for missing information.
Quote from Ann Gilchrest on February 15, 2019, 6:09 pmIn the first image, the actual entry was copied on to the "certificate." This is important to note as it is different than the second image where the register was transcribed on to the "certificate." In the first, you know you are getting all the information in the second you don't. These two types should be noted in your citations.
Notice on the second image the box with the name of the father is blank. But I added a note in the box.
Wow. So would that mean the reality is everyone who has their own birth, marriage, death certificates actually only have a transcription of the register YET they are major pieces of identification? Will definitely take note of this from now on and correct my "certificates". Thanks for that clarification.
