Struggling to locate a birth certificate - William Dyson (B:1846)
I'm struggling to find a birth certificate and need some advice please. Our family bible tells me that William Dyson was born on the 8th March 1846, and that he married twice producing ten children.
I started by ordering one of his daughter’s birth certificate - EDITH DYSON, a twin born in July 1887 at Burnley in Lancashire (Vol.8e Pg.196) - no problem with that, this gave me the parents I was expecting.
I then searched for his second marriage to ELLEN WEBSTER (Edith's mother) who was born Sept 1851 in Rainford, Lancashire. - Ellen Webster and William Dyson married in June 1874 at West Derby (vol.8b Pg.610a). William (a widower) was then living at Every Street and working as a miner. He named his father as William Dyson, a Brick setter. - Again, no issue here as it lines up with Census records of where the family were at the time.
I then searched for his first marriage to MARY WHALLEY born March 1850 in Rainford, Lancashire. Note: her birth was registered under her mother’s surname of Mercer as she was Illegitimate, she adopted the new surname Whalley after her mother married. - William and Mary married in Oct 1869 at Prescot (vol.8b Pg.931). William Dyson was a spinster living in 'Rainford' and working as a miner. Again, he lists his father as William Dyson, Brick setter. - This all seems to line up with what I already thought. - The census after they were married (1871) lists the couple and their first child Elizabeth Dyson, living at Hydes Brow in Rainford, Lancashire. On every census record he states that he was born in Prescot.
Having found all ten of his children and the two wives, I've then search for William's birth certificate... I find what I think is his baptism record, dated 12th April 1846. With William's parents listed as William and Elizabeth Dyson living in Prescot (this sounds about right) and seems to be confirmed on the 'Prescot family History' website. In this record his father William is listed as a Labourer. ((Register: Baptisms 1843 - 1851, Page 118, Entry 939))
I'm now struggling to find a birth certificate for him... I've looked up the following Williams:
> William Dyson: born 1st quarter 1846 in the district of Manchester (Vol.20 Pg.690) - This William was born 22nd Jan to parents James and Ann Dyson (nee. Rogers) in Cheetham.
> William Dyson: born 1st quarter 1846 in the district of Burnley (Vol.21 Pg.273) - This William was born 13 Feb to parents James and Susan Dyson (nee. Hodgon) in Clone.
> William Dixon: born 1st quarter 1846 in the district of Prescot (vol.20 Pg.853) - This William was born 24 Nov 1845 to parents James and Elizabeth Dixon (nee. Williams) in St. Helens.
I've also looked at the previous and subsequent quarters, searched the GRO records without first names and I’m struggling to know where next to look for a William with a parent name of William and Elizabeth? Please can someone advise?
Best Answer
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You have done an amazing job of research on behalf of your early ancestor who was born in England. Perhaps you will want to read the following Wiki Article that I found when I searched with the phrase: Early Birth Certificates in England.
We usually think about finding birth certificates through Civil Registration records, but the first paragraph in this article explains the following:
Before 1837 only churches recorded birth, marriage, and death information in England (see England Church Records). In the early 1800s, Parliament recognized the need for accurate records for voting, planning, taxation, and defense purposes. Legislation was passed to create a civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths for England and Wales and, for registering the same for British subjects abroad. England and Wales registration began on 1 July 1837, and covered births, marriages, divorces and deaths. However one problem with English civil registration is that coverage was not universal, especially in the earlier years before tougher laws in 1874. Use Church Records in these cases.
Since you believe your ancestor was born after 1837, you may want to carefully review the following collection which is mentioned in this article:
Please note that this is not a collection from FamilySearch.org, but is found through MyHeritage.com. If you do not have a subscription to MyHeritage, you may want to go to your closest Family History Center where you will be able to access the institutional version of MyHeritage at no cost.
I wish you well in your continued research and hope that this information will be helpful to you.
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Answers
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Thank you - I've been looking for this for ages, thinking I was going crazy or somehow searching in the wrong way / for the worng thing. - I just don't want to be one of the idiots who follows hints down a rabbit hole of unconnected relations!
I think I have found a possible marriage for his parents - or at least it's the only marriage which makes sense in the area, but I'll keep on it and see where I get to. Doing this for too long makes your brain ache, even when the very obvious answers are staring you in the face - i.e. there perhaps isn't a certificate!
Thank you for bothering to take the time to advise, it's put my mind at ease. 😉
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