re Registration certs.....

[ASGROOMBRIDGE]

Good morning everyone,

This is going to sound like a very silly question
When you look at a cert of Birth Deaths and Marriages is the signature on the cert done by the person say registering the birth did Hugh McGowan registering the birth of son Andrew McGowan born 9.4.1884 sign the registration and is that his handwriting.

regards,
Audrey

[JustJean]

Hi Audrey

No question is ever silly around here....we can be at times....but never the questions !

Now for my stab at an answer....I believe the signature of the informant is actually their penmanship on Birth and Death registrations. Whether it be their X or their name. All other writing was done by the registrar. On a Marriage it's different. The certificate that we see recorded by the registrar is all in his handwriting which has been copied from a written record made at the actual time of marriage. Which I might add does have original signatures or X marks on it but cannot be viewed but does still exist in a deep dark and dusty room somewhere known only to a select few employees at NRH

Does that help or hinder?

Best wishes
Jean

[AndrewP]

Hi Audrey,

On a birth or death certificate, that should be the original signature of the person registering the event.

For a marriage, the bride's and groom's signatures are on the marriage schedule (the document signed at the marriage ceremony). When that document is taken to the registrar, he copies the information into the register (the marriage certificate) and he writes the two signatures and writes "signed" by them to show that he has seen the schedule signed by the couple, the minister (or priest etc.) and their witnesses. "signed" is also written by the minister and witnesses names.

For any of the above if the person signing could not sign their name, their x-mark is made, and that is countersigned by one or two witnesses.

All the best,

Andrew Paterson

[ASGROOMBRIDGE]

Many thaks Jean,

What it does mean is that I have something of my grandfathers and all the other greats who signed certificates.

Having a copy of my grandfathers signature means a lot as I was never allowed to know anything about him and only found out his first name after my mother passed in 2003.

After all these months of printing up so many certs its great to know that the births and deaths are at least in their own hand.

Thank you so much.

Audrey

[ASGROOMBRIDGE]

Thanks to you as well Andrew,

Its great to know that I have something of the man himself.

Audrey

[joette]

To add to this has anybody noticed resemblances between signatures?
Now I write like my elder sister as we both learned at the same school.
My younger sister could forge my Mothers beautifully & they learned at the same school but what has surprised me is the resemblance between my Fathers & his GGreat-Grandfathers who grew up several miles & almost a hundred years apart.My Father had beautiful penmanship & I used to but I think the Computer & arthritis has robbed me of this.

[ASGROOMBRIDGE]

It really is surprising, I have spent the aftermoon checking all my registrations and my husband thought my grandfathers signature was very similar to mine. Surprising as I never knew him.

Audrey

[WilmaM]

Yes ,
I was looking at the Ulster Covenant signatures on the PRONI web site with my father trying to find his father and uncle - although they were both obviously working away from home as none of the addresses tied in thier signatures were both easily recognsable.
And looked rather similar to my father's and mine before I married

[Montrose Budie]

Everything so far correct, except to note that where a marriage register entry is by means of a Sheriff's Warrant or similar procedure it will have the actual signatures of the couple in 999 out of 1,000 examples.

David

[JustJean]

Ok Montrose Budie.....I'm curious and have a question for you.....why isn't the original signature on the other 1 out of 1000 example from a sheriff's warrant ceremony?.....

Best wishes
Jean