Times on Birth Certificates - a Warning
I remember when I first started looking at Birth Certificates being told that a time of birth on a certificate indicated that it was a multiple birth. The other day I had another look at my great grandfather's birth certificate and noticed that it has a time on it.
As you can see John YOUNG was born at 3am on 16th June 1856 at Hawkenbury, Frant. His parents were Henry and Catherine YOUNG. On FreeBMD, I looked at the GRO index for Kent in that quarter.
There was another birth in the same registration District (Ticehurst) for a Sarah. As it appeared to have the same page reference, it looked promising. I would always expect multiple births to be registered on the same or consecutive pages. I sent for the certificate.
Sarah YOUNG had different parents (Joseph and Jane) and was born two days previously. Looking closer at the certificates, I noticed that they were registered on the same day, 30th June, and by the same registrar, Robert HOOKER. However, they are not consecutive in the book; John is number 58 and Sarah 60. I have been told that times of birth are also noted around significant dates - to determine the first baby born in the New Year for example, but I have not heard of it being routine which is something Robert HOOKER apparently did in Ticehurst in 1856. So beware, times of birth do not always indicate that there is a multiple birth.
