Exploring Manx Records: The BMD Registers And Their Uses
Within the realms of planning family history and genealogy, the importance of being able to search the birth, marriage and death registers for information about people you are researching in the past is a very important thing. For one thing, they offer an incredibly personal insight into the lives of your immediate family. In some cases, they can throw up more questions than they answer, but that is all part of the fun of researching a family tree and getting to know your roots!
What you will find on a BMD certificate
You may have found your ancestor in the BMD records online at Manx BMD and you’re ready to order their certificate. What information can you expect to find on it and how can it help you?
Birth certificate
This will contain the following:
- Year and Birth registration district
- The number of the entry
- When and where the person was born. If a twin, the time will usually be given here
- The names of the person born (modern certificates will include the surname)
- Gender
- Name and surname of the father
- Name and surname of the mother
- Occupation of the father
- Name, description and address of the person registering the birth
- The date the birth was registered
- The signature of the registrar
- Registered name, if registered after the birth (this column is usually empty
When the birth is added to the index, it is the year of registration and place of registration which is included, not the year and place of birth. Someone who was born in December, may not have been registered until January the following year.
Marriage certificate
This will contain the following:
- Year and where the marriage took place - eg those which take place in a Registry Office will say "Marriage solemnized at the Regisrar's Office in the Town and District of XXXX in the Isle of Man. A church marriage would say "Marriage solemnized at XXXX in the Town and District of XXX in the Isle of Man.
- The number of the entry
- Name and surname of each party
- Age of each party
- Condition of each party (that is bachelor, spinster, marriage formerly dissolved)
- Rank or profession of each party
- Residence at the time of the marriage of each party
- Father's name and surname (again for each party)
- Occupation of the father of each party
Marriages which take place in a registry office or non-Church of England place of worship are referred to as Dissenter marriages. Knowing this can be important when looking for a marriage entry. Marriages which take place in a Church of England will have the following sentence at the bottom of the certificate: "Married in the Parish Church according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Established Church" and then the name of the vicar. Those which take place in a "Dissenter" might have the following: "Married in the [Name of Church] according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Catholic Church" or "... Rites and Ceremonies of the Methodists..."
Death certificate
This will contain the following:
- The year and registration district of the death
- The number of the entry
- When and where the person died
- The person’s full name at the time they died (modern certificate will include the maiden surname of a woman)
- Gender
- Age at death
- Occupation
- Cause of death
- Signature, description and address of the person registering the death
- When the death was registered
- Signature of the registrar