Is it possible that the GRO index has errors?!

[Woodsy]

Hi all,

I have a newbie question!

I'm trying to research my great-grandfather George James Woods who married a Julia Finn. They had a child in 1905 so I assuming they must have been married at the time.
I've used FreeBMD to search for their marriage between 1890 and 1905 and the only possible entry that shows up is for a George John Woods who married a Julia Finn in June 1902 in Croydon (where the child was born)
Could this be what I'm looking for or just a coincidence a man with a different middle name married someone else called Julia Finn?!
I am quite willing to order the marriage certificate but I'm not going to be able to verify anything by looking at it am I?
Would I have to do further research from this certificate (such as death certs) to try and verify it?
Thanks in advance for any advice!!
cheers,

Woodsy

 

[juliejtp]

Hi Woodsie,

The GRO do make mistakes like missing names off the indexes. I have a couple of mistakes on 2 marriage certificates which is probaly due to transition from the register to the marriage certificate. I would have thought that a name like Julie Finn is uncommon so it could be a mistake or a coinicidence as you said. As you say you searched the free bmd was this 99% complete? perhaps a search of the full bmd? What about any of your gt. grandfathers children one of their certificates marriage or birth should show the same father. Have you tried searching the census?

 

[juliejtp]

PS perhaps a search of the parish register may throw some light on this.

 

[juliejtp]

Found on the 1881 census a Julia Finn born abt 1880 father Christopher occ gas stoker is this the same name as the marriage certificate. Found a George J Woods born abt 1880 on the 1881 census father George occ gas stoker mothers name Esther.

 

[Woodsy]

Wow! Thanks juliejtp!

My great-grandfathers siblings birth certificates have George Woods named (for my grandfathers) and George James Woods named (for his sister) Marriage cert for my grandfather also shows up George James.

Thanks for looking them up on the census. I found a couple of George Woods on the 1901 census but didn't know if they were him or not.
I heard from my mother that Julia Finn was almost born on the boat from Ireland but this could mean she was born in Ireland, born on the boat or born in England!
Its interesting that you found a George J Woods who's mother is called Esther.
On my grandfather's sister's birth certificate, the name of the informant is stated as E Woods - Grandmother, so this ties in! I guess I need to look at the 1891 census as well as the 1901 census again.

I really appreciate this...I can see now how you need the different documents to verify each other. I've just clicked that a census entry can verfiy a marriage cert by using the fathers name.

Thanks again juliejtp!

 

[Jackia]

Hello

It is possible I have come across this whilst searching,also people not spelling surnames correctly which occurs in census returns quite often (well it has to me).
It all adds to the interest, you certainly need to have a little bit detective in you.

 

[Woodsy]

Thanks Jackia. I'll have to have my wits about me a tad more than usual!

Juliejtp, Thanks to you posting those census details I've managed to confirm the Julia Finn you found is indeed my great-grandmother. I already knew the family were originally from Ireland and she was the first Finn to be born in this country. From the census details I've discovered her older sister (by a year) was born in Ireland and she was born in Croydon, England. In addition her older sister was on somebody elses family tree so you've help me discover some distant relatives!! As a newbie I can't tell how much this means!!
I am still not sure about the marriage but I have ordered the certificate and I will see if the ages, addresses and fathers names tie up!

Thanks you so much Juliejtp!!!