Question on Section 9.48, Original Certificates

By History-Hunter on Tue, 12/08/2020 - 13:04

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I have several physical certificates that I received from the GRO many years ago. I recently purchased the updated EE book, 3rd edition, revised (kindle), 2017. I then reviewed the 2-3 forum posts on citing GRO certificates.  I noted that the ones referring to citing physical certificates do not resemble the example in section 9.48, p. 474-475. So, I thought I'd best ask if views on the content/structure of such citations had changed since the book was released?

(In addition; I found that none of my GRO certificates show the GRO Index data. But; I have it since I had to provide it to order the certificates. So; I will add it in square brackets.)

If I cite, for example, a marriage certificate (these do not seem to employ sub-districts), is the following still considered adequate? 
 

Source List Entry

England. Registrar General. Marriage Certificates. General Registry Office,  Southport.

First Reference

England, marriage certificate (certified copy) for Thomas Baird Murison and Ruby Louise Wells, married 18 December 1920; [registered December quarter 1920, Thanet District 2a/2756]; General Registry Office, Southport.

Subsequent Reference

England, marriage certificate (certified copy), Thomas Baird Murison and Ruby Louise Wells, [December quarter 1920, Thanet District 2a/2756].

Submitted byEEon Wed, 12/09/2020 - 09:46

History-hunter, yes, citing GRO certificates across time has been a moving target. With each edition of EE, I have gone to colleagues who are recognized experts in use of the British archives, for revisions that might be needed to reflect changes at GRO and other British repositories, as well as the current particulars for acquisition of each type of record. Thus, there have been changes with each edition of EE.

Your proposed citation, above, works fine. However, it will raise one question among users who tend to question every detail. Your use of editorial brackets tells your reader that you have added this data from elsewhere. The reader will wonder where that "elsewhere" is. One approach that would clarify this point would be to add a sentence to the First Reference Note, such as this

England, marriage certificate (certified copy) for Thomas Baird Murison and Ruby Louise Wells, married 18 December 1920; registered December quarter 1920, Thanet District 2a/2756; General Registry Office, Southport. To order the certificate, one must first obtain the quarter and district data from ....

Thank you for your suggestion and explanation. This approach will make my citations a bit more consistent in appearance, as I have some other certificates for which the GRO included a sheet with the relevant reference data. In those cases, a trailing note will not be needed.

(By the way; I should also thank you for the changes in the 3rd edition (kindle), revised, which synchronize the page and image numbering. It makes it much less confusing when communicating relevant passages to others who may be using the physical book. Seeming small things like that are greatly appreciated.)