My mother was born 100 years ago. She always said that she was born in Dungiven. Her birth certificate indicates Ballykelly. Could she have been born in Dungiven but the certificate show only the place of registration? Or would she have been wrong about her place of birth?
Bella:
Can you provide your mother's name and her date of birth so we can review the record or possibly attach the record? Thanks!
Roger McDonnell
Information on a birth certificate 100 years ago was taken entirely on trust. The informant gave the information and then signed in front of the Registrar. So yes they could lie or make a mistake. But if the birth was in Dungiven you would expect it to be registered there, not in Ballykelly, a separate registration sub-district. Clearly the informant told the Registrar that the birth took place in Ballykelly.
The birth certificate should contain the townland/street in the Ballykelly area where the birth took place. Have you checked the Valuation Revision records (on the PRONI website) to see if the family were living there at that time? If they were then you might think the birth took place there, rather than in Dungiven. Where was the child baptised? Dungiven or Ballykelly? That might be a clue too.
Pregnant women sometimes went “home” to their parents to give birth, especially for their first child. So you sometimes get births away from where the mother lived, but in that case the mother’s normal address was usually noted on the birth certificate, as well as the address where the birth took place. If the only address shown is the birth address then that’s normally where the parents lived.