Genealogy Chat

The thing is, Terence has actual copies of the 2 birth certificates & there doesn’t seem to be a death 1926-1928 to account for an Anthony Smith b Jun 1926.
It’s really weird.

my mum said she was born a year earlier than her actual birth

i only found out when talking to my elder sister when mum died in 1980

It was only when my late father-in-law died that we discovered he had been born two weeks earlier than he'd always said.

Have you managed to find the family on the 1939 Register? Although some of the entries would be Closed, it might be possible to have a count up and 'assume' how many of the children were living at home. (7 born 1917-1939. Deaths not checked)

Violet D (1919) would have been too young to have born a child which could have been brought up as a sibling - Did James or Rose have any close relatives where they may have assumed parentage to cover up an illegitimate birth?

Are you in contact with any cousins from your father's older siblings? They might have been old enough to remember and pass on stories about a new arrival.

Thanks for quick response DetEcTive, yes I am sure of my fathers birthday, well he always celebrated his birthday on 3 June.
I have copies of both of these certificates from GRO.
My father passed away in 1991 and I never heard him mention Anthony Thomas or a Thomas at all.
Unfortunately with the Smith surname it is so difficult to try and follow up to try and find other verifiable records for Anthony Thomas i.e. Marriage, census, death records.

It does happen when the first child dies, not that there's an obvious death. Are you sure of your father's date of birth? Did he mention a brother Thomas?
Don't worry about the Registrars name - s/he obviously still had the same job!

While researching my family history I downloaded my late fathers birth certificate, details below,

Cert. 4A 988

Name: Anthony Smith
D.O.B. 03 June 1926
Address: 31 Brennan Road, Chadwell St. Mary, Tilbury, UD.
Father: James Peter Smith, occupation Cook (Merchant Service)
Mother: Rose Violet Smith (Nee Turnage)

I have subsequently found another different birth certificate for Anthony Thomas Smith,

Cert. 4A 969

The details on the second certificate are the same as on my fathers, the address, father and mothers are identical. The only difference is the date of birth, 26 March 1928 and the father, James Peter Smith's occupation is shown as "General Labourer" even the name of the Registrar is the same!

Has anyone come across a situation like this before, where the parents appear to have given almost identical names to two of their children who were born less than two years apart!, and can anyone offer a reason?

My late father often talked about his other brothers and sister but I have never heard of "Anthony Thomas Smith" before.