| Description | Following the introduction of more systematic methods of recording births and burials in 1776, via the use of standardised printed books of birth and burial notes, an authorised member of the Monthly Meeting issued two copies of the birth note to be completed and signed by the parents and sent to the Monthly Meeting. Once receipt of the birth note had been acknowledged by the Monthly Meeting, one copy was returned to the parents and the other was recorded in a register of births and sent on to the Quarterly Meeting and registered there. Once registered by the Quarterly Meeting, the birth note was sent back to the Monthly Meeting where it was matched up with the stub in the book of birth notes from which it had been issued and pasted in. These ceased being used in 1959.
The birth notes from 1776 onwards contain the date of birth, the place of birth (locality, parish and county), the names of the parents (often including the occupation of the father), the name of the child and the names of the witnesses (see SF/2/1/1/9/1/1). The register entries include the same information but were also recorded as a true copy and were signed by the registrar of the meeting (SF/2/1/1/9/1/2). See SF/1/7 for digest copies of registers of births. |