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Birth, Marriage, Death at Sea
Notice to Captains | Offsite Links
contributed by Harry Dodsworth, May 01 2000
The Board of Trade (BoT) records (Public Record Office groups BT158, BT159, BT160) which cover births, deaths and a few marriages on British registered ships from 1854 to 1890 are available from the LDS on four films 1419469, 1419470, 1419471, 1419472. These are not well organised, or usefully indexed and an event may be recorded on any one of the four reels.
 However these are real registers (sometimes with gossippy comments) which make for interesting reading. 
 Later BoT BMD records in group BT334 (1890 to 1972) don't appear to have been filmed by the LDS.
These Board of Trade records were supposed to be passed to the Registrar to be used in a GRO (General Register Office) series. Sometimes this was not done, and sometimes entries were made directly to the GRO so are absent from the BoT registers. Also the GRO series started earlier.
GRO Births at sea from 1837 to 1965 are available on 56 microfiche; however these are only indexes which contain names, dates and in some years, ship names. LDS Fiche numbers 6137268 - 6137322 The LDS Family Search Library Catalog will identify which fiche relates to which year.
GRO Deaths at sea from 1837 to 1965 are on 160 microfiche, again these are only indexes. LDS Fiche numbers 6137189 to 6137266. The LDS Family Search Library Catalog will identify which fiche or fiches relate to which year.
 Observant readers may wonder what happened to microfiche 6137267. This is listed separately as: 
 Index to informal certificate of births at sea (1-41) 1839 - 1867 
 Marriages at sea were really rather rare and the GRO doesn't havea separate series. There is an RG34 series of miscellaneous foreignmarriages for British nationals and at the end of the places named,the list adds - and at sea. I've no idea how many 'at sea' marriagesare on the film. LDS have filmed these:
volume 1, 1826-1870 film number 1818071
 volume 2, 1871-1895 1818072
 volume 3, 1896-1900 1818073
 volume 4, 1900-1905 1818074 
 Apparently BoT were passing marriage entries to the GRO but GRO were not processing these and were actually denying they had them! (source: mariners list) 
The LDS catalog lists many other record groups which may contain a few BMD at sea events but the above seem the most likely. Note that these records generally refer to events on British registered ships whether the people are British or not. Also the ships need not have been trading between British (Empire) ports; so a birth on a Cunarder sailing from Triesteto New York may be recorded. 
 I'd like to thank Debbie Beavis of the Mariners List for supplyingthe information about record groups but the connection to LDS numbersis my work, so please blame me if the film or fiche numbers are wrong. 
LDS Film Numbers
extracted from the First Annual Report of the Registrar General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in England, published 1839
Notice to all Captains and Commanding Officers of British Vessels 
 respecting Registry of Birth and Deaths at Sea. [circa 1837]
The Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in England, hereby directs the attention of all Captains or Commanding Officers of British Vessels to the following Provisions of the Act of the 6th and 7th of William IV. cap. 86, entitled ' An Act for Registering Births, Deaths, and Marriages in England. ' namely :—
 In the 21st Section it is enacted, ' That if any Child of an English Parent shall be born at Sea, on board a British Vessel, the Captain or Commanding Officer of the Vessel on board of which the said Child shall have been born shall forthwith make a Minute of the several Particulars herein-before required to be inserted in the Register touching the Birth of such Child, so far as the same may be known, and the name of the Vessel wherein the Birth took place, and shall, on the arrival of the Vessel in any Port of the United Kingdom, or by any other sooner opportunity, send a Certificate of the said Minute, through the Post-Office, to the Registrar-General. '
 The following are the Schedules containing the particulars required to be inserted in the Register, so far as the same may be known :—
183
When
 BornName
 if any.SexName and
 Surname
 of FatherName and
 Maiden
 Surname of
 MotherRank or
 Profession
 of FatherSignature,
 Description,
 and Residence
 of Infomant.When
 Regis-
 teredSignature
of
Registrar *
Baptismal Name, 
 if added after Registration 
 of Birth.
* Instead of the Registrar, let the Captain or Commanding Officer here sign his name
183
When
 DiedName and
 SurnameSexAgeRank or
ProfessionCause
 of DeathSignature,
Description,
and Residence
of Infomant.When
 RegisteredSignature
of
Registrar *
* Instead of the Registrar, let the Captain or Commanding Officer here sign his name
The word ' English ' includes only Natives of England and Wales. The word ' British ' includes Vessels belonging to all parts of the British Empire.
 The Minute may be made in the Ships's Log, and the Certificate of the Minute shall be a true copy of it, with the following words, or others to the like effect, subscribed :—
 ' I hereby Certify that this is a true copy of the Minute made in the Log of on the day of 18 . 
Witness my hand this day of 18 . 
(Signed)
Captain (or Commanding Officer) of 
[Here state the name of the Vessel]
Such Certificate to be sent through the Post-Office, directed—
To the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages,
General-Register Office, 
 London. ' 
State has unclaimed property programs that actively and continuously find owners of lost and forgotten assets. Conduct a free online search Report unclaimed property.
Offsite Links:some commercial
These records have subsequently disappeared in Germany, and there has been a search for them the past two years in the belief they would shed light on how much non-monetary gold (e.g., dental gold) was melted down and mixed with the monetary gold (i.e., central bank gold) and thus indicate how much restitution still should be made to victims of.
The Choate Family Bible has found its way back to the Wyoming, New York Presbyterian Church. I am posting the following information in order to benefit others who may be looking for this information. This Choate Family Bible is dated 1832. The Bible contains birth, marriage and death records for the following; Maxa Choate; b.
While France and Germany relied on their records to return property and make some form of reparations for businesses lost and assets seized over the course of decades, other countries proved more.
Central Command in Iraq (Centcom), which had overall authority, also lost records, according to reports and other documents obtained by ProPublica under the Freedom of Information Act.

Births, Marriages and Deaths at Sea (the National Archives, Kew)
Marine births and deaths (findmypast.com)
Index of Marriages at Sea in the Public Record Office 1854 to 1972 (onsite)
TheShipsList | 
TheShipsList®™ - (Swiggum) All Rights Reserved - Copyright © 1997-2019
 These pages may be freely linked to but not duplicated in any fashion without written consent of .
Last updated: June 05, 2007 and maintained byand M. Kohli
Please note that the procedure differs significantly depending on whether you were born in a US Military Hospital or off a military Base.
How to obtain a birth certificate from Germany (if born off a US Military Base)
Every childbirth off a foreign military base (e.g. in a civilian hospital) in Germany will be registered with the local registrar's office. If this applies to you and you wish to receive a birth certificate from the Federal Republic of Germany, you will have to get in touch directly with the competent registrar's office ('Standesamt') at your place of birth. Your letter should be addressed to the 'Standesamt' of the place (Village, Town, City) where you were born.
The German phrase for asking for an international birth certificate is:
'Ich bitte um Ausstellung einer internationalen Geburtsurkunde für ... (first name/middle name/last name), geboren am ... (date of birth) in ... (place of birth). Eltern: ... (name of father) und ... (maiden name of mother).'

Please do not indicate the month of your date of birth with a number but in letters since it might otherwise lead to a mix-up (e.g. the date 10/12/56 in Germany means December 10, 1956). Information on the fee will be sent to you with the certificate.
Please do not forget to mention your name and address.
This same procedure also applies for death certificates (Sterbeurkunde) and marriage certificates (Heiratsurkunde).
Lost And Found Records Germany 1945Unfortunately, the German missions in the United States cannot issue birth certificates.

How to obtain a birth certificate from Germany (if born on a US Military Base)

If you are a US citizen and if you were born in a US Military Hospital, your birth was not registered with German authorities (i.e. the registrar's office). This means that German authorities cannot issue a German birth certificate to you at all but you need to contact the Department of State in order to apply for a Replacement Report of Birth Abroad. For more information please follow the links below:
Consular Information of the US Embassy in Germany
Department of State - How to Replace or Amend a Consular Report of Birth Abroad
Lost And Found Records Germany 1930

Births, Marriages and Deaths at Sea (the National Archives, Kew)
Marine births and deaths (findmypast.com)
Index of Marriages at Sea in the Public Record Office 1854 to 1972 (onsite)
TheShipsList | 
TheShipsList®™ - (Swiggum) All Rights Reserved - Copyright © 1997-2019
 These pages may be freely linked to but not duplicated in any fashion without written consent of .
Last updated: June 05, 2007 and maintained byand M. Kohli
Please note that the procedure differs significantly depending on whether you were born in a US Military Hospital or off a military Base.
How to obtain a birth certificate from Germany (if born off a US Military Base)
Every childbirth off a foreign military base (e.g. in a civilian hospital) in Germany will be registered with the local registrar's office. If this applies to you and you wish to receive a birth certificate from the Federal Republic of Germany, you will have to get in touch directly with the competent registrar's office ('Standesamt') at your place of birth. Your letter should be addressed to the 'Standesamt' of the place (Village, Town, City) where you were born.
The German phrase for asking for an international birth certificate is:
'Ich bitte um Ausstellung einer internationalen Geburtsurkunde für ... (first name/middle name/last name), geboren am ... (date of birth) in ... (place of birth). Eltern: ... (name of father) und ... (maiden name of mother).'
Please do not indicate the month of your date of birth with a number but in letters since it might otherwise lead to a mix-up (e.g. the date 10/12/56 in Germany means December 10, 1956). Information on the fee will be sent to you with the certificate.
Please do not forget to mention your name and address.
This same procedure also applies for death certificates (Sterbeurkunde) and marriage certificates (Heiratsurkunde).
Lost And Found Records Germany 1945Unfortunately, the German missions in the United States cannot issue birth certificates.

How to obtain a birth certificate from Germany (if born on a US Military Base)
If you are a US citizen and if you were born in a US Military Hospital, your birth was not registered with German authorities (i.e. the registrar's office). This means that German authorities cannot issue a German birth certificate to you at all but you need to contact the Department of State in order to apply for a Replacement Report of Birth Abroad. For more information please follow the links below:
Consular Information of the US Embassy in Germany
Department of State - How to Replace or Amend a Consular Report of Birth Abroad
Lost And Found Records Germany 1930
Lost And Found Records Germany State