Unregistered births.

[benny1982]

Hi

I suppose we all have moments where we find an ancestor with an unregistered birth. That is why it is good to look for a baptism of the child to see. I did start a thread about some births after the 1875 fine for non or late registration act but this is for births before that act was enforced.

I have an ancestor whose birth was appearingly not registered and I cannot find a baptism. But I cannot find baptisms for her siblings. Isabella Stokes born about 1852, Terling, Essex daughter of Frederick and Louisa Stokes who wed in 1839. They had children born 1840, 1842, 1845, 1850, 1852, 1855 and 1857.

Somebody reckons she may have been adopted if I cannot find a baptism or birth, but registration was not compulsory until 1875 and baptisms were not mandatory. She was born in a perfect time frame as well. And if I cannot find baptisms of her siblings well there you go.

I have an ancestor born in 1856 but no birth reg but he was baptised in April that year. One of his cousins was born in 1857 but not registered by baptised.

Ben

 

[p.risboy]

I had a rellie, that wasn't baptised until 2 weeks before her wedding, at the age of 21.

Got her birth cert though Ben.

 

[benny1982]

I have a rellie who was baptised aged 20 in 1851 in Prittlewell, Essex. He wed in October 1854.

Dont panic if you cannot find a birth reg esp before 1875 as it was the duty of the registrar to collect new info on births and some were missed.

 

[somerstown]

One of my uncles did not have his birth registered until he was 20yrs. Gran just "forgot" to do it. Could be a problem for some future family historian. :2fun:

 

[benny1982]

And baptisms have never been mandatory either.

 

[Guy]

Such statements are not really accurate.

Dealing with births first.
It has since 1644 been a legal requirement that all births (including time of birth) be registered.


A later Act of Parliament in 1695 required that all children born in a parish but not christened had to be registered within 5 days of birth (A fine of 40 shillings was imposed on parents who omitted to give notice within the five days and a similar penalty was payable by the vicar).

There was also a short period (1695-1670) where a different Act provided for compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths raised money for fighting France.


In 1783 there was an Act that required stamp-duty to be paid “Upon the Entry of any Burial, Marriage, Birth, or Christening, in the Register of any Parish, Precinct, or Place in Great Britain, Stamp-duty of three Pence.”
Turning to the 1836 Acts though the parents could omit to register a birth if they wished. If a registrar asked them for details of the birth of their child it was an offence if they refused to supply the required details.
As registrars were paid by the number of registrations most were very active in registering events.


It is highly likely that if a birth is not registered it is due to a transcription error, being missed off the transcriptions forwarded to the superintendent registrar or to the registrar general.


Yes some births were omitted but most have been registered.


In a similar manner it has been a legal requirement for all CoE baptisms to be registered since1538 with a penalty of 3 guineas levied on those who did not comply.


Many of the laws were ignored but that does not mean they do not exist, just as many people speed today but that does not mean there are not laws to prevent speeding.
Cheers
Guy

 

[benny1982]

Not quite sure if I agree with you Guy on the "if a birth is not in the indexes, it was probably due to a transcription error being missed off the transcriptions forwarded to the superintendent registrar or to the registrar general".

I have come across many fellow genealogists on websites who cannot find a birth pre 1875, and some post 1875.

 

[Robesur]

Can I widen this subject to include deaths. I have two people, both from the same parish in Essex for whom I have found burials but no death registration. These days you cannot bury someone without producing a form issued by the Registrar, how long has that been the case. Was it possible in the early days of registration to bury someone before registration. I have many instances where it was registered on the same day as burial.

 

[benny1982]

Hi Robesur

I have that with an ancestor.

I have an Elizabeth Eade buried 12 December 1864 in Hacheston, Suffolk aged 86. She is on the 1861 census in the village. The burial says she is of Hacheston but for the life of me I cannot find a death reg.

I thought that when civil reg was introduced in 1837 a death cert had to be issued for a burial but I have a few death certs where the death was registered a day or two AFTER the burial.

Ben

 

[Guy]

If you do not believe in the missing transcriptions how do you account for the fact that apparently the GRO fiche, the photocopied registers in the basement at Southport and the LDS microfilms all had a common source (the handwritten FRC indexes) but they contain differences.

The reason being is they were made at different times and during that time difference additions were made to the handwritten indexes.
It seems, according to Mike Foster (who did extensive research on the subject) that there was a handwritten index compiled and used by the FRC in London which formed the master index for the three later indexes.
This index was apparently photocopied for Southport some time, possibly years before microfiche copies were made for the GRO, wear & tear and additions show this to be the case.
The GRO fiche show differences to the LDS microfilm.

Now consider that the fiche and film are over 40 years old and additions have been made since then, it is not surprising that depending on what index is used for one search may return a different result for another.

In addition many errors omissions and indeed losses were made in the coping procedure from the Registers to the Superintendent Registrars to the Registrar General.
Cheers
Guy

 

[Guy]

Can I widen this subject to include deaths. I have two people, both from the same parish in Essex for whom I have found burials but no death registration. These days you cannot bury someone without producing a form issued by the Registrar, how long has that been the case. Was it possible in the early days of registration to bury someone before registration. I have many instances where it was registered on the same day as burial.

As with births the law required that various people had to give the information regarding a death to the registrar if asked by the registrar until 1874.
However in addition any person in charge of burying a body had to complete a certificate to that effect. Which means that deaths should have been registered.

The problem arises that not all people die in a place where they are known by name.
Some are strangers in the parish they die, some are washed up on the beach from sea or a lake or even on the banks of a river and their bodies cannot be identified.
As a result more than a few deaths are not registered under the person's name.

In addition transcription errors and omissions between the local registrar and the Registrar General account for more apparent none registrations.
Cheers
Guy

 

[Jill01]

Hi, I am having the same problem tracing my great grandfather because his birth isn't registered. I have put another thread on the Births forum. Sam Deakin was born in 1854 in Sheffield but I have ordered his birth certificate and the Register Office have told me that his birth wasn't registered. I have looked for his baptism and can't trace anything but I find baptisms difficult to search for because its hard to pinpoint where the baptism would have taken place., I have just searched records for the area where Sam lived from being a teenager onwards where I have traced him through census records but he could have been born elsewhere or baptised at a different time to when he was born. Does anyone find baptisms hard to find?

 

[benny1982]

Some county record offices have transcribed their BMDs. If one cannot be found in the GRO index or local registry office, then I suppose the birth or death could still have been registered but the page with the entry on got lost etc before or during the time the registrars copied them out every 3 months to send to the GRO?

 

[p.risboy]

I have been searching for an Esther Simons birth.

Surname variations:- Symons, Symonds, Simmonds, Symonde, Simones, etc etc.

Christian name variations:-Esthee, Hesther, Ester, Easter, Hester etc etc.

The combinations were endless, as were the p.o.b's.

Found it by purchasing a PR disc, and then the cert.

Written as heard, transcribed as seen, and confusion to us.

Good hunting folks.

Steve.

 

[benny1982]

See Steve there is always hope.

 

[p.risboy]

See Steve there is always hope.

Not surprising that some get 'lost' though Ben. I was lucky to be able to get PR's for the area she was from.

 

[juliejtp]

Also remember that not all births where registered in the district the child was born in.

 

[benny1982]

Also remember that not all births where registered in the district the child was born in.

If that did happen wasn't there a declaration to show this? I think there was some rule if the parents couldn't make it to that district.

 

[juliejtp]

Hi Ben,

Found this regarding birth registering. People always slip through the net as we have found out when searching for our ancestors. The information is only as good as the informant gives.

 

[benny1982]

I find the age on death certs a thing to look out for as it was often guesswork.