Unnamed Children

[GeorgeBush]

I was searching the GRO index for the birth of twins recently and found them - perhaps - in Quarter 2, 1840, which fits with other information. However, the children were registered simply as 'male' and 'female'. Does anyone know if there was any requirement for re-registration once the children had been given names?
Regards
George Bush (no relation whatsoever!!)

[Peter Goodey]

It would be wise to check the death indexes for corresponding names in the same or subsequent quarter.

They were supposed to register all births but the rate of evasion was relatively high in the early years.

If there's no sign of intervening deaths, you might actually get on better checking parish registers.

[Terry Waters-Marsh]

I have three ancestors who were all registered without names and their names added in column 10 of the birth certificate later. All were children of serving army personnel so their certificates are slightly different than the usual birth certificate in that the entry comes from a Service Department Register rather than a Register of Births in a District. Whereas the usual birth certificate heads column 10 with "Name entered after registration", these certificates head column 10 with "Baptismal Name if added after Registration of Birth". That would suggest your best hope is to find the baptismal record to confirm the forenames of the children.

[GeorgeBush]

Since I have never seen anything in column 10, I'm afraid I had completely forgotten it existed. So before I trundle off to London to go through the several possible sets of baptismal records, I think I will ask the GRO for their comments, as column 10 certainly implies a mechanism exists for adding names at a later date.

[Peter Goodey]

"...judging from my own look-ups it seems that there was a mini-explosion of new churches in about the 1820s"

Google for "million act churches" for more.