Informant on Birth Certificate

[icrookham]

Hello All

A general query.

My grandmother was born illegitimately in 1907 and I believe her mother may only have been 16 at the time.The informant on the birth certificate was not the mother but another person living at the address where my grandmother was born and no relation at all.

Question is was there any age requirement at the time to make a registration in person (e.g.over 18)or was it just a requirement on the mother to make arrangements for the birth to be registered?Interestingly it took a few days under 6wks to register the birth.

Thanks

Ian

[Jan1954]

Hello Ian,

As far as I am aware, it would have been preferred for the mother to register the birth in the first instance and there is an order of people after that. See here:
http://www.
dixons.clara.co.uk/Certificates/births.htm

However, I am sure that I have read somewhere that, as long as the person registering the event could understand the procedure, there was no minimum age.

This question came up on Brit-Gen a couple of years ago with relation to registering a death. I know as I mentioned that my several great grandfather's death was registered by his grandson, who was quite young.

I will see if I can find the thread.

[Peter Goodey]

another person living at the address where my grandmother was born

That's a bit cryptic! As Jan says, it's perfectly in order for the informant to be a person present at the birth or the owner or occupier of the house or institution or the person in charge of the child.

The certificate ought to state the informant's qualification (ie a bit more than just 'living at the address').

A more definitive answer depends on knowing circumstances that you haven't told us - eg born in an institution, brought up in care etc

[icrookham]

Hello Peter

Therein lies the rub!The person named as the informant was present at the birth but in what capacity I do not know other than she was also resident at the address.Her name was Ellen Martin and the address was 7 Kingsley Rd,Poulton cum Seacombe.As I mentioned above my grandmother was born illegitimately to an Annie Ellen Griffiths who is shown on the birth certificate to be a domestic servant.I've managed to get information from Wirral Archives that the occupiers were Alfred Martin in 1906,Alice Martin in 1907(the year of my grandmother's birth) and Alice Martin in1908.I can only assume Ellen was something to do with the Martin family at the address as she has the same name but have only been able to find one family with that mix of names in either the 1901 or 1911 census in the area.Unfortunately they had lived at the same address or within the same road in Birkenhead for a number of years so almost certainly not the right Martins.I have also considered that Annie Ellen was a domestic in the household but having seen what the houses look like in Kingsley Rd find this unlikely.

Ian