Late Birth Registration

[AnnB]

I know that many children were not registered in the early days of registration, that later on some were not registered until more that a year after their birth (providing evidence could be given on the true date of their birth) however, what about someone being registered 7 years after their day of birth :confused:

I am doing a little bit of delving for a friend and he has furnished me with a copy of a birth certificate for one of his aunts. The certificate states in the 'where and when' column, that she was born on the fifteenth March 1927. In the 'when registered' column it states 'Fifth December 1934, on the Authority of the Registrar General'.

Knowing she was one of about 6 children, I have checked the GRO Index and discovered that three of her siblings were registered in the same quarter as her (and, no, they weren't quads ;) ) I haven't got copies of the other certs, but wouldn't mind betting that they were all late registrations, as I know at least one of them was born before 1830.

I would have just let this go, but curiosity has got the better of me, so can anyone explain or offer a suggestion? The birth and subsequent registration both took place in Smethwick, Staffs.

Best wishes
Ann

[Mythology]

Birth registration is like anything else, Ann - the fact that a law exists does not mean that everyone complies with it.

There are a fair number of these - usually, on the GRO index pages, you find a handwritten note at the bottom of the page where it would have been if they'd registered it at the time. on the lines of "See Sep 19-whenever", directing you to the year and quarter when it was actually registered.

A friend has one rellie born Grantham 1906 and baptised in the RC Church there, but her birth was not registered until she did it herself in the late 1940s - from what we know of her life, we guess that she discovered that she didn't have a birth cert when she needed to apply for a passport.

My friend enquired at the counter at the FRC as to whether she should put 1906 or 19 forty-whenever on the application (the answer is the latter, of course) and the girl there remarked that her own birth hadn't been registered until she was about twenty - there's a lot of it about!

[AnnB]

Thanks Myth, simple ain't it :)

I am being drip-fed information about this particular family, so am beginning to wish I hadn't been so keen to help. I shan't be following up the Thomas side from Monmouthshire :cool:

Best wishes
Ann

[Guy Etchells]

Birth registration is like anything else, Ann - the fact that a law exists does not mean that everyone complies with it.

There are a fair number of these - usually, on the GRO index pages, you find a handwritten note at the bottom of the page where it would have been if they'd registered it at the time. on the lines of "See Sep 19-whenever", directing you to the year and quarter when it was actually registered.

A friend has one rellie born Grantham 1906 and baptised in the RC Church there, but her birth was not registered until she did it herself in the late 1940s - from what we know of her life, we guess that she discovered that she didn't have a birth cert when she needed to apply for a passport.

My friend enquired at the counter at the FRC as to whether she should put 1906 or 19 forty-whenever on the application (the answer is the latter, of course) and the girl there remarked that her own birth hadn't been registered until she was about twenty - there's a lot of it about!


I wonder how she managed to get her birth registered as it would need the consent of the Registrar General and he would require proof. Perhaps her baptism certificate was enough to satify him.

1836 Act.
XXII. And be it enacted, That after the Expiration of Forty-two Days following the Day of the Birth of any Child it shall not be lawful for any Registrar to register such Birth, save as herein-after is next mentioned ; provided that, in case the Birth of any Child shall not have been registered according to the Provisions herein-before contained, it shall be lawful for any person present at the Birth of such Child, or for the Father or Guardian thereof, at any Time within Six Calendar Months next after the Birth, to make a solemn Declaration of the Particulars required to be known touching the Birth of such Child, according to the best of his or her Knowledge and Belief, and it thereupon be lawful for the said Registrar then and ths - from what we know of her life, we guess that she discovered that she didn't have a birth cert when she needed to apply for a passport.

My friend enquired at the counter at the FRC as to whether she should put 1906 or 19 forty-whenever on the application (the answer is the latter, of course) and the girl there remarked that her own birth hadn't been registered until she was about twenty - there's a lot of it about![/QUOTE]


I wonder how she managed to get her birth registered as it would need the consent of the Registrar General and he would require proof. Perhaps her baptism certificate was enough to satify him.

1836 Act.
XXII. And be it enacted, That after the Expiration of Forty-two Days following the Day of the Birth of any Child it shall not be lawful for any Registrar to register such Birth, save as herein-after is next mentioned ; provided that, in case the Birth of any Child shall not have been registered according to the Provisions herein-before contained, it shall be lawful for any person present at the Birth of such Child, or for the Father or Guardian thereof, at any Time within Six Calendar Months next after the Birth, to make a solemn Declaration of the Particulars required to be known touching the Birth of such Child, according to the best of his or her Knowledge and Belief, and it thereupon be lawful for the said Registrar then and there, in the Presence of the Superintendent Registrar, to register the Birth of the said Child according to the Information of the Person making the said Declaration ; and in every such Case the Superintendent Registrar before whom the said Declaration is made shall sign the Entry of Birth as well as the registrar, and for every such Registry as last aforesaid the Superintendent Registrar shall be entitled to have a Fee of Two Shillings and Sixpence from the Person requiring the same to be registered ; and the Registrar, over and above the Fee herein-after enacted in respect of every birth registered by him, shall be entitled, unless the Delay shall have been occasioned by his Default, to have a Fee of Five Shillings from the person requiring the same to be registered ; and no Register of Births shall be given in Evidence to prove the Birth of any Child wherein it shall appear that Forty-two Days have intervened between the Day of the Birth and the Day of the Registration of the Birth of such Child, unless the Entry shall be signed by the Superintendent Registrar ; and every person who shall knowingly register or cause to be registered the Birth of any Child, otherwise than herein-before is last mentioned, after the Expiration of Forty-two Days following the Day of Birth of such Child, shall forfeit and pay for every such Offence a Sum not exceeding Fifty Pounds.

XXIII. And be it enacted, That aere, in the Presence of the Superintendent Registrar, to register the Birth of the said Child according to the Information of the Person making the said Declaration ; and in every such Case the Superintendent Registrar before whom the said Declaration is made shall sign the Entry of Birth as well as the registrar, and for every such Registry as last aforesaid the Superintendent Registrar shall be entitled to have a Fee of Two Shillings and Sixpence from the Person requiring the same to be registered ; and the Registrar, over and above the Fee herein-after enacted in respect of every birth registered by him, shall be entitled, unless the Delay shall have been occasioned by his Default, to have a Fee of Five Shillings from the person requiring the same to be registered ; and no Register of Births shall be given in Evidence to prove the Birth of any Child wherein it shall appear that Forty-two Days have intervened between the Day of the Birth and the Day of the Registration of the Birth of such Child, unless the Entry shall be signed by the Superintendent Registrar ; and every person who shall knowingly register or cause to be registered the Birth of any Child, otherwise than herein-before is last mentioned, after the Expiration of Forty-two Days following the Day of Birth of such Child, shall forfeit and pay for every such Offence a Sum not exceeding Fifty Pounds.

XXIII. And be it enacted, That after the Expiration of Six Calendar Months following the Birth of any Child it shall not be lawful for any Registrar to register the Birth of such Child, and no Register of Births, except in the Case of Children born at Sea, shall be given in Evidence to prove the Birth of any Child wherein it shall appear that Six Calendar Months have intervened between the Day of the Birth and the Day of the Registration of the Birth of such Child ; and every Person who shall knowingly register or cause to be registered the Birth of any Child after the Expiration of Six Calendar Months following the Day of the Birth of such Child shall forfeit and pay for every such Offence a Sum not exceeding Fifty Pounds.

[Mythology]

"Perhaps her baptism certificate was enough to satify him."

Only guessing, Guy - obviously, as this one isn't mine, I don't have the cert in front of me to see what it actually says, but I'd reckon you're probably right. I know that my friend didn't have any trouble finding the 1906 RC baptism record in Grantham, so I suppose that Rosina in 19 forty-whatever wouldn't have had too much trouble getting hold of a copy of the entry with some sort of accompanying official verification letter from the church.