registration of birth by underage mums 1960

[Nicky73]

I’m trying to understand how, exactly, the birth registration process worked in the 1960s and what paperwork the mother would have had to bring to the registry office. And if she was underage and unmarried, would she have been able to register the birth herself or did her father have to do it? If she gave birth in a mother and baby home, would they have registered the birth for her?

Someone’s mentioned a ‘card’ that the doctor gave them (tho what exactly that 'card' was I didn't quite understand), somewhere else I read that the doctor or midwife passed information on to the registrar who then crossed the registering mum off the list when she appeared at the RO.

This is an amazing fount of information so would appreciate any thoughts I could look into further!!

[Peter Goodey]

Get a copy of the birth certificate. Column 7 will name the informant(s).

The mother has always been the preferred informant. The father would also have to turn up if his name was to be recorded as the father. I think by the 1960s the father could alternatively sign a statutory declaration.

Even today, I think all you have to take are your own identification documents.

Also see this information about birth certificates -

https://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/births.htm

[Nicky73]

Hi Peter,
thanks so much. I have a copy of Barbara Dixon's book, which is very useful, I was just trying to get a handle on the actual process of registering an illegitimate baby, in this case how much the mother's parents/father could take over proceedings for their daughter's illegitimate baby.
Thanks again!
Nicky

[Peter Goodey]

The government site says:

Other people who can register a birth

If the parents can’t register the birth (eg for medical reasons), certain other people can do it:

someone who was present at the birth
someone who is responsible for the child
a member of the administrative staff at the hospital where the child was born

I don't think that was any different in the 1960s.

[Megan Roberts]

If there is a specific birth registration that you are interested in then it is worth getting the certificate.

I have a birth certificate from 1837 which was registered by an employee of the father who was dying:

[twigger]

It's worth considering that an illegitimate child of an elder child could be registered to the grandparents if not born at the hospital. Although by the 1960s this practice should be rarer than beforehand due to advancements in the care of pregnant women. If the lists you describe do exist they are unlikely to ever be published under patient confidentiality laws.

[Kiltpin]

There is something else that must be considered. If the girl had an illegitimate child before the age of 16 (or shortly thereafter), then the child must have been conceived 9 months before the 16th birthday, at least. By law the girl cannot give consent, so a statutory rape had been committed.

The girl and her parents, might be too wound up in the birth to think straight, but the Registrar would not be. By law we are all required to report a crime. The Registrar would have done their duty and the police would have been informed. A file would have been raised. There is no statute of limitations for sex crimes in this country and we have seen many high profile cases in the last few years have resulted from historical allegations. A simple DNA test of the accused and the child will either prove a relationship, or not. But they were, of course, not available then.

"The sins of the fathers", coming back to haunt us.

Regards

Kiltpin