Genealogy Chat

Does anyone know if it cost anything to register a birth in the 1870's.
I have found that my ancestors never registered the birth of several
of their children. I wonder if it was because they could not afford to.
They were RC's so I have not found any records to see if they were
baptised. Many thanks Irene

There are some RC baptisms on Ancestry. If you care to post some names we can have a look.

It was not compulsory to register births in England/Wales until 1875. I have several who just didn't bother.

You had to pay for the certificate, but if you were unable to pay, you could have a "short" certificate. This cost 3d (in 1907) and had less information on it.

Thank you for your reply. I think it must be a case of not bothering.
Many thanks for your help. Irene

It was, technically, compulsory to register before 1875, it's just that until that year, no-one was penalised for not doing so

It was compulsory to register births from 1837 to 1875 ......... but it was the duty of the Registrar to find out about new births, and for him to visit the house to do that



so many many births were missed out



After 1875, the onus for registering was put on the mother ................. and she had 6 weeks in which to visit the Registrar's Office to register the birth


There was a "fine" if a birth was not registered within that 6 weeks ........................



some parents who delayed too long would change the date of birth of their child ........... so it is always worth while searching into the next quarter


others just did not bother ................ often fearing that they would be in real trouble.

Thank you so much for your kind reply.
Births were never registered at all.
Shame because you miss useful info.
Regards Irene

Is it possible that the births were registered before they had decided on names? Sometimes they are registered as female or male in the index.

Have you considered all possibilities of spelling and mis transcription? Names were copied by hand several times between the local registrar and the GRO index.

The 1874 act had little effect on the number of registrations. The number of births registered in 1875 (when the act came into force) was actually fewer than in 1874, mainly because of the extra time allowed between birth and registration.

Thanks KenSE. I have searched every possibility.
Just wondered if they could not afford to register
if there was a charge.
Regards Irene

My g/grandfather was born in 1872. For years I searched high and low for his birth record, could find all his older siblings (no children born after him). As a Catholic I had his baptism record.

Then one day I had a bit of a lightbulb moment. I remembered he was disabled and the thought came to me, what if he was registered as 'male' Simpson.

So back to FreeBMD. Entered the surname, the year, the quarter (and the one after) and the area. And up popped just one.

So I ordered that certificate and lo and behold there he was, just as I had thought, registered as just 'male Simpson'. And although he survived they just never bothered to go back and have his name added.

So never give up...... :-D

Andysmum - That doesn't sound right abt the 3d short b.cert.

I thought that if you were required to prduce a b.cert for some official purpose, then you got a full b.cert, but across the top of it was written something like "For use as required by the XXX Act of 18xx. Not valid for any other purpose" or somesuch. My mum had such a b.cert and it was a much cheaper price - I think 9d in 1928 (so I've no problem with the 3d 1907 price - it's the short form I'm objecting to, but without definitive grounds).

Thank you for your kind replies. One of the children not registered,
my grandfather's brother, was one of the Barnardo's children sent
out to Canada and I have a copy of the letter where Barnardo's
wrote to Somerset House to do a search for his birth certificate
and they replied none could be found. Also confirmation that the
child was not registered nor was my grandfather.
Regards and thanks Irene

I have some short certificates from about 1900 and at the top it says:

BIRTHS AND DEATHS REGISTRATION ACT 1874

CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRY OF BIRTH.

On the back is says:

This Certificate, when duly filled up by the Registrar, is to be given (on demand) to the INFORMANT at the time of Registering the Birth, on payment of a Fee not exceeding Three-pence (See Births and Deaths Registration Act 1874).

Until I started this family history lark and even then did not bother to get a full one for myself.

I only ever had a 'short' certificate.

I was born in 1953, my parents were so broke when I was born they could not afford the full one.

Even when I got a passport some 20+ years ago, I did not need one. Have now owned my Full certificate for less than 5 years.

:-D

My father had a short certificate and the basic information (name, gender, date of birth) was all he ever needed. It wasn't until I inherited it that I realised that he didn't have a full certificate. I had to get a full one to find out where he was born!