Genealogy Chat

Does anyone know if some births went unregistered in the early 1900's? I'm searching for a birth record which I know happened in 1912 or 1913 but I can't find a match. Free Bmd say that all the births in those years should be accessible so is it possible that the birth could be unregistered or is that not allowed to happen?

It could have got "lost" between the local register office and the GRO - I had that recently with one of my dad's second cousins. We knew he existed but I never found his birth registration by looking through the quarterly images on Ancestry - it only showed up when Ancestry did that big update of searchable names about a month ago.

Hi Kerry

Yes, some went unregistered although all births should have been done.

My grandad 1902 and his sister 1903 were never registered. I know exactly where they were born, but there are no registrations for that town, nor indeed anywhere else in the country, either under fathers name or mothers maiden name.

Dianne xx

Hi
Thanks to all for your quick replies and thanks to Jonesey for the maiden name tip. I just tried a search in his mothers maiden name and one appeared, sadly wrong birth date but great tip.

Could you give us a name and an area?
Maybe we can have a gander.
The other scenario is that they were born abroad, service men either in Ireland, India etc.
If you know the area maybe you can contact them with the details to see if they have a record.
You said you looked up the maiden name and it was the wrong birthdate, dont forget that some one born at the end of one qtr may not appear until the next qtr or even the next year in the case born at the end of December
The GRO had to rely on transcribers of the copy certs sent in and errors do occur
How many times do you find a handwritten addition on the bottom of the BMD index.

Can you apply to the local register office, if you know it? They wont charge if the specified details are wrong. And some offices are stars in that they will look for you free of charge.

Margaret

I have just had a similar problem with unregisted births.
They were born before 1911 so I found with a birth date
and area. I now have a added problem that parents
took several other children but they were not adopted
as that came into force 1927.
0h happy days--keep checking it must get better.

Pauline

I went to the GRO recently and looked up all the births for my dad's siblings.
I cannot find a registration for his younger brother.
His dob is on his death cert, but there is no birth cert.

Certs for an older brother and a younger sister both have the same birth address, which should mean, that he was born there too.... but nothing!
I widened the search incase his year of birth was out, but no one with his name was born in Scotland, never mind Glasgow within a 5yr window.
I looked at the last name only, looked for variants, in fact, I looked for anyone who could be him and came up with... nothing?

I wondered if he was adopted into the family..but he looks just like the rest of them?
He can't be an adopted relative either, I have researched most of them and found no potential/possible parent.
Born 1924 and, I honestly think he wasn't registered

I knew that my Gran had lost a child at an early age (around 1910) but it took me three years to find the birth and death. Small details can make all the difference. I think most people took registration very seriously from about 1860 onward so be persistent.

This is an old thread!!!!!!


But ................ other possible ways to search for a missing registration can include ................


check for mis-spellings of surname ........... either originally or as a result of a transcriber's error

Check for registration under Male xxxxxx .............. in case they had not yet decided on a name

Check for all registrations under the surname, leaving forename blank ................... they just might have registered him with one name and then changed it before baptism

You should be able to use the mother's maiden name in combination with the father's surname ................ mmn was included in the registrations in England and Wales from mid-1911.

Again, be aware of possible mis-transcription

You could even try using his forename, mother's maiden name, and a span of years (1911 - 1915), in case he was registered late

see if you can find a baptism for him, to give a more exact date, and to check the forename ............

........ the record could also give a hint as to whether it was an "emergency" baptism (shown usually as PB or Private Baptism, in the margin of the Parish Register). Such baptisms were done when the baby was not expected to survive ............ and registration of birth could easily be forgotten in such a situation.

and.......the GRO Index still says 99% complete...

My grandfather's brother was born in 1891. I have just found his birth as a late registration in DQ 1939, but I am still missing several of the childrens' birth registrations. I know my grandfather's birth was not registered as he emigrated in 1952 and they used an "Official Copy" of the 1901 census to prove his age.