Time taken to Register a Birth

[Xenofex2]

I think the heat must have got to us, as this week having received another birth certificate, I started to wonder about the time it takes to register a birth. Obviously I had noticed it before but must admit, not really thought any further.

Anyway in the last couple of days, perhaps it was the sun, I then decided to have a look at other births, and decided to do a quick analysis of some (50) birth certificates I had in folders to hand on the PC. It turned out that the time taken to register the birth on the latest Certificate was not that unusual.

My random sample covered the period 1841 – 1950.

Just 12% births were registered under 20 days although four of the six births were in respect of births since 1942. The seemingly odd one out was a birth in 1880 that was registered in just 11 days.

Okay mine is just a small sample, but 78% of the Birth Certificates I checked, it took over 30 days to register the birth with one in 1907, taking around 55 days to register and a birth in 1846 actually being registered after around 41 days, on Boxing Day.

What I did notice was that it seemed to be the Mother that registered the birth, and in my sample, 80% of the Births turned out to be registered by the Mother. Around 25% of the Mum's made their Mark when registering the birth. None of the Fathers did.

Just 4 of the Births were NOT at Home, three being in Hospital, one being in WW2, one in 1947 and the other in 1880. The fourth birth was just at a different address.

[Janet in Yorkshire]

Birth registration was introduced in 1837, and at first it wasn't compulsory. The time limit for registering a birth was within 6 weeks (42 days) of the birth. After that, it was a late registration (subject to a fine) so people didn't always bother. My great grandfather was born in 1846, but his birth was not registered.
The majority of my families lived in rural areas and the birth had to be registered in the relevant local town, which entailed travelling 10-20 miles to get to the office of the registrar. My ag lab ancestors would not have been entitled to time off work to visit the registrar, so it was usually the mothers who made the declaration - this would have followed a "lying in" period after the birth, so three weeks would have be a probable post birth time lag. I believe that there was a list of people other than parents who were allowed to make the registration - I'm sure one of our site members will be able to add further details of this.
With the passing of time, lifestyles have changed - much easier for parents to get to the registrar, most births take place in hospitals now. At one time, registrars went to hospitals to do the registrations, but this may no longer happen as Mums and babies now return home very quickly after giving birth.

[Lin Fisher]

Very good explanation Janet. Also the Mum's might have has a few more children that either needed looking after or had to walk with her to the Registry Office.

[AntonyM]

There is a lot of confusion and misinformation about fines and registration. Registration was compulsory from 1837, and intended to be so - although the legislation was poorly worded. There are records of people being prosecuted for refusing to register children almost from the beginning - I use an example from 1839 in my talks on the subject.

Registrars cannot, and never have been able to, fine anyone. But there were additional fees payable in certain circumstances. Courts could fine people, but really only for refusing to register, giving false information (which was perjury) or failing to give information when required to do so by the registrar. You see cases for these offences in the court records from 1837 onwards.

The 1836 B&D Act was unclear on the responsibilities, and said it was the duty of the registrar to "inform himself carefully" of any birth or death in his district, but if you read the RG correspondence of the time, he wasn't expected to go door to door around the whole district asking if any births or deaths had taken place. In fact the only requirement was that he lived in his district and advertised his address. The 1836 Act also said that for births registered between 42 days and six months there could be an additional fee of 2s 6d payable to the superintendent registrar and 5s to the registrar (a considerable sum though).

The 1874 Act firmly placed the responsibility on the parents to register a birth, but also made it clear that such registrations were to be free up to three months - after which, and up to twelve months, an extra 2s 6d fee became payable ( to both the registrar and the superintendent registrar).

[Anne in Carlisle]

I came across a birth certificate from 1873 where the birth had been registered exactly six weeks after the stated date of birth on the certificate. However that stated date of birth was 10 days after the date given in the parish baptism, which is the date the person also gave in the 1939 register. I concluded that the mother had given an incorrect date for the registration in order to avoid a fine. I was surprised that she was educated enough to work that one out (given other circumstances discovered about the family) and I did wonder if someone colluded with her to stretch the truth?
Anne

[Xenofex2]

Whilst the majority of my Ancestors would have lived in and around tha London area, I guess that the point that Janet makes would also apply. The father, wherever they lived, in Towns or in the Country, needed to work and bring home some wages.Makes sense when I think of it, hence why it is mostly Mothers that registered the Birth.

I have started to try and improve my notes on my Ancestors originally made within my Family Tree Maker program, and have found that looking again at these Records helps to bring the Ancestors life and the period alive.

[Jill on the A272]

My 3x great grandfather chose to register his youngest daughter's birth in Stepney on Christmas Day 1847, which I feel was an intrusion into the Registrar's Christmas.

[Janet in Yorkshire]

Thanks Antony M - I hoped you might be around to give us the necessary info re the relevant legislation and registrar's duties.😊

[Glen in Tinsel Knickers]

SoG perpetuate the myth that registration wasn't compulsory on their website, or did the first (and last time), I looked.