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From: "Keith NZ" <>
Subject: Re: [Lon] Re: No Birth Registration
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 19:22:49 +1300
References: <1f1.32c7e367.2f15d045@aol.com>


----- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 1:58 PM
Subject: [Lon] Re: No Birth Registration


> Hello List,
> For many they just never could afford it, then there was the
> fine if it was not
> done in the stipulated period, my gt grandfather only registered his
first
> and third
> of his four children, putting food on the table, and maybe a pint or two
> does seem


My reading of the act is that there was not a charge if the birth was
registered within 6 weeks of the birth, but there was a charge/fine if it
was registered after that time had passed.

XVIII. And be it enacted, That the Registrar General shall furnish to every
Superintendent Registrar, for the Use of the Registrars under his
Superintendence, a sufficient number of Register Books of Births and of
Register Books of Deaths, and of Forms for certified Copies thereof, as
herein-after provided, at a reasonable Price, to be fixed from Time to Time
by One of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, the Cost whereof
shall be borne by the Union, Parish, or Place in or for which the
Superintendent Registrar is appointed, and shall be paid by the Guardians or
by the Churchwardens and Overseers (as the Case may be), out of monies
coming to their Hands or Control as such Guardians or Churchwardens and
Overseers, to the Registrar, and shall be accounted for by him to the
Registrar General ; and every Registrar shall be authorized and is hereby
required to inform himself carefully of every Birth and every Death which
shall happen within his District after the said First Day of March, and to
learn and register soon after the Event as conveniently may be done, without
Fee or Reward save as herein-after mentioned, in One of the said Books, the
Particulars required to be registered according to the Forms in the said
Schedules (A.) and (B.) respectively touching every such Birth or every such
Death, as the Case may be, which shall not have been already registered,
every such Entry being made in Order from the Beginning to the End of the
Book.
Until 1874 it was up to local registrars to be aware of all births in their
areas, and they were paid per birth entry. Some, as we know, invented births
and ended up doing time in one of HM's establishments.

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

snip...

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 ;

snip

After 6 months the lack of registration got more serious and few would have
bothered making the situation regular because most couldn't afford to do so.
Deaths were a different matter because without the paperwork disposal of a
body was illegal.

For further reading on this subject visit:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/%7Eframland/acts/1836Act.htm

Keith Wellington, NZ

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