Looking for the birth registration I expected to find a female child whose surname matched the mother's surname - usually a sign of an illegitimate birth; If that child was then adopted that name would disappear from official records (except in the very rare situation where a child kept their birth name on adoption). I could then request the birth certificate and if the child was adopted there would be a note in the right hand margin.
The few possibles could be quickly excluded because I found later records for the same person in their birth name (which they would have lost if they had been adopted).
I thought this might mean that I had hit a brick wall. Until that is I had a slightly surreal email exchange with a registrar.
Q.
A.... how easy would it have been in 1953/54 for a woman to give a false name when registering a birth?
Q.... It is only recently that documents such as birth and marriage certificates have been requested when registering a birth. in the 1950's parents would not be asked to bring any identification with them, the registrar would only record what names the parents gave.
A.... if in the 50's the registrar relied on what the registrant claimed, would a mother (wearing a wedding ring) be able to assert that she was married and register a birth of child (Surname X) and give her maiden name as Y?
My understanding is that fathers only had to be present if the parents were unmarried and he wished the child to be registered with his surname (declarations of fatherhood only coming later)?
This would seem to mean that any female registration in the possible time window could be the individual I am trying to trace!A mother could come in on her own and claim she was married (even if she wasn't) and give maiden name
For reasons that I will not go into (long story) I thought the name might be Jane Elaine Joyson. There is no one of that name registered in the relevant period, but there is an Eileen Joyson - and I cannot find any subsequent records for that name. I have applied for Eileen's birth certificate and GRO returned part of my fee saying:
I am waiting for them to get back to me as to why this situation might occur. The application detail has been very carefully checked against the image of the registration index and adopted persons' birth certificates are not closed - the new name is not on the certificate - there is not even a reference to the court order.We have been unable to process your application, please refer to the paragraph below.
There is no trace of the above mentioned person at the reference you quoted.
Questions
- Have others come across potentially irregular registrations such as the registrar implied could happen?
- Have others come across GRO being unable to trace a registration to a certificate? What reasons have been given