All family historians know that prior to 1837, the only way to find records of births is in parish registers, or bishop\u2019s transcripts thereof. IE, church records.<\/p>\n
The state only became involved in the registration of births\/deaths\/marriages with the introduction of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1836.<\/p>\n
So, any child born after registration started (September quarter 1837) HAS to be recorded, right?<\/p>\n
Wrong.<\/p>\n
Because although civil registration was introduced in 1837, it didn\u2019t become compulsory until 1874.<\/p>\n
A lot of people don\u2019t like \u2018change\u2019. Or officialdom. And there was no doubt a lot of \u2018why should I?\u2019 about it.<\/p>\n
In 1841, registrars were telling parents they had to fork out 7 shillings and 6 pence if they hadn\u2019t registered the birth in the first six weeks.<\/p>\n
W H Milner, Curate of Morland,<\/strong> wrote to the Registrar General in September 1841, to ask if this was legal. And was told it was not.<\/p>\n Rev. Sir,\u2014l am directed by the Registrar General to\u2026 inform you, in reply, that the Registration Act has only made it obligatory on parents to register the birth of their children on being requested to do ; and they are not punishable for not going to the Registrar to give him the requisite information for the registry thereof. It is only when informants have refused give the particulars of information required the above-mentioned act that they are punishable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So, if the registrar came to you, you had to give him the details. If he didn\u2019t, there was no legal requirement to volunteer the infomation.<\/p>\n Rev Milner advised:<\/p>\n “Many poor labourers in the county have been put to trouble and inconvenience by the registrars of births and marriages assuming to themselves powers winch the law does not give them.<\/p>\n “We trust the publication of the above correspondence will put stop to such practices.<\/p>\n \u201cA registrar has clearly no right after the child is six weeks old to go to the father and insist upon the child being entered and a fee of seven shillings and sixpence paid forthwith under pain of prosecution at the sessions.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the registrar who uses such a threat is himself liable to be punished for extortion.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n All very reassuring for parents. All very frustrating for anyone today trying to find the birth record of an ancestor or their siblings.<\/p>\n If ever you have wondered about the massive population increase that followed the Industrial Revolution, there may be one aspect you\u2019d not considered.<\/p>\n It was all about work being plentiful, and people having lots of children, right?<\/p>\n Well, wrong.<\/p>\nNo thought for their descendants!<\/h2>\n
Constraints on marriage<\/h2>\n