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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Traycee on Sunday 15 January 12 21:29 GMT (UK)
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Hello every body...
I'm new to this site so apologies If I've posted in wrong section.
Ive been researching my family history for some time now and hit a brick wall where my paternal grandmother is concerned. Iv'e obtained most of my information via family members and B.M.D certs. However my grandmother and her family are proving to be quite elusive. I can find no trace of them on census records.
My grandmother (Elizabeth Handley c1905) doesn't appear to have been registered at birth, I have trawled birth entries 5 years each side of her supposed birth date of 12th May 1905. In the end I gave up!!
However I have recently come across a document that was found amongst my deceased aunty's paper works (Elizabeth's daughter) unfortunately it's not in very good condition but I can make out that it reads - " Statutory Declaration by parent 44 & 45 Vict???? ???68 and on the top left hand corner I can make out the word ??? of education.
It then goes on to say "I hereby solemnly declare that "Elizabeth Handley" was born on the 12th day of May 1905 at D???ty street Ancoats Manchester. And I make the above Declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of Declarations act, 1835.
It is signed by Justice of the peace for the county borough of Salford on the 11th day July 1919. There is also a signature by a parent but this is difficult to read due to handwriting and condition of the document.
Can anybody tell me what this Declaration would be needed for? and why it took place some 14 years after Elizabeth's birth year??? I'm totally baffled by this but then I'm thinking perhaps this is why I can't find any birth entry for her? Would Elizabeth's birth been registered on the 11th of July 1919 some 14 years after her actual birth? Hope I've not confused anybody lol thanks for reading, Traycee :)
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Hi
It sounds like there was a need for Elizabeth to prove her age for some reason and a Statutory Declaration was signed by a parent regarding her birth. It is basically swearing an oath and is usually a criminal offence to make a false declaration.
Andy
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Hi Andy, yes it does sound like she needed to prove her age and I'm thinking perhaps for employment purposes? I'm also thinking that she must of had no birth cert due to not being legally registered at birth other wise there would be no need for the Declaration? Unless there are other reasons that I'm not aware of which wouldn't surprise me lol
Tracy
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The declaration was probably needed to prove her age for a prospective employer.
There was a similar situation with my Dad who was informally adopted by a couple in 1911 and known by their name until he left school when he needed a birth certificate for his first employer. That is when he found out he was adopted.
However he had been registered in his married! parents' names so not quite as hard to fathom as your grandmother is concerned.
You have a Stat Dec but if it had been registered and then changed on the GRO site her birth reg should be there in the correct year and quarter. Could she have been registered under another surname? Or unfortunately not registered at all and this is why a Stat Dec was used as proof of her birth.
Maybe a search of the June 1/4 1905 for an Elizabeth - no last name - will show one with a surname you recognise as a link to your family? A longshot.
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Hi traycee
Welcome to Rootschat :D
There is an Elizabeth Ann Handley registered Oldham District Jun qtr 1905 Vol 8d Pg 654
Have you already discounted her?
Jan ;)
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The declaration was probably needed to prove her age for a prospective employer.
There was a similar situation with my Dad who was informally adopted by a couple in 1911 and known by their name until he left school when he needed a birth certificate for his first employer. That is when he found out he was adopted.
However he had been registered in his married! parents' names so not quite as hard to fathom as your grandmother is concerned.
You have a Stat Dec but if it had been registered and then changed on the GRO site her birth reg should be there in the correct year and quarter. Could she have been registered under another surname? Or unfortunately not registered at all and this is why a Stat Dec was used as proof of her birth.
Maybe a search of the June 1/4 1905 for an Elizabeth - no last name - will show one with a surname you recognise as a link to your family? A longshot.
Hi,
Sadly I don't think that her birth was ever registered I've spent years looking for it to no avail, BUT like you say I guess there is a chance that she was registered in another surname so I will try that route. Because I've been unable to find her birth reg/cert I've no idea what her mother was named or whether she was Illegitimate or not, her marriage cert states Edward Handley, (a market porter) as her father but I can not find him in right area on census either arrrgghhh. Its a shame the signature of her parent on the Declaration is not readable, that would have been the key I need to move forward. Actually just thought, do you know if you can get copies of Declaration's? And yes I think the Declaration was more than likely needed for employment purposes as I know she was brought up in one of the poorest area of Manchester at the time - Angel Meadow so I guess money was desperately needed to survive.
Thanks for your in put it's much appreciated and it's spurred me to keep on going :)
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Hi traycee
Welcome to Rootschat :D
There is an Elizabeth Ann Handley registered Oldham District Jun qtr 1905 Vol 8d Pg 654
Have you already discounted her?
Jan ;)
Hi Jan, yes Iv'e checked that entry out and unfortunately it isn't her, I managed to trace this particular Elizabeth's family on the census. Thanks for your help :)
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Some years ago a Registrar in London told me that unregistered births were quite common in the UK until 1948. Whilst before that there had long been a legal requirement to register a birth, there was no obvious immediate practical benefit and so people occasionally didn’t bother. He cited illegitimacy as a common factor in unregistered births. The behavioural change in 1948 came with the introduction of family allowance (modern tax credits) paid by the state. You needed a birth certificate to make a claim. As a result, from that time onwards people would nearly always register births promptly.
The Registrar told me that the Superintendent Registrar has discretion to register a late birth, even if that was 5 or 50 years later. However to do so, normally someone present at the birth (not necessarily the parents) has to be able to swear to the event, and explain why it was not registered at the time. I suspect that in your case there was no-one who could do that and so swearing an affidavit, linked to school records which would provide a fairly accurate indicator of age, was the best alternative the family could come up with.
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Although you said that you are unable to read the document pertaining to your grandmother's birth, it still might be worth taking a decent scan (if possible, without damaging it) and posting it here to get people's opinions on the name and any of the other words you cannot decipher.
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Although you said that you are unable to read the document pertaining to your grandmother's birth, it still might be worth taking a decent scan (if possible, without damaging it) and posting it here to get people's opinions on the name and any of the other words you cannot decipher.
I was just about to suggest that too
Jan ;)
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Some years ago a Registrar in London told me that unregistered births were quite common in the UK until 1948. Whilst before that there had long been a legal requirement to register a birth, there was no obvious immediate practical benefit and so people occasionally didn’t bother. He cited illegitimacy as a common factor in unregistered births. The behavioural change in 1948 came with the introduction of family allowance (modern tax credits) paid by the state. You needed a birth certificate to make a claim. As a result, from that time onwards people would nearly always register births promptly.
The Registrar told me that the Superintendent Registrar has discretion to register a late birth, even if that was 5 or 50 years later. However to do so, normally someone present at the birth (not necessarily the parents) has to be able to swear to the event, and explain why it was not registered at the time. I suspect that in your case there was no-one who could do that and so swearing an affidavit, linked to school records which would provide a fairly accurate indicator of age, was the best alternative the family could come up with.
Hi, that is very interesting and really makes sense to my particular case, the Declaration does mention education on top left hand corner too. Thanks for your input it's really helped towards a possible explanation of why I can not trace her birth reg/cert.
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Although you said that you are unable to read the document pertaining to your grandmother's birth, it still might be worth taking a decent scan (if possible, without damaging it) and posting it here to get people's opinions on the name and any of the other words you cannot decipher.
I attempted to post an image up last night but it is to big? I'll try and reduce the size and up load it again although I haven't a clue how to reduce it lol.
I've got a name in mind for her mother but will not say until I get an opinion or 2 on it first. Thanks.
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Hopefully the image has uploaded:
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I'm afraid it hasn't ... please try again.
I'm the blind leading the blind (as I've really no clue about these thingS), but many people have problems posting images, and it is often suggested that they change the file name (if they've tried multiple times without success) - BUT, someone else should be along soon to help you properly. ;)
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I have the same document of declaration for my father. It is needed as he was adopted and his name after adoption is different to that of his birth name on his birth certificate. As such I think this is probably why you have been able to find the actual record of her birth as it is probably under a different name. I fortunately also have my fathers birth certificate as well which has a different surname on to the statutory declaration. I believe my father had to show the statutory declaration whenever birth certificates were required as he himself did not obtain his actual birth certificate until after his adopted mother passed away.