Birth registration rules in 1901 UK

[AntonyMMM]

Perfectly possible,   but you should make really  sure you have covered all the other options before deciding there is no registration.

[Wexflyer]

How common was it for a child’s birth to go completely unregistered in the mid 1870s?  Was that even possible? 

I can only smile.
I did in-person research in a local registration office in the 1990s. Not Britain, but Ireland.
There were multiple people turning up every day for whom no birth registration could be found - their own.

[Marmalady]

How common was it for a child’s birth to go completely unregistered in the mid 1870s?  Was that even possible? 

Certainly very possible in the early years of registration

I have a family with 7 children born between 1839 and 1852 in Liverpool and I cannot find a birth registration for any of them under any spelling variation
They were all baptised at St Peters Church, Liverpool

[california dreamin]

Thank you, everyone, for all the information - it’s so useful.

How common was it for a child’s birth to go completely unregistered in the mid 1870s?  Was that even possible?  I haven’t been able to find my ancestor even though I’ve tried everything I can think of - different spellings, sounds like, searching different years, different areas, etc.

She obviously doesn’t want to be found!

I would agree certainly possible. I'm sure I've heard that something like 5% of births were not registered. However, here is a little task for you... why not see if you can find birth registration of any siblings? This would determine what registration district these the births fell into thus reducing the area you are having to search.  Equally if you are not finding the birth registrations of any siblings (or maybe only some) you can deduce that these parents were busy/scatty/not concerned and were just 'non registerers' and then focus on searching for a baptism. 

CD

[LizzieL]

I have never been able to find a birth registration for my great grandmother (baptised 16 April 1854) She was the 10th and last child of the family. Her three oldest siblings were born before 1837, but siblings #4 to #9 were all registered. I have tried all the variants of her surname I can think of for the relevant times in her local registration district but no luck. I would have thought she would have had to prove her age to get her state pension when they came in.

[coombs]

I have never been able to find a birth reg for a great, great gran born about October 1851 or 1852 in Terling in Essex. In the 1921 census her age in months and years points to about an October birthdate.

It is handy, when such people whose birth reg cannot be found, lived to the 1921 census or 1939 register, at least there are more chances of the month and day being accurate. I have an ancestor's sister also born in Essex in late 1852, and on the 1939 register she says 29 Dec 1852 and she was baptised 30 Jan 1853 but no birth reg has ever been found and I have thought outside the box in searches.

[louisa maud]

I have only half of a family baptised before they became orphans, a real shame as I have for years searched for one person, no registration and no baptism   not found till he married,  never found his date of birth either, with the help of others I became a super sleuth , why only register half of the siblings and only one baptism?

LM .

[Whipby]

[quote author=Wexflyer link=topic=882504.msg7553961#msg7553961 date=1715323836
I can only smile.
I did in-person research in a local registration office in the 1990s. Not Britain, but Ireland.
There were multiple people turning up every day for whom no birth registration could be found - their own.
[/quote]

That’s very interesting, thank you!  And how upsetting for the people concerned.😦

[Whipby]

How common was it for a child’s birth to go completely unregistered in the mid 1870s?  Was that even possible? 

Certainly very possible in the early years of registration

I have a family with 7 children born between 1839 and 1852 in Liverpool and I cannot find a birth registration for any of them under any spelling variation
They were all baptised at St Peters Church, Liverpool

How very frustrating that must be!  I hope you find them eventually.