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Anni
Regular Member


634 Posts
Posted -  31/01/2011  :  21:50
For many years, I had been trying to unpick one of those family puzzles which are probably pretty unimportant in a family tree, but become something you just have to figure out Laughing 

It surrounds the birth of my 2nd cousin 4 times removed, who is also my 3rd cousin 3 times removed and the husband of my 3rd cousin 3 times removed in 1842/1843.

I always suspected he was illegitimate but as he was known by his father's name and popped up in a census living with his mother, all I needed to do was find a birth for him.  And I never could.  And I became slightly manic and obsessive about it - having to leave it and return to it periodically. Laughing

A few months ago, someone posted on here about the FamilySeach Beta site and I found him.  Exactly as I had suspected and christened with his father's name as his 3rd christian name.  His surname was his mother's unmarried name.

Curiousity has got the better of me again and I have been looking for his birth registration so I can order the certificate and see what it says on there.  

But, I can't find it under any variation of any of the 4 names he has.  He was born in the wilderness of Northumberland to a relatively well heeled family.  His mother appears on a number of death certificates of the family.  She certainly wasn't cast out or anything like that.  

Is it possible that while he was christened, his birth wasn't registered?  Has anyone else every found evidence of a child that wasn't registered? 

I did consider that maybe being in the wilds of Northumberland nobody bothered much with legal trivialities, but all other births, marriages and deaths in the family were registered around this time, so that wouldn't explain the absence of a birth certificate.


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frankwilk
Senior Member


3975 Posts
Posted - 31/01/2011 : 22:15
Anni
The Wilds of Northumberland.

Scottish Borders maybe for the registration which didn't start until1855 ??? 

Edited by - frankwilk on 31/01/2011 10:19:23 PM



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Anni
Regular Member


634 Posts
Posted - 31/01/2011 : 23:45
Ah - indeed Frank.  That would be a strong possibility for a logical reason. 

He was christened at Alwinton and the family did at one time live at Sewingshields which Hadrian's Wall runs near.

In 1851 he was living with his aunt in Thropton, while I haven't been able to locate his mum - but of course, I didn't think to check the Scottish Census!  By 1861 his mother had married and he was living with his step dad and mum - still in Thropton.

Thanks Laughing  Now where did I put my password for the Scottish Census? Confused


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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 01/02/2011 : 07:18
Anni, I seem to think we pursued this and bastardy on a topic long ago and far away.


Stanley Challenger Graham




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Tizer
VIP Member


5150 Posts
Posted - 01/02/2011 : 09:54
Frank's suggestion re `The Wilds of Northumberland' is a good one. A related possibility is that if you are out in the wilds you can't get a birth registered until you visit civilisation, and if that is a long time later you might even have forgotten to do so. One of my ancestors in South Africa in the 1870s was registered very late in Port Elizabeth because his father was a stone mason building a church hundreds of miles away inland and his family with him. They registered when he finished the church and returned to PE.


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moh
Silver Surfer


6860 Posts
Posted - 01/02/2011 : 14:15
Also although registration became official in 1837 - many still ignored it for a few years.


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frankwilk
Senior Member


3975 Posts
Posted - 01/02/2011 : 16:18
Mo
I believe registration in Scotland started in 1855 



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belle
VIP Member


6502 Posts
Posted - 01/02/2011 : 17:39
Moh, or anyone else, (sorry if this is a tiny diversion!) have you ever come accross the same person being recorded twice in a census, in fact in two consecutive census...same date and place of birth, same occupation, same name with a middle name ommitted, but not in the same house, age ten a street or two apart, down as son in one and nephew in another,age twenty in two different stopping points on the canal?


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Anni
Regular Member


634 Posts
Posted - 01/02/2011 : 22:08
Yes, I have.  Not very often, but it has happened.  I've ended up searching for them in other census returns and on bmd just to verify that there weren't two born at the same time/location given etc. etc. 

I will usually verify the others in the household in a similar way so that I can link the family together.  But I admit, I do tend to be a bit anal about it Wink


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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 02/02/2011 : 07:39
One thing to recognise is the administrative lag between a regulation being put in place and implementation at local level.


Stanley Challenger Graham




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belle
VIP Member


6502 Posts
Posted - 02/02/2011 : 09:39
It's very confusing because of the use of a middle name in one entry and not in another, i have a marriage cert for the same person and no middle name on it either, but those who have him on their tree insist there was a middle name, and in all the census entries where he is with his family it is there, but in the two replica entries where he is not with his parents it is not. 


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moh
Silver Surfer


6860 Posts
Posted - 02/02/2011 : 13:54
Possibly he visited two houses on the night of the census and they both put him down.


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belle
VIP Member


6502 Posts
Posted - 02/02/2011 : 15:36
Yes I am inclined to think this, but for two census in a row, is that too much of a coincidence?


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Anni
Regular Member


634 Posts
Posted - 02/02/2011 : 17:51
Belle, I wonder whether people back then didn't appreciate the importance of the rules of the census.

If your reli lived between the two families, then I guess they thought there was nothing wrong with registering him at both addresses.

Certainly, I have not always put my full name on things and still don't.  Depends what it is to be honest.  I have an "also known as" marker on my credit file but by and large, get very upset when I receive correspondence addressed to my "alter ego" Laughing  But that is another topic altogether Wink


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frankwilk
Senior Member


3975 Posts
Posted - 02/02/2011 : 20:02
Anni I once said to Christine Bradley at Colne Library
 " I thought the Census was Gospel "   she smiled one of those knowing smiles and I am sure she said something like Bless as she walked away.



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belle
VIP Member


6502 Posts
Posted - 02/02/2011 : 22:51
Yes I think the truth lies somewhere in all that we have discussed, i guess if people worked and lived on boats, but also lived in a house sometimes it would be easy for them to end up at two addresses.


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