Genealogy Chat

This is an up to date query, but I'm interested to know the answer. My half-brother is the only one of four of us who has something different on his birth certificate; three of us had our births registered by our (birth) mother - on his, she was the informant but it was 'by declaration'. The declaration was dated 1st April but the birth was registered on 6th April (he had been born on 15th March). Could anyone tell me what this declaration means, and any possible reasons for it? Many thanks.

Hi Mandy..Spurs supporter extraordinaire??? Was your birth mother married to your half brother's father at the time of his registration? If she was not then his father would have had to either have been present at the registration of his son's birth, or otherwise would have had to provide a written declaration saying that he was the father of the child. Could this be an explanation? Dee X

Hi Mandy It means that the informant ( the mother) was in another place when she gave the information to a registrar. ie: she may have had the baby in hospital in one district and then went home to another district. The iinformant would have given the information to the registrar in the district where she lived and that registrar would not have registered the birth but sent all the information to the registrar for the district where the birth occurred. The delay was due to the info being sent between registrars by post. If you look on the certificate and see where your brother was born and where mum was living this might give you a clue. It often occurs when a mum has to go to a hospital that specalises in neo natal care which may be in another area. Or she might just have been visiting rellys and they took her to the nearest hospital. Hope this helps and makes sense, it's early! Regards Deborah

Thanks Dee and Deborah, have emailed you both direct. His mother and father were definitely married when he was born. I also know he was born in the local hospital, but maybe they had a register office that was even closer to home. Would still be interested to hear from anyone with any other theories! Mandy

If you prefer, you can go to any other Registrar's Office in England or Wales to give the details of the birth but the birth will not be registered there. The details will be forwarded by post to the Registrar for the district where the birth took place and he/she will complete the registration from the information you have supplied. This is called registering a birth by declaration. from a googled website registering a birth .Kim