General Chat

would anyone no if farthers would have to be present to have there name entered onto a birth certificate in the uk 1950s ? , also would the mother have to have proof of her name birth certificate ect , thank you :-)

No you went to register the birth and gave the parents names

If the marital info wasn't forthcoming it was assumed that the parents were married

In order to reg a birth the registry office would have been informed of the birth either from the hopital or the midwife .

When our daughter was born in 1958 my husband went to register her birth but they weren't able to do it because they hadn't received the necessary notification from the hospital

He had to go back for a second appointment. I was still in hospital .

No birth or marriage certs were asked for

If a mother was not married but wanted it to appear as if she was then she could give a "married" name and then her "maiden" name and the registrar would accept this information as fact - unless it was a small place and the registrar knew the mother was not married. You certainly wouldn't have to supply a marriage certificate back then to prove it.

Kath. x

??
If the Father of the child is not the Mother's husband, he has to be present I believe and admit responsibility for his name to be entered on the birth certificate. Then you might find the child registered under both surnames.

That's if the person is being honest with the info they give at the time ,greyghost

thank you so much for your replys that's interesting I guess they just had to trust you back then ? thanks again appreciate any input

Clare .............

I think they still have to trust you, although someone may know whether you now have to produce a valid marriage certificate.

When my son was born (London hospital, 1961) we had to stay in hospital for 9 days and the Registrar used to visit once a week to register the babies born that week. None of us had any documentation with us, and none of the fathers was present. The registrar simply wrote down what we said and then gave us the certificate.

My details were all correct, but nobody would have known if they weren't.

According to our local RO's website you have to produce the following documentation:-

* paperwork from the hospital/midwife showing your baby's NHS number or baby's red book
* photo ID for baby's natural parents.

Thanks Andysmum , that would make sence you tend to forget how times change :-)

Inspectorgreenpen , I wish that was the case over the years for all countrys and districts :-)

This is what the General Registry Office (GRO) site says about registering a birth ............

Information you need when registering a birth

When registering the birth, you should know:

place and date of the birth
name, surname and sex of the baby
parents’ names, surnames and address
places and dates of parents’ birth
date of parents’ marriage or civil partnership
parents’ jobs
mother’s maiden surname

You might not need to give all of this information, depending on who is registering the birth.


What you should take

You should take at least one form of identification when you go to the register office. You can use:

passport
birth certificate
deed poll
driving licence
proof of address (eg utility bill)
Council Tax bill
marriage or civil partnership certificate

You should also take your child’s personal child health record or ‘red book’ as some registrars may ask to see it.

If you’re going to the register office on your own, you may need proof of paternity from the other parent before you give their details.



Note that it seems to say that you MAY not be asked to show all of the items or proofs.

The ROs seem to vary quite a bit in their requirements. This is from our local RO website:

To register a birth you will need to know the:

date and place of birth - the time of birth will be recorded if you are registering twins, triplets, etc.
baby's gender
full name/s of the baby - and the correct spelling
forenames and surname of the parent/s, including any names that have been used previously
date and place of birth of the parent/s
addresses and occupations or previous occupations of the parent/s
number of previous children by the mother
date of marriage and the mother's maiden name (if applicable)

You can bring the health authority's notification of your baby's birth and your own passports, birth certificates and marriage certificates to help with spellings and information. However, these documents are not required for the registration to take place.

I haven't yet worked out why they need to know the date and place of birth of the parents nor how many other children the mother has.

The information presented on the birth certificates is the same from every RO so why do they all want different documentation from you?
:-S

Aussie BCs have more info on them than UK ones.

In addition to the info on UK ones, Aussie ones have places of birth of both parents and names and ages of siblings.

Great for ancestry hunters.

Could the Office of National Statistics want the additional details that SuffolkVera found?

Although we have a census every 10 years, the age, place of birth, number of children etc helps them not only plan for the future, but also identify demographic movement.

County of birth and year of a birth parent is put on English/Welsh birth certificates now days and has been for a number of year.

a 2000 family bc shows these details.


Details put on UK BC is rapidly changing that,,, parent 1 can be entered as female.,,,,,,,parent 2 --female or 2 named males as the case maybe.

The birth certificate im referring to is from 1954 , and im trying to work out if fathers had to actually be there to have there name put on , and unfortunately it seems not (guess you could say any tom dick or harry if you wanted to :-( ) I guess I was hoping so then the father would actually be legit on this certificate I have , THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR INPUT ALL INFORMATION HELPS :-)

An unwed father at that time could sign an affidavit of agreement to have his name put on the BC if he wasnt attending and the birth was registered in both surnames.,,,,,usually if a woman gave a maiden name then usually no proof of a marriage was asked for.



They even have to sign now to have their names put on a BC.

Have you checked to see if the birth is also in the other surname.?

Don't forget the rules have changed over time. There was a period when an unwed father was not allowed to have their name entered even if they did agree.