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Question: Family History - Why Would a Birth Not Be Registered!?
Hi,
Just wondering if anyone can give me some information about why (and how) a birth would not be registered!?
My mothers deceased mother (my grandmother), who was born in the 1930's in South Australia and apparently did not have a birth certificate!. Apparently she was raised by a couple who were not her biological parents, but it was also not a formal adoption!.
Her mother (my great grandmother) was apparently very young and her father was a policeman!. This is all I have been told since I was a child and I have not succeeded in learning anymore, even after gentle probing!.
I am interested to know what circumstances may have surrounded not registering a birth in the 1930's!. Was it common practice!? Would people really be able to unofficially adopt a child with no formal records being kept!?
Where would I start researching my family history if I don't have a birth certficate to go from!?
Any help/comments/suggestions would be much appreciated!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Several things:
The motivations were usually money, location, or the baby being unwanted!. Some people, especially in small rural places, did not have the money to give birth in a hospital!. It was not like things are today with everything computerized!. The government had no way of tracking every single birth that occurred in a barn or house or carriage out in the backwoods somewhere, or often in a crowded city even!. So if someone was unwanted or a family was really poor and lacking in resources, they may never have taken the time and effort to get their baby registered!. In a case like your grandmother, who was obviously not wanted by her original parents, the odds of this happening are significantly increased!. It was probably not common practice, but it likely happened a good handful of times in situations just like this!.
Now tracking the family history as a result is tricky!. Frankly, it may be impossible to go any further than your grandmother in that arm of your geneaology!. All you can do is sift through whatever family heirlooms or records exist, possibly old newspapers from the time, and ask other family members if they know anything!. You might get lucky, but you may well be out of luck!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Check and see if there is a family Bible, or letters that might give you a clue!. Check the census records!. What about hospital records, or even adoption records!? It just simply may be that she was born outside of any institution, my grandmother was she was born under a tree!Www@QuestionHome@Com
i believe she may have been born at home by a midwife, they didn't keep records as a doctor would!. also, check out the family sirname that raised her, you may find someone that knows!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
If the childs birth was something to be ashamed of they may not have registered it!. She could also have been born in a place that didn't have hospitals!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
The reason why pple in my country would not have a birth certificate is because they live too far from a town that has the offices where babies are registerd!. Or they're just too ignorant to do it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Might have been a rape!. A number of reasons!. If you know her fathers name look him up in old newspapers at a library, try his family!. See what they know!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Here in the U!.S!. of A!., some folks are still born at home and don't wish to have the Government "meddling in their affairs"!. There are as many reasons as there are people!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
maybe the child is a bastardWww@QuestionHome@Com
There's all kinds of reasons why the baby wasn't given a birth certificate, but let's figure out what we need to find out!. If you know for a fact that it was her maternal grandparents who raised her, then you'll be able to track that side!. Now, it's time to call the police!. Tell them what you are doing and ask if you can come into the station one day and rummage through their records as you are trying to "find a long lost family member", yep, that would be a nice way to put it!. You already have a general idea of when your grandmother was born and the changes are good that the father was near her mothers' age!. He may have been married, who knows!? They often have pictures of police officers from bygone days and maybe you could look for features that resemble your grandmother, though that's not a sure thing either!. But, it MAY be a help!. Sometime, your grandmother had to fill out papers for something!. A pension, a form of social security, a driver's license, etc!. See what you can glean from these records!. Then, there's the death certificate!. In America, it is required that both birth parents names be on it!. Even that fails sometimes, but keep at it!. If you think you've finally hit upon someone who may be this policeman's child or grandchild and you have every reason to believe they are a relative of yours, ask if they'd be willing to go with you to get a DNA test!. Promise that you'll pay for it!. But, be very careful when approaching people with this sort of news and tell them that you don't know and assure them many times that you don't want anything like $$$ and all of the things they may fear!. Just be your typical charming self and I don't see how they could refuse, especially with all that "gentle probing"!. LOL
I hope you have great luck, darlin'!Www@QuestionHome@Com
It was common in that era for births to be "voluntarily registered"!. There was actually a small cost and some parents just couldn't afford it!. Nor was it mandatory that you register your child's birth!. Informal adoptions were common for exactly the same reason!. Involving the courts wasn't important as long as you found a good family for your child!. In that era, most births happened at home and there probably was no doctor assisting!. A country like Australia, where so much is rural, was not pushing for mandatory registrations until after WWII!. You very probably have all of the information that there was!. It's not a great closure for you, but it is the reality of the situation!.Www@QuestionHome@Com