Registration wasn't compulsory until 1875?!
Before then, the onus was on the registrar to find births, and ensure they were registered.
The onus was on the registrar to find all the new borns, yes, but if he didn't the parents were to go to him within 6 weeks of the birth
but, there was no penalty for parents who didn't do so. That changed in 1874 when the onus was shifted to the parents and they were fined if they didn't register their child within the 6 week period.
The 1836 (?) Act covering the registration of children would have been pointless if it wasn't compulsory. There would have been no need for it and registrars wouldn't have needed to ensure the children were registered.. In the early days of the Act there were (allegedly) instances of the clergy actively discouraging parents from registering their children because they considered baptism as registration enough and believed the government was taking away a part of their job. I'm sure there were parents who also believed baptism was registration enough as well.
