A very elusive birth record - please help if you can!

[Sprouted]

Hi,
I believe that I have covered most corners and still cannot find the birth record for my 3rd Great Grandfather William Flinn. I have every census for him which shows that he was born in about 1840. The 1841 census shows him as being 7 months old, the census was taken in June so presumably he as born around Oct/Nov/Dec in 1840.
Name   William Flin
Age   7 Mo
Where born   Cumberland, England
Civil parish   Workington
Hundred   Allerdale above Derwent
County/Island   Cumberland
Registration district   Cockermouth
Sub-registration district   Workington
Piece   159
Book   9B
Folio   5
Page number   5

The 1851 census shows his birth place as Workington, Cumberland but others show it as Cockermouth, Cumberland. By 1851 his mum Ann has married and he is using his step-fathers surname Sloan.

Name   William Sloane
Age   10
Relation   Son
Where born   Workington, Cumberland, England
Civil parish   Workington
Ecclesiastical parish   St John
Town   Workington
County/Island   Cumberland
Registration district   Cockermouth
Sub-registration district   Workington
Piece   2435
Folio   161
Page number   26



By 1861 he is Flinn again and recorded as stepson, as is his sister Eleanor.

I am pretty certain I have the correct birth certificate for Eleanor/Ellen, born in Workington 1844, Mother - Ann Flinn, no Father recorded.

I also have a copy of William's marriage certificate to Catherine Johnston, which again shows that he was married in 1871 and was 30 years old. It also says that his father was James Flinn which I cannot understand. William and Catherine did elope together and she has lied about her age, she was only 17 but recorded as 20 and I am also fairly certain that the person recorded as her father was actually her uncle because her parents did not approve of William. Maybe a relative, James Flinn lied too?! Was that common?

Any attempt to find his birth would be hugely appreciated, thank you.

Katie

Moderator comment: edited for content. Please do not copy and paste information from subscription sites. You must transcribe what you see in the mages.

[lizdb]

It was not unusual to make up  fathers name to go on a marriage cert in cases of illegitimacy.  So he could well have made up the father of James Finn. he could have used the name James based on his step fathers name.  Another possible scenario is that when asked his fathers name he said "James" thinking of his step father as having the role of father, but the vicar entered the name with the surname Flinn, making a wrong assumption.

[crisane]

Tedious but you could search FreeBMD for all the William (no surname) births registered in the Cockermouth registration district (which includes Workington) for the Sept/Dec 1/4 1840. Then use the new GRO index with those surnames and the mother's maiden name Flinn.  You could extend the search to the March1/4 1841 just in case he was a late registration but of course he may not have been registered at all.
If Ann Flinn sought support from the baby's father there may be a bastardy bond.
 

[Deirdre784]

I have a family where none of the children born from 1837 til 1850 was registered, only the youngest born 1852 is. Luckily found the baptisms so had to make do with those.

[taffie01]

hi,
It is possible that the birth was not registered as he was illegitimate and it was early days for registration.
just an idea as we have had the same problem but managed to find a baptism showing the date of birth.
I also agree with what lizdb is saying.

[isobelw]

I've checked the Dec 1840 Cockermouth births for Williams ( there are 12) and none have Flinn as Mmn.
Isobel

[Sprouted]

Thank you for some very useful advice. When I had first seen their marriage certificate my heart sank because I thought I had got it all wrong, but now I know that James Flinn was likely to be made up or referring to his step-dad I feel reassured that everything else fits.
I did think it was possible that Ann may just not have registered his birth, I think that is most likely but I will have one final trawl through bmd looking for William's in that period as suggested, thank you. For some reason I have not searched simply for William (probably because I knew it would take me a while!)

[Deirdre784]

...... but I will have one final trawl through bmd looking for William's in that period as suggested, thank you. For some reason I have not searched simply for William (probably because I knew it would take me a while!)

I think you'll find isobelw has already done that for you - see reply no 5..

[Sprouted]

Yes thank you, I did see that Isobelw has kindly done Dec 1840 for me, I am now looking at the other months of Sept, Oct, Nov and Jan 1841.