Why did they leave it till the last minute?

[iolaus]

I remember my great grandfather saying his birth certificate was wrong for that reason - and when I obtained a copy of his birth certificate yes, the 'date of birth' on it, is 42 days before the date of registration - 4 days after his actual date of birth - apparently he was in his 20s when he discovered it, and carried on celebrating on the day he always had

You can always tell whose taken from my tree on ancestry because I have the actual date of birth on there (with a note explaining why it differs to his official date of birth)

[Guy Etchells]

Under the 1836 Act If the birth was not registered within forty-two days there was a fee of two Shillings and Sixpence entitlement for the Superintendent Registrar, and five shillings for the registrar, Section XXII. There  was a penalty for non-registration in the 1874 Act, but not for late registration. So between 1837 and 1874  there was a financial incentive to make sure  the birth was registered within forty two days, either by the registrar or another responsible person.

Stan

In the 1874 Act there was a financial penalty for registering a birth between 3 months and 12 months after the birth but it was not called a penalty.
After 3 moths the person registering the birth had to pay double to register.
They had to pay the registrar 2/6 and they had to pay the superintendant registrar 2/6 If the registration was under the authority of the Registrar General (i.e. after 12 months) double the fees to both the above.

See Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1874
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01l2i/

"Second Schedule.
Fees to Registrars and Superintendent Registrars.

For registering a birth or death when required to do so at residence of person signing requistion, or at house child born or person died (not being a public institution), to registrar one shilling, to be paid by the informant.
Upon the registration of a birth when the child is more than three months old, if it is not more than twelve months old, to superintendent registrar two shillings and sixpence, and to the registrar (unless the delay is occasioned by his failure to issue requisition, or otherwise by his default) two shillings and six-pence, and if it is more than twelve months old, and is registered with the authority of the Registrar General, to superintendent registrar five shillings, and to registrar (unless the delay is occasioned by his failure to issue a requisition or otherwise by his it) default) five shillings, to be paid by the informant or declarant.

Cheers
Guy

[Cell]

This raises several questions:
Why did parents leave it until the last minute? If they hadn't thought of a name they could have just registered him as "Male".

Did and still do.
I can tell you why my sister in law left it to the very last minute, the eleventh hour ,with her youngest child  , she  couldn't decide on a name - it really is as simple as that  .
 My niece was called bubs for weeks on end lol(  she did not want to register her daughter before she had chosen a name for her, in answer to why not just register the child without a name), then after she finally came up with a name and registered her daughter ,she didn't particularly like the name she had chosen .

I left it pretty late too(but not as late as sister in law's last minute effort in the Uk ) I really just couldn't be bothered filling out the forms as I had other things on my mind at the time I
 I had a name from birth, but just couldn't be bothered with registering , form filling ,when I had more important things to do (here in qld we postal or online reg ).
Our ancestors probably had very similar reasons .  At least most were registered- My grandfather's birth was never registered ,  his siblings are, but not him(I bet it slipped my g grandparents minds- it runs in the family  )

Kind Regards

[HughC]

There were many cases of late registration, sometimes with the date of birth doctored so as to avoid a surcharge.  BMDs are supposed to be registered in the district in which they took place, but not everyone complied.  It makes one wonder whether we can believe anything at all!