Why were people given birth certificates?

[KGarrad]

National Insurance numbers seem to be the commonest form of identification which begs the question of how dad got one without proof of id ?

NI Numbers only came into being with the creation of the NHS, and the Welfare State, in 1946.
The 1939 National Register was, at that time, used to allocate NI Numbers.

I think, in earlier times, people were more trusting, and simply accepted what they were told in regards to identity, age, status, etc.

[Jebber]

Like many things BMD Registration was for the benefit of the Government rather than the people concerned.

[groom]

I can never understand why people are asked to show their birth certificate anyway, especially in the case of a woman who may have changed her name several times.

[alpinecottage]

Nanna, thank you.

Andrew, would the short version not have had my father's surname (his father's) on it though?

Martin

No, short form birth certificates only have child's name, date of birth and gender on, and the office where the birth was registered.  They are more like a "receipt" that the birth was registered than anything else.

[AntonyMMM]

A short form birth certificate, or in earlier cases what was called a " Certificate of Registry of Birth" will show a surname for the child. Before 1969 there is no surname for the child shown in the register, so the surname used will depend on whether a father is named on the birth entry and whether the parents were married.

[Jomot]

My Grandfather (born 1903) needed a copy of his birth certificate for work, and I have the copy he obtained in 1916.  At the top it says 'This Certificate is not available for purposes of Secondary Education (Issued for the purposes of the Factory and Workshop Act 1901).

I believe it was to prove the age of any person under 16 who was being employed.

On the back there is a form, which includes the wording "where the age of any young person under the age of sixteen years, or child, is required to be ascertained or proved for the purposes of this Act, or for any purpose connected with the employment in labour or elementary education of the young person or child, any person shall, on presenting a written requisition...... and on payment of a fee of sixpence, be entitled to obtain a certified copy.... of the entry in the register, under the Births and Deaths Registration Acts 1836 to 1874"

So employment & education were two reasons for needing a birth certificate.

[Mart 'n' Al]

KG, the registered name was Harry Leggett, Hartlepool.

I am beginning to think that a certificate was just a token thank you for registering!

Over the years, I have applied for jobs where I had to give my father's birth details, and so I gave what I THOUGHT was correct, not what later came to be known.  I never got interviews for those jobs.  Possibly coincidence.  Or not.

Thanks to all.

Martin

[Marmalady]

Even nowadays, you can call yourself whatever name you like, so long as it is not with intention to defraud.

So whether he used his birth mother's surname or his grandparents' surname it was still his name legally.

90 years ago it would have been easier to change names like this as people did not need documentary proof of identification nearly as much as we do now

I'm sure your failure to get an interview was merely a coincidence and nothing sinister

[lizdb]

Not sure that people are "given" birth certificates.  (Though it is a long time since I have been involved in registering a birth, only recent experience is of registering deaths)

What you take away is a copy of what is entered in the register. I believe you have to pay to take away a copy, if you wish. And certainly in times gone past at least, you could opt for the cheaper shortened version which just had name and date, but not parents etc on it.

The fact is that a birth was registered.  Anything can happen after that time - change of name, person dying, etc. So the copy of what was entered in the register at the time of the birth may not have so much relevance as time passes, but it was never necessarily intended to.