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Where have you looked for the birth and marriage registrations?
 
Whatever their religion if they were born or married in England or Wales you should be able to find them in the GRO indexes  Could the births and marriages have taken place, say, in Scotland which has a separate registration system?

Although the IGI can be useful, and someone will correct me if I am wrong, there is not much coverage (if any) for the dates you are giving.

Barbara

David

Thanks for that link. I have bookmarked it for future reference - although I'm hoping I won't need it

Barbara

Hello both

I am struggling a bit here as I have only just started on  India research myself and my Lewin family were definitely Civil Servants which makes the options pretty clear.

I have had a look at the FIBIS site and Cathy Day's again to see if I can find anyting useful.

I think this sets the picture
(from Cathy Day's site)
Church Records
India had no civil registration (including  birth certificates) as such. The next best thing for a genealogist is to use Church Records. About 80% of all baptism, marriage and burial records have survived today, and the good news is that they are all indexed and available on microfilm. Records of baptisms, marriages and burials are available 1698-1968, and are housed in the OIOC in London. If you live outside London, then the best way to have access to these records is to use the LDS (Mormon) microfilms, which will be available in an LDS Family History Centre near you. For details on how to use the OIOC records on microfilm, some transcriptions, addresses and photos of churches in India, visit the webpage on Church Records.
Some regiments of the British Army (not the HEIC Army) chose to have their records included in the General Registrar's Office records at what was formerly called St Catherine's House, in London. If your ancestor was in the British Army and you are unable to find your ancestor's baptism record in the church records held at the OIOC or on microfilm, there is a chance that they will be available in the Army Ecclesiastical Returns of the General Registrar's Office. Indexes to these records are available in most genealogical libraries and family history societies.

I think that may answer your question Jen.  The India Office reading room is in The British Library. 

Details here:
http://www.bl.uk/collections/oiocfamilyhistory/family.html

I have had a look at my reference books to find out the position of overseas births generally.  The Family Tree Detective by Colin D Rogers says
" It has always been optional for British Citizens (males only until 1983) to register the birth of their legitimate or legitimated children born abroad with a British consul........"

Also
"Those births which are registered with a Consul are recorded in the Consular Returns and/or the Chaplain's Returns from 1849 or occasionally earlier"

I have no personal experience of looking for Army Records or overseas births (other than the East India Company ones).

My inclination would be to try the Ecclesiastical Returns if other options have failed.

Incidentally Richard Lewin, one of the ancestors I am researching, died in Bellary in 1858 so I know it is in  the Madras Presidency.

Hope this helps

Barbara

Casalguidi

On the whole it looks to me that William was born about 1866/7 giving the ages of 4 and 14 in 1871 and 1881.
 
On his marriage he would have been about 24/25 and I wonder whether he added a few years to his age to minimise the fact that he was younger than his wife?

Have you looked at the 1901 census entry itself?  I wonder whether William's age might just have been mistranscribed.  On the other hand it could just be an error: I spent ages looking for the birth of one of my ancestors based on an incorrect census entry - he appeared 10 years younger on the census than he actually was!

I see that there may have been a mistranscription of the age of William senior in 1891: 40 instead of the more likely 46 or 48. Also some of the other entries are a bit odd eg Mark instead of Mary. Did your info come from a transcription or the census sheet?  I can look the entry up for you if this would be useful.

I have noticed that many ages on census sheets are difficult if not impossible to read because there are lines drawn through them.

Barbara

I am looking for
William Carr, about 71, born London. living on own means/fund holder
His wife Mary Bird Carr,about 65, born London or Watford
Their granddaughter Mary Lewin, about 16, born India (Madras).

in 1861 they were in Kensington but they were in Hove in 1881 and I believe they moved in the late 1860s. Mary's sister Amy was at school in Hove in 1871 and Mary may be with her.

Can anyone help please?

Barbara