Birth, Baptism etc.. did they register their children as foreign born etc..
I would love to find out if they were registered as Foreign born and were they still considered Irish or then South African's?
Frustrated as this post is 10 years old and no closer to finding anything new, sadly 
and when I do catch up I am gathering the people here saying we share the same Ancestors may well be long gone.
I assume that they followed the same practice as they did in Ireland and Britain and that the only evidence a person had as to where and when they were born was an entry in a baptism register. Registration of births began in England in 1837, Scotland 1855 and Ireland 1864. Since the authorities didn't have registrations for home births I doubt that they would be interested in children born to people who had emigrated and who were not expected to return. The exception was children of soldiers. Regimental chaplains kept baptism registers from mid 18th century. Soldiers, their wives, widows or children might need proof of legitimate birth so that they could claim pensions and other benefits.
The British government twice levied taxes on births, marriages and deaths in 18th century. The Anglican curate of each parish was responsible for listing every baby born, often in the baptism register and collecting the money. The government was only concerned with the amount of money raised, not in the babies, (a high proportion of whom would die, anyway).
British Consulates forwarded info to Britain about births in their region from mid 19thC. for inclusion in a foreign births register. It would have been the responsibility of parents or chaplains to supply information. It wasn't compulsory.
I looked at Sheila May's profile. She has posted only about this topic. There is a private message function which can be used by new members when they have made 3 posts. If Sheila doesn't reply to this thread you could try sending her a message.
