Missing births

[chris2705]

Hi

I am hoping that some kind soul can have a look at this and help.

I am trying to find the any of the birth records for three sisters who appear on the 1851 census for Limehouse, Stepney. They are:-

Rachel Bourke b. about 1843 Merthyr Tidfil, Wales
Ellen Bourke    b. about 1846 Poplar, Middlesex, England
Mary Bourke    b. about 1849 Wapping, Middlesex, England

Other family members are mother Mary (mother) and an older brother. I cannot find a GRO reference for Rachel or Ellen at all, and the transcription for Mary is wrong according to the GRO. They say it should read "Banbury" rather than "Stepney" which does not seem to fit.

Many thanks

[avm228]

How about this birth for Rachel?:

Jun qtr 1842

Rachel BURK

Merthyr Tydfil 26 423

[avm228]

...and for Ellen?:

Sep qtr 1849

Ellen BOURKE

East London 2 207

Sorry - wrong date!

[avm228]

the transcription for Mary is wrong according to the GRO. They say it should read "Banbury" rather than "Stepney" which does not seem to fit.

I agree that the Mary BOURKE whose birth was registered Sep qtr 1849 was registered in Banbury registration district according to the GRO index, so presumably she is not your Mary.

[avm228]

The best I can find for Ellen just now is:

Jun qtr 1845

Eleanor BURKE

Poplar 2 342

N.B. Ellen/Eleanor/Helena/Helen were often used interchangeably at the time.

[avm228]

Possible for Mary:

Jun qtr 1848

Mary BURK

Stepney 2 565

[chris2705]

Hi avm228

Thank you for taking the time to look at this.

Things are not made easier by the fact that the name "Bourke" is one of those that gets spelt a number of ways. Helena could be a possibility for Ellen as their brother's daughter was later named Helena. Do you know if there were many instances of births going unrecorded?

[Rena]

After a fruitless search for a death on the national index a district registrar looked on the copy that her office submits to the national registrar's office without success.  She then told  me that the system isn't infallible:-   The local registrar sends the information to the district registrar who, in turn, collates all the information (which is where an oversight can occur) and sends the information to London for inclusion on the national index.

[alpinecottage]

Up to 10% of those early births weren't registered....and then there's all the errors and mistranscriptions that have crept in between then and getting them onto Freebmd.  A significant proportion can't be found easily.