William John Ayers b 1868-1871 Haggerstone

[Willowsman]

I cannot find a birth certificate or baptism record for my great grandfather William John Ayers (Ayres). Census records appear to show conflicting ages for him and despite searching all the possible years and name variations I have still had no success and wonder whether  the family may have opted to risk not having him registered at all? Or is there a dire clerical error by the registrar? I have followed census records and treated his parents as being Richard Liddiatt Ayers and Emma Herod. This has enabled me to get back to around 1760 in the Ayers lineage but without proof by certification or church records I can't help having nagging doubts about his parentage. I even found a reference on the LDS site to a William John with parents John and Emma and since Wiiliam's brother was called John I wonder if there was bit of infidelity involved.
Intruiging. 

[MaryA]

Confirmation of his father's name can only come from his marriage certificate.

[lizdb]

Is this them in 1871?
Rg10 466 43 10
Hartford Street St Leonards Shoreditch

Richard 34 labourer bn Glos
Emma 28 bn Shoreditch
Thomas R 5 bn Shoreditch
William J 3 bn Shoreditch
Elizabeth Herod mother in law 67 wid bn Shoreditch

The prescenece of the m-i-l called Herod seems to indicate you are on the right track!

[lizdb]

Here is his baptism

(indexed under Ayles)

All Saints Haggerston
27 March 1868
William John Ayres (or Ayles)
son of Richard and Emma
labourer 10 Paines Street

here is older brothers
St Leonards Shoreditch
4 MArch 1866 (born 8 Feb 1866)
Richard Thomas Ayres
son of Richard Thomas and Emma
plasterer 6 Clarence terrace

(looks like he swapped the names over to avoid confusion with his dad)

[lizdb]

Possible birth reg

Oct/Nov/Dec 1867
Shoreditch 1c 71
William Ayris

[Willowsman]

Thanks to all for your help. The baptisms are particularly helpful though I still cannot find any proper registrations. They must have ducked out of paying for them and run the risk of not having the births of William and Thomas registered. I will try ordering the Ayris variation though, just in case.
Many thanks