Author Topic: A slight delay in reporting a birth  (Read 1393 times)

Offline Ghostwheel

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A slight delay in reporting a birth
« on: Sunday 17 April 16 03:04 BST (UK) »
I was wondering if anyone knew any details on the penalty for reporting a birth late, such as what the exact deadline was and what the fee was?

The parish registry gives:
born 19 Feb 1865
bapt 19 Feb 1865   (both in Liscannor)

The cert gives:
born 2 March 1865
registered 20 March 1865

Here, I am a bit confused because it says "in the district of Roadford, in the Union of Ennistymon."  Both are the names of townlands.  I would suppose Ennistymon would be the place where it was registered.  Rightly?

The other curious thing is the distance involved.  If it is indeed Ennistymon, that is quite close to Liscannor.  Not a grueling 20km hike through mountains, as seems to have been the case with certain of my other ancestors.

And more surprising still.  It was the mother who reported it.  This seems quite unusual to me.  I have even wondered if the father was a seasonal laborer in England, though see no way it can be proved.  I do know his occupation was reported here as laborer and he probably held no lands.  I believe he later died a "fish hawker."  And I can imagine any penalty fee would have been considered significant.

Offline hallmark

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Re: A slight delay in reporting a birth
« Reply #1 on: Sunday 17 April 16 08:33 BST (UK) »
Don't know what the Fines were!!


The date of birth on the certificate should, however, be treated with a little caution. The longer the period between the birth and the date of registration, the more likelihood the date of birth is incorrect. But some registrations that appear to have been recorded promptly after the birth may also be incorrect; families were fined if they recorded the birth outside set time limits so would register a false date of birth to avoid hefty penalties.

Just as each PLU was subdivided into Dispensary Districts, each with its own medical officer, so each SRD was subdivided into Registrar's Districts. Since the Registrar's District corresponded geographically to the Dispensary District, it was often the medical officer who took on the additional duties of the District Registrar.

When not attending the sick and dispensing medicine, he was required to issue death, birth and marriage certificates and record appropriate entries in a register.

http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Ireland-civil-registration.html

http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/image-files/registrardistrictsmapsouth2.jpg
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Offline aghadowey

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Re: A slight delay in reporting a birth
« Reply #2 on: Sunday 17 April 16 10:21 BST (UK) »
And more surprising still.  It was the mother who reported it.  This seems quite unusual to me...
It's not that uncommon for the mother to be the one to register the baby's birth.

I am a bit confused because it says "in the district of Roadford, in the Union of Ennistymon."  Both are the names of townlands.  I would suppose Ennistymon would be the place where it was registered. 
Ennistymon would be the Poor Law Union/Registration and Roadford is likely the sub-district. So, the mother would have gone to the registrar for Roadford (possibly local doctor)- the Registrar's name will also appear on the certificate.

In England registration became compulsory in 1874 (births recorded from 1837) but in Ireland I think the date was 1870. I think the time allowed to get a birth registered was then 6 weeks and after that date there was a fine. However, bear in mind that many people wouldn't be aware of dates and it's not at all strange to find different dates recorded in baptismal records, Family Bibles and on certificates.
Away sorting out DNA matches... I may be gone for some time many years!