Why were people given birth certificates?

[CarolA3]

Over the years, I have applied for jobs where I had to give my father's birth details, and so I gave what I THOUGHT was correct, not what later came to be known.  I never got interviews for those jobs.  Possibly coincidence.  Or not.

That's intriguing.  I've applied for all sorts of jobs in more than one country, including UK Civil Service, and I can't recall anyone even mentioning my parents.  What on earth were you applying for
(Don't tell me if it means you'd have to kill me please.)

Carol

[Mart 'n' Al]

CarolA3.  Quite close!

Martin

[StevieSteve]

I worked one summer for the Met Police when they were confirming computerised records against each person's personnel file.

Every file had a birth certificate. Where someone was adopted or illegitimate, the birth certificate had been sealed.


I think nowadays any job that requires even basic security clearance asks for parents' details

[Jomot]

It seems unusual to have a married couple named as his parents but then be raised by grandparents - it's more usual to find certificates covering up illegitimacy by claiming the grandparents were the birth parents.

Is it possible that the 'cover up' is even deeper and that Harry's real mother was an unmarried sibling of one of his named parents?  (I do like a good old conspiracy theory )

[Mart 'n' Al]

Jomot, without DNA I will probably never know FOR SURE, but finding out was a shock for me two years ago.  I was estranged from my dad, Harry, at the time he found out, until long after his death.

His mother did go on to have further hitherto unknown relationships later.  She was a lovely 'aunt' to me, though!  Of course she secretly knew I was her grandson.

Martin

[Guy Etchells]

No, it's not a silly question. 90 years ago my father was born and was registered under the name of his birth mother and her husband. He was then brought up by his mother's parents as if he was their own child. He never found this out until he was nearly 60.  His mother and grandmother took the secrets to their graves.

It seems ludicrous now that the family carried on this deception for 60 years, and it was only when applying for a 10-year passport in his late 50s that my father found out his real birth name and the identity of his real mother. (He thought she was his elder sister.) He was able to go through his entire life, including national service, marriage, annual holidays in Europe, and a pension with a major corporation without ever needing his birth certificate.

I'm sure now you will see what I am getting at. I would welcome any comments. His mother was given a birth certificate which was obviously just put in a box before eventually being lost over the years. What did people actually need their birth certificate for?  What did people use them for?

These days, because of computerisation and increased security you have to show it for all sorts of purposes.

Martin

You have actually answered your own question in your post, or rather you have answered why every birth has to be registered.
If your father’s birth had not been registered the deception would never have been uncovered, until about the mid 1980s people did not normally have to prove their date of birth with the exception of pension entitlement which was required from around 1909. At that time many people did not have their birth certificates and some did not even know when or where they were born, this led to the census being used to prove their age.
Since the mid 80s a person needs to prove their age and nationality etc. more and more with the result that most think it amazing that older people went through their lives without the need of a birth certificate.

I should also add the main reason births were recorded in civil registers was to prove ones lineage, not for statistics or similar reasons but for family history purposes.
Cheers
Guy

[Jon_ni]

Martin

would the short version not have had my father's surname (his father's) on it though?

My grandmothers only has her name & DOB on in 1904 and mine similarly in 1965

Short Certs were typically given free or reduced cost at Registration whereas Full Certs had to pay. As I recall my parents retained my Full Birth Cert dated same day and was only some 10 years ago I got it from them. The Short Cert was sufficient for me to work and get a UK passport, well actually I've never had to submit any birth cert to passport office as I have renewed a previous one and my first was when a teenager. Back in the mid 90's I got a Canadian Work Visa but as far as I recall the full cert has never been officially unused.

also a GRO response
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/short_birth_certificate and https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/purpose_of_the_short_birth_certi

[iluleah]

Really civil registration was just that, a civil recording of when/where/date the person was born for the Government to keep a check on the people/numbers and a short copy of birth registration is given just as a 'keep sake' for the parents, because later on even if you are asked for your birth cert, they require the long version and many parents didn't get one as you have to purchase it.
It is just another civil record of each of us with information that has built up and expanded over the decades so 'they' know more about us than we know about ourselves......... however with all those increasing civil recordings it is very useful for family history research

[cati]

Conathy, I have never seen one.  I don't think the family was particularly religious.  Again, what would he have NEEDED to use the baptism cert for?

Martin

Not sure about the situation now, but proof of baptism was needed in order to for a person to be confirmed or married in a Anglican church.  A friend of mine was raised in a Jehovah's Witness household: when he married in 1973, he had to baptised in a CoE church in order to be married there.

Cati