Could a birth have not been registered?

[pickpin]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me.  My friend recommended this forum after having a similar difficulty, so I have my fingers crossed! 

I can't find a record of one of my ancestor's birth.  She was born in the 1920s and her mother was unmarried.  I've searched first by her name and date of birth.  When that yielded no results, I searched a broader time, then tried removing the first name and searching for children who have the same surname as the mother's maiden name but still nothing that looks like it would be her.  Can you offer me any advice on where I can go next with this?  I know where her mother was living in 1921 and although the mother moves away, the ancestor in question is at that address in 1939 with her grandmother (the mother's mother).  Happy to provide any more information that may help. xxx

[PaulineJ]

Was it an unusual surname?

Any family connections to Scotland,  Ireland?

If thischild is in the 1939 register,  then presumably is deceased,  so there's no forum rule that she cannot be named.

Pauline

[iluleah]

If the child was a stillbirth it wouldn't be registered on the BMD index.
If the child was born elsewhere it will be registered where they were born, eg another county/country as many single women were sent away from home to unmarried mothers homes to give birth
Potentially she was registered/given another name other than she was known by/used.
Spelling of her name or an error in transcribing in the index could be different.

Have you looked for a baptism record?

[Guy Etchells]

Keep in mind a baby could be registered under the father's name even if the couple were not married as no checks were made.
Cheers
Guy

[CaroleW]

As you have found her on the 1939 register - it will give her actual birthdate.

Please give details of her full name & birthdate & where she was living at that time.

[jorose]

It sounds like you've searched by known surnames but not by first name + mother's maiden name only (possible on freebmd).  Or even just mother's maiden name only in the right area/quarter (plus the quarter after in case of late registration). This should hopefully pick up on a range of variants.

It is of course still possible for someone to have never been registered, but much less likely in 1920 then it was in 1840 when the system was still new.

[majm]

Was it possible for baby to be registered without a given name?   Even perhaps baby's mum may have been using perhaps ... a grandmothers maiden name?   

I am in NSW Australia,  I have a living rellie, born NSW in 1918,  her birth cert does not give her a given name.  No father noted on it either,   but it does have her mum's first name plus a surname matching her Gran .... and the  clincher is the exact address for place of birth,  and the signature of baby's mum ..... and of course the dob     

JM

[pickpin]

Hi All, thank you so much for all your replies. 

She is deceased so here is the info:
She was known as Ivy Page before she married (that is her name on the 1939 census), but Page was her step father's name, who we have always understood to have entered her mother's life a few years after she was born, so presume she was known by another surname for the first few years of her life.  On the 1939 census she is living with her maternal grandmother and her date of birth is listed as 21/02/23, but we always thought she was born in 1924 so could be later and we have a photo of her mum's wedding where she looks like she could be older than born in 23 or 24, so I'm also open minded that she could have been born earlier.  Her mother's name is Sarah Grace Ballham.  They lived in Smethwick, Birmingham and I've found her Mum and Grandmother at the 1939 address in the 1921 Census, so I think its likely they were living there when she was born, although Sarah Grace may have gone away to give birth.

To answer Iluleah - Ivy only died a few years ago, so definitely not a still birth.  I've tried looking for birth and baptism records on Ancestry.  I'm new to all this though, so it may be my search technique letting me down.

[Michael J]

There are a couple of Ivy Page's registered in Birmingham in 1924, mothers maiden names are 'Mowbray' in the Jun qtr & 'Mancer' in Sept qtr.

There is also an Ivy Manning with mmn Page in Sept qtr 1923.

Michael.