Registering A Birth In The 1960S, England - False Details

[barry1010]

How easy would it have been for a woman to have registered her daughter's baby as her own in 1960?  The baby would grow up believing her birth mother was her sister and her grandmother, her mother.

 

[bhg481]

Very easy, I would think. It seems there's plenty who think their dad is their father because the mother lied.

[Peter Pedant]

drama about this when I was a student ( 1970) but she has stolen the baby

this wd be an agreed unofficial adoption

and even then you cdnt say - oh look I had a baby and no one knew - the authorities MIGHT go  thro the GP and social services

also the pregnant mother - you cdnt just lose the baby - gone away and no evidence

[barry1010]

There has always been a legal presumption that a married man is the father of his wife's children.

I can't remember if we had any paperwork from the midwives or hospitals when our children were born that had to be taken to the registrar. 

[Barmaid]

I would have thought very easy since there were just no checks done in those days.  I do not know when hospitals issuing a certificate of birth began, but that would have been relatively easy to get round since 14 year old Alice could have given her name as Bertha (name of Mum) at a hospital in a different town and then the baby is registered as the child of Bertha.  Very often women went to give birth to illegitimate children miles away from their own home.

This is only conjecture on my part because my knowledge of such things really stops about 1900!

[barry1010]

Thanks, Barmaid

[barry1010]

Could the grandmother have gone to the registry office and registered the birth with herself as mother and her husband as father?

[Barmaid]

Yes, father did not have to be present since as you say there is a presumption that the husband of a married woman was the father.  I think this might be in the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, but I cannot be sure.  I just had a quick look at some of the birth certificates I have where the wife has registered the birth.  Of course, that does not mean the father was not present, but my guess is that if the father was present he would be noted as the informant.

[DDIL]

Would it not have been the man registering the birth.

Given the 1960's when women were still not allowed their own bank accounts etc (except in exceptional circumstances)

I know my father registered my birth in the 70's and my sister (he spelt her name wrong)

 

[barry1010]

Either parent could register the birth in England at that time. 

[barry1010]

Barmaid, so grandmother could have falsely registered herself as mother?

There has always been a legal presumption that husband is the father. The father only has to be there if the parents aren't married 

[Ringlet]

That was a common occurrence in Northern Ireland in the fifties and sixties (and probably before that time, but it's the fifties and sixties that I remember). 

Often, the entire town knew the true circumstances of the child's birth, except the child him or herself.  The motive was to protect the child from the bigotry and condemnation that surrounded "out-of-wedlock" births, but in my opinion, the psychological damage that was done to the child would have outweighed any good intentions.  

[bhg481]

Our daughter was born in hospital in the 1960's and the registrar visited the maternity ward weekly so my wife was able to register her birth. Looking back at our own generation (1940's) it was mainly the father who registered the birth but not exclusively.

[barry1010]

People plotting to do this would opt for a home birth where possible

[DDIL]

Or a home for unmarried mothers

[maggiebee]

Think the law in Scotland is different. My three were born in the 60s and I'm sure I had to take a Certificate of Birth (from the hospital) to the Registry Office when we registered their births.

[barry1010]

That's interesting, thanks, maggie

[Barmaid]

Barry at 10.16, yes I believe that would be possible. Could also have been a home birth/concealed pregnancy.

Obviously I do not wish to intrude on what could be something sensitive, but an ancestry type dna test could answer this depending on who would be willing/able to test.

[Barmaid]

DDIL I have many copy birth certs dating back to around the 1850s and about 70% are registered by the mother.