Violet. You may not find a birth certificate. Many births were not recorded during the early years of civil registration. Parents were only legally obliged to inform the registrar of the details of a birth if the registrar demanded them. Many people did not know about the law, or thought that a childs baptism, recorded in a church register was a legal alternative to registration. If you cannot find a birth entry, you should search church registers for a baptism. The births and Death Act of 1874 imposed a duty upon those present at a birth or death to report it to a registrar. There were fines for non-registration and penalties for late registration (more than 42 days after a birth). My grandfather born in 1860 was not registered. I found his baptism and obtained a copy of the certificate from the Wesleyan Chapel Louth. Hope this explains at least some of the missing entries. Kind Regards Angela (LEE) Eckington U.K. >Dear Angela >Thanks for the information but I need A birth Cetificate and Marriage too. >This is possibly the last link in our Family to Join two peoples Research >Your Truly >Violet Edwards (nee ) DUDDS > > >==== ENG-DERBYSHIRE-CHESTERFIELD Mailing List ==== >Check out the list's website for rules, guidelines, how to post to the >list, view archives, unsubscribe, change from L to D or D to L: >http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/Chesterfield/ > _________________________________________________________________ Want to block unwanted pop-ups? Download the free MSN Toolbar now! http://toolbar.msn.co.uk/