Hi there, I'm new to the list and wondered if anyone could help with the following : My ggmother, Ellen LOWE was born Preston 1845. She married Richard TAYLOR, son of John TAYLOR and Anne PARKER TAYLOR b. 1843 Glossop, in 1863. Richard had a brother, Henry, and they both joined the 19th Hussars. Richard and Ellen had some children who all died in infancy and they immigrated to New Zealand 19-12-1876 aboard "Jessie Osborne". Henry married and settled in Darwen. Could SKS possibly check Ellen's birth. Thank you. Cheryl, New Zealand.

Hi, Cheryl, You wrote > My ggmother, Ellen LOWE was born Preston 1845. Could SKS possibly check Ellen's birth? Unfortunately there is no easy way and no sure way of doing this. Civil Registration was introduced in 1837 and required that all Births, Marriages and Deaths were recorded - this should do it surely? No! The legislation required the Registrar to record these events and he could only record them if he found out about them. It was only in the 1870s that the responsibility for registration shifted to the 'family'. Further, initially people took the view that "if I am not recorded, I cannot be taxed" and "I've had the baby baptised, that is sufficient". The details of how to obtain a copy of the Birth Registration is available via www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/. It will be cheaper to obtain the certificate from the local office in Preston than through the national office. There is no open access to these Registers. The alternative strategy, and you may need this if the birth was not registered, is to check for her Baptism. Again, not as simple as it sounds. Preston has always been a place of varied religious adherence. There was always a presence of the Old Religion after the Reformation, and as time went on there were various communities of Protestant Dissenters. By 1840 there were eight Anglican churches, three Roman Catholic churches and about thirteen Non-Conformist chapels, according to a book by T.R. Flintoff "Preston Churches and Chapels" (1985). It is likely that some of these have not survived and certainly those of the RC community have not been published, even if they have been transcribed. > Henry married and settled in Darwen. If you have not already done so, it may be possible to find Henry in the 1881 Census Transcript on CD. Sorry to have to provide a rather gloomy reply, but I hope it helps Jim Lancaster (Bury, LAN)