You may be interested to know what a senior manager from the Family Records Centre (R.I.P.) had to say in 2005. "There's no way of knowing exactly how many of our ancestors' vital life events escaped the registration net but, based on my personal experience, I would be very surprised if the real figure (in the early years) was more than 5 per cent overall. I also suspect that by the mid 1840s non-registration had ceased to be a significant problem other then in exceptional circumstances." He went on to say: "Did the 1874 Act make any difference? If it did, then we would expect to see a considerable rise in the number of births registered in 1875; but we don't. In fact, the total rises steadily and gradually throughout the 1870s without any significant increase after the 1874 Act became law. It seems that by the early 1870s, for the vast majority of people, trips to the Register Office had become a part of everyday life. The Act may have tightened up a few aspects of the process, but it had little or no effect on whether our ancestors chose to register family births or not." Tony

Tony Mitchell wrote: > You may be interested to know what a senior manager from the Family Records > Centre (R.I.P.) had to say in 2005. > > "There's no way of knowing exactly how many of our ancestors' vital life > events escaped the registration net but, based on my personal experience, I > would be very surprised if the real figure (in the early years) was more > than 5 per cent overall. I also suspect that by the mid 1840s > non-registration had ceased to be a significant problem other then in > exceptional circumstances." > > He went on to say: > > "Did the 1874 Act make any difference? If it did, then we would expect to > see a considerable rise in the number of births registered in 1875; but we > don't. In fact, the total rises steadily and gradually throughout the 1870s > without any significant increase after the 1874 Act became law. It seems > that by the early 1870s, for the vast majority of people, trips to the > Register Office had become a part of everyday life. The Act may have > tightened up a few aspects of the process, but it had little or no effect on > whether our ancestors chose to register family births or not." Thank you :)) -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, Ashcott, Shapwick, Greinton and Clutton, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk