Hello Jim, Very many thanks indeed for your interesting and comprehensive reply. It really surprises me to learn that children were required to be baptised before their birth could be registered. The birth certificate of my Gt. Grandmother arrived in the post this morning and she had been given a forename, although I know for sure that she was not baptised until a full month or more post the registration of her birth. This was in 1866 and her mother's birth was 20 yrs earlier in 1846, so maybe the registrars had become a little more "relaxed" by then!! David and I would be very interested to know when the letters were publishedin the Times re registrations of BMD's. We are regular readers, but this seems to have passed us by! Thanks once again for your help. Best wishes from : Jeanette Mem.11641