Just remember that if you were married in 1870, & born after 1837 you stood a good chance of not having a birth certificate as it was'nt compulsory to register births until 1875. "Sod's Law Prevails", in my experience it's those about whom you want to know most who were'nt registered - or even included in the 1881 census!! Steve in Zelston, Dorset Annette wrote: > If you were married in 1870, did you have to provide your birth certificate, or did you just put what you were known by. > > I have John Alfred CAWTE age 26 married on 1.1.1870, surely he would have had to have been born in 1844. > So why could I only find a birth registration of John George CAWTE. (George was his fathers name). > Could this one and the same person?? ______________________________