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Why can you not find a birth registration?
At the talk by Anthony Marr on the 15th September he was asked this question.
Apart from a lack of registration in the 19th century he made a suggestion that is obvious when you think deeply about it.
He said that perhaps the child was registered with a surname that was one that they did not use in their life time.
Why could this be? Our thoughts are that there are a number of reasons.
Perhaps the child was registered under the mother maiden name but later in life they used another surname once the mother remarried..
Perhaps the child was registered under a father's surname then he died and the mother remarried and the child's surname was changed to the new husband's surname.
Perhaps the child was registered under a father's surname then he died and the mother could not support the child so was informally adopted and later used the adopted parent's surname.
Perhaps the child grew up and used an alias.
Perhaps the child grew up and entered into a trade that they then used as a trade name that became their surname.
Perhaps a child grew up and did not like or found their surname embarrassing so adopted a new surname.
Perhaps the child grew up and they were left money or an estate by a relative who insisted they change their surname to that of the relative.