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Why is her birth registration missing?

peter

peter

Administrator
Staff member
Kate isn't the only family member who birth registration seems to be missing, and that's not all that's unusual about this family - look at the gaps between the children.

Any thoughts?
 
I have had a quick look and see what you mean about the missing birth registration.
I looked at the 1881 census to get an idea of the family.
The father was transcribed as Mixby Go Luard, no wife present and 6 children.
I found the marriage which gave the father's name as Bixby and 2 possible brides.
Checking the children in the GRO I found the maiden name for the mother.
That lead me to some of the birth registrations where I found names different than on the census.
Margrett on the census was Margaret Annie in GRO.
Frank M on the census was Trant Bramston Luard on FreeBMD but Frank on GRO.
Helen L on census was Ellen Lucy on GRO.
What I did find was that the birth for Helen/Ellen, a year older than Kate, was registered in Chelmsford.
The birth for Frank, a year younger than Kate on the census was registered in Orsett.
I searched Chelmsford and Orsett for biths in 1872, to see if I could find a similar sounding name or a Kate K/Catherine, but did not find anything.
It was just a quick search on FreeBMD, so I may have missed something.
To me it looked as if the family moved around the time of Kate's birth.
The mother could have been elsewhere for the birth, say with her parents, and registered the birth there and the name was written down incorrectly.
That's as far as I have got.
Any other thoughts?
 
Haven't got a clue!

Found these on the GRO

LUARD, FREDERICK BRAMSTON BRAMSTON
GRO Reference: 1861 D Quarter in WITHAM Volume 04A Page 278

LUARD, HUGH BIXBY BRAMSTON
GRO Reference: 1862 D Quarter in WITHAM Volume 04A Page 287

LUARD, ANNETTE JANE BRAMSTON
GRO Reference: 1868 S Quarter in CHELMSFORD Volume 04A Page 202

LUARD, ELLEN LUCY BRAMSTON
GRO Reference: 1871 S Quarter in CHELMSFORD Volume 04A Page 201

UARD, FRANK BRAMSTON BRAMSTON
GRO Reference: 1873 D Quarter in ORSETT Volume 04A Page 175

LUARD, ROSE MARY BRAMSDON
GRO Reference: 1876 S Quarter in ORSETT Volume 04A Page 208

LUARD, MARGARET ANNIE BRAMSTON
GRO Reference: 1880 J Quarter in ORSETT Volume 04A Page 263

Not sure about this one because of the location and the date of registration
LUARD, HENRY JOHN -
GRO Reference: 1874 J Quarter in SCARBOROUGH Volume 09D Page 350

Kate Evelyn Luard
Likely born on 29 June 1872 according to newspaper reports and 1939 register

Name: Kate Evelyn Luard
Baptism Date: 28 Jul 1872
Baptism Place: Aveley, Essex, England
Father: Bixby Garnham Luard

But can't find a birth registration at all. :-(
 
Yes, judging by the birthplaces on the censuses and the birth registrations, it seems the family moved from Hatfield Peverel to Danbury between 1866 and 1868, then from Danbury to Aveley about 1872, around the time of Kate's birth, as Katie Bee has mentioned.

As well as the births Lana lists, there is a birth of Edwin Percy Luard registered Chelmsford, 4th qtr of 1869 which fits with the youngest child on the 1871 census.

Like Lana, I also found the birth of Rose Mary Luard in 1876, but she doesn't appear in the censuses with the family, where she would bridge the gap between Trant (b.1873) and Margaret (b.1880). Her absence is easily explained. In 1881 she is with her mother Clara, staying with another Luard family in Witham headed by William G Luard, presumably Bixby Luard's brother, as Clara is described as his sister-in-law, and in 1891 Rose Mary is with her aunt Mary Bramston in Croydon. Rose Mary Luard spinster is named in her sister Kate Evelyn's 1962 probate record along with their brother Trant Branston Luard (retired lieutenant colonel HM Army).

What is surprising is that it's not just Kate's birth record that is missing, but also those of her siblings Alexander, Frank William and Clara Georgina, all apparently born in Hatfield Peverel between 1863 and 1866. According to a 'British Civil Service Evidence of Age' record on FMP, the Revd Bixby G Luard signed an official declaration (in 1893) that 'my daughter Clara Georgina Luard was born at Hatfield Peverel Vicarage in the County of Essex on 28th February 1866'. So her birth should have been registered at Witham in the 1st or 2nd quarter of 1866, but I can find no such record on FreeBMD, GRO or FMP. Presumably the declaration was needed in the absence of a birth certificate. But it seems very odd that these children's births do not appear to have been registered at the time.

As for Kate Evelyn, I don't really buy the theory that the reason for the lack of registration was that the family were on the move and so the mother Clara may have given birth elsewhere. Surely Kate would have been registered somewhere else in that case? She was clearly back in Aveley at one month of age for her baptism. But her birth doesn't seem to have been registered in anything like the right name anywhere in the country. Strange. Perhaps they felt official registration wasn't that important...
 
This Article on the British Nurses website gives a list of all the Luard children with birthdates.
You can see which ones are missing from Lana's list.
peter said:
Kate was supposedly the 10th of 13 children.
Click to expand...
In this list Kate is the 10th of 13

Kate’s siblings:

  • Frederick Bramston Luard, born 3rd November 1861
  • Hugh Bixby Luard, born 13th October 1862
  • Alexander Trant Luard, born in 1863
  • Frank William Luard, born 15th January 1865
  • Clara Georgina Luard, born 28th February 1866
  • Amy Charlotte Luard, born 1867 (died in infancy)
  • Annette Jane Luard, born 29th August 1868
  • Edwin Percy Luard, born 13th October 1869
  • Helen Lucy Luard, born 17th July 1871
  • Katherine (Kate) Evelyn Luard, born 29th June 1872
  • Trant Bramston Luard, born 5th November 1873
  • Rose Mary Luard, born 22nd April 1876
  • Margaret Annie Luard, born 10th March 1880
Sorry it does not help in working out why there is no birth registration.
 
Bringing all the info together.

Why go to the effort of registering a death if you didn't register the birth? I don't think this is a family issue but an issue with the records. I don't understand enough about the records to see what error might have happened. Why is Edwin on FreeBMD and not on GRO - or have I missed something on GRO?

Kate’s siblings:

Frederick Bramston Luard, born 3rd November 1861 - LUARD, FREDERICK BRAMSTON BRAMSTON - GRO Reference: 1861 D Quarter in WITHAM Volume 04A Page 278
Hugh Bixby Luard, born 13th October 1862 - LUARD, HUGH BIXBY BRAMSTON - GRO Reference: 1862 D Quarter in WITHAM Volume 04A Page 287
Alexander Trant Luard, born in 1863 - Not yet found (likely born 20 September 1863 looking at newspaper announcements - at Hatfield Peverel Vicarage)
Frank William Luard, born 15th January 1865 - Not yet found
Clara Georgina Luard, born 28th February 1866 - Not yet found
Amy Charlotte Luard, born 1867 (died in infancy) - Not yet found but death registered - LUARD, AMY CHARLOTTE 0 - GRO Reference: 1867 S Quarter in WITHAM Volume 04A Page 190 (Likely born 20 July 1867 looking at newspaper announcements - at Hatfield Peverel Vicarage. Article on 20 September (Alexander's birthday) - Sept. 18th, at Hatfield Peverel Vicarage, Amy Charlotte. the infant daughter of the Rev. Bixby G. Luard, aged two months.
Annette Jane Luard, born 29th August 1868 - LUARD, ANNETTE JANE BRAMSTON - GRO Reference: 1868 S Quarter in CHELMSFORD Volume 04A Page 202
Edwin Percy Luard, born 13th October 1869 - On FREEBMD not on GRO - Births Dec 1869 LUARD Edwin Percy Chelmsford 4a 203
Helen Lucy Luard, born 17th July 1871 - LUARD, ELLEN LUCY BRAMSTON- GRO Reference: 1871 S Quarter in CHELMSFORD Volume 04A Page 201
Katherine (Kate) Evelyn Luard, born 29th June 1872 - Not yet found
Trant Bramston Luard, born 5th November 1873 - LUARD, FRANK[transcription error?] BRAMSTON BRAMSTON GRO Reference: 1873 D Quarter in ORSETT Volume 04A Page 175
Rose Mary Luard, born 22nd April 1876 - LUARD, ROSE MARY BRAMSDON - GRO Reference: 1876 S Quarter in ORSETT Volume 04A Page 208
Margaret Annie Luard, born 10th March 1880 - LUARD, MARGARET ANNIE BRAMSTON - GRO Reference: 1880 J Quarter in ORSETT Volume 04A Page 263
 
Last edited:
peter said:
Kate isn't the only family member who birth registration seems to be missing, and that's not all that's unusual about this family - look at the gaps between the children.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
I have found a Bertram S Luard Selby in the 1871 census, he is age 18 so born about 1853 and a student at Tonbridge Grammar School, Judd House, Tonbridge. In the 1881 census I found Bertrand L. Selby age 28? Professor of Singing and Pianoforte. born Ightham, Kent, living Dorchester Place, Marylebone. I have noticed a few Selby's in the search for LUARDS, Im wondering if this is significent.
There is also a Reginald Bertram Luard-Selby in 1939, born 14 Dec 1884. He is the Vicar of Troutbeck, living the Vicarage, Butt Hill, The Lakes U.D. Westmorland. Thats all I've got for now. ReneR
 
Why are the page numbers lower for Witham in Sep 1863 than for Mar and Jun 1863. Surely the page numbers would increase as time passes?

Also, what does the following mean (found when looking for all the Witham births for 1863-1867 on FreeBMD) as it doesn't come up as a district of birth on the GRO search.

The district Wollam has been linked by FreeBMD to Witham although it is not strictly an alternative name for this district.
Witham is in the county of Essex;

The district Wolam has been linked by FreeBMD to Witham although it is not strictly an alternative name for this district.
Witham is in the county of Essex;
 
I've just had a look at Kate's baptism entry in the Aveley parish register available online through the Essex Record Office's Seax catalogue. Interestingly, in the surname column "Luard" is written above a crossed out "Bramston". I've had a quick look for births of females born 1870-1872 with the surname Bramston, but haven't found a match.
 
Lana said:
Why is Edwin on FreeBMD and not on GRO - or have I missed something on GRO?
Click to expand...

I have found Edwin's birth on GRO, by searching using 'Phonetically similar variations' for surname:

LNARD, Edwin Percy, mother's maiden name BRANSTON (sic), registered 1869 D Quarter in CHELMSFORD Volume 04A Page 203

So transcription error on surnames (both LUARD and BRAMSTON, unless the latter was registered as Branston - easy mistake to make as I did for Trant Bramston Luard in my previous post!). But it must be the right birth.

I've generally found more transcription errors in GRO than FreeBMD (another example here is the mistranscription of Trant (in FreeBMD) to Frank (in GRO)). I guess it's because the FreeBMD transcriptions are often checked by more than one person.
 
Lana said:
Also, what does the following mean (found when looking for all the Witham births for 1863-1867 on FreeBMD) as it doesn't come up as a district of birth on the GRO search.

The district Wollam has been linked by FreeBMD to Witham although it is not strictly an alternative name for this district.
Witham is in the county of Essex;

The district Wolam has been linked by FreeBMD to Witham although it is not strictly an alternative name for this district.
Witham is in the county of Essex;
Click to expand...
I would imagine it means that the name of the registration district was misspelled in the GRO indexes during this period.
 
Helen7 said:
I've generally found more transcription errors in GRO than FreeBMD (another example here is the mistranscription of Trant (in FreeBMD) to Frank (in GRO)). I guess it's because the FreeBMD transcriptions are often checked by more than one person.
Click to expand...
The FreeBMD transcription is from the contemporary index - large parts of which are typeset, including the period that we're reviewing. But even where they are handwritten the transcriber had the advantage of knowing that the surnames were in alphabetical order, and of dealing with the same handwriting for page after page. Even though 'Lnard' and 'Luard' are hard to tell apart they would be in completely different places in the index - it would be impossible for a FreeBMD transcriber to mistake the 'u' for an 'n'.

The GRO's new indexes have been compiled from the register volumes where every entry is handwritten and the handwriting changes with each registration district.

Additionally, the GRO's indexes include more information, so you'd expect the number of incorrect entries to be higher. FreeBMD transcribers couldn't get the maiden name wrong before 1911.
 
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