Can anyone help me find a birth in 1849?

[AndrewP]

Would it have been common for an illegitimate birth to have gone unregistered legal or not?

Hi Lou,

As the birth you are looking for is pre-1855, there was no legal obligation for registration. Prior to 1855 it is the church records (usually of baptisms rather tha birth) that you need to look at. These are dominantly the Old Parochial Registers (OPRs). The OPRs were kept by the (Established) Church of Scotland. Most of the entries in them are for baptisms in the Church of Scotland. Baptisms in other churches were supposed to have been advised to the Church of Scotland for inclusion in the registers, but in reality this seldom happened. Even within the Church of Scotland, do not count on all baptisms being registered, that was not the case either. In some areas it has been estimated that as few as 30% of children born in the parish had their baptisms registered in the Parish Registers. The inferrence from that is that others were better than 30%.

All the best,

AndrewP

[HeatherH]

Hi Lou,
I was trawling through the BVRI and couldn't find any sign of your Margaret Wright (with any variation) or even a Margaret Bell. Not to worry as the BVRI is far from complete. However I did come across these two and thought they might be of some interest .

WRIGHT, Isabella Christening
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 26 Jan 1826
Christening Date: 26 Feb 1826 Recorded in: Jedburgh, Roxburgh, Scotland
Father: James WRIGHT
Mother: Margaret PURDIE
Source: FHL Film 1067945 Dates: 1803 - 1855

WRIGHT, William Christening
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 30 Jun 1827
Christening Date: 22 Jul 1827 Recorded in: Jedburgh, Roxburgh, Scotland
Father: James WRIGHT
Mother: Margaret PURDIE
Source: FHL Film 1067945 Dates: 1803 - 1855

Both these images can be viewed at a LDS Family History Center.
Happy Hunting,
HeatherH

[Lou]

Thanks Heather ,

I had the names but not the birth dates for them so that's another blank space filled.