Was it possible to lie when registering a birth?.....

[SarahND]

Does anyone have an idea of how easy it might have been to cover up an illegitimate birth in a large city? Obviously, in a smaller place where everyone knows each other one assumes that this would not be possible, but, how much proof was required when registering the birth of a child in a place like Glasgow in 1819? Should I assume that if the record says the child is "lawful" that the parents were, indeed, married-- or could a clever person figure out a way to get around it. An assumed name? Someone else's marriage cert?
Just wondering... of course, this has nothing to do with my law-abiding lot...
Regards,
Sarah

[DavidWW]

Especially in a city parish where the minister or session clerk would be hard pushed to have detailed contact with all his parishioners I can only imagine that it was easy.

As far as I'm aware there was never any requirment placed on ministers by the General Assembly that "marriage lines" should be produced by those wishing to have a child baptised. In fact I don't even know how widespread the practice was of providing such marriage lines.

And, of course, so many folk would have only recently moved from a rural area to the city.

A rural parish would be very different.

I'm off to track down an Edinburgh reference ...........

David


Here we go .........................

A history of Edinburgh published in 1779 notes:

"The register of burials is kept by people whose faculties are impaired by drinking, who forget today what was done yesterday …….….. they enter not into the list of burials any who have died without receiving baptisms; nor those whose relations are so poor as not to be able to pay for the use of a mortcloth; nor those who die in the charity workhouse. …. As for the register of births, it does not deserve the name. True it is, a list is kept in the south side of St Giles' Church, where any person who choose to go with a piece of money, will get the name and birth of a child inserted. But no attention is paid to the observation of this practice, either by the clergy or by parents.”

dww

[SarahND]

Ah, well! I guess anything is possible as I suspected.
Thanks, David! This will give me some food for thought k
All the best,
Sarah