Missing birth certificate

[JohnH]

Hi all - I have hit a brick wall relating to my grandmother in that I cannot find a birth certificate for her. Am hoping someone here can give me further guidance on what I can do next.

Her name was Rose Amy Fensom and she was born on 6th November 1903 in the Bow area of Poplar, London. Although I have no definite confirmation on this (as no birth certificate!), it was the date she always gave for her birth and which is also given in the 1939 register. Ages given on her marriage certificate and in the 1911 census also tally with this (although this doesn't 100% confirm it).

I have the certificates (or references to them) for all of her other siblings all of whom are listed in the registration district of Poplar but I simply cannot find an entry for her anywhere. I have contacted Tower Hamlets registry office who have been very helpful but also not had any luck finding an entry for her in their local records. I have tried searching using as many varieties of Fensom (which often gets mis-transcribed) as I can think of and also searched using her mothers maiden name of Payne. I have also searched just on her first name(s) but can find nothing that comes close. Searches were conducted on a variety of sites including Ancestry, FindMyPast, FreeBMD, FamilySearch and the GRO website but with no luck.

A bit of background which may help: she was born to parents William Walter Weston Fensom and Louisa Mary Fensom (née Payne) who had a total seven children (including my grandmother) between 1892 and 1903. Her mother had a further four children after this between 1906 and 1912 with another man, Joseph Goodman. Again, I have the birth certificates for these children and again they are all under Poplar registration district. Note that Louisa and Joseph were never actually married although they do all appear in the 1911 census under the name of Goodman.

My grandmother always stated that her father (William) died around the time of her birth which is why her mother ended up with Joseph Goodman. However, I have since found William alive and well in the 1918 electoral register living in Bethnal Green and it appears he went on to re-marry in 1920 and lived out his life, after fathering another five children, in Hackney until his death in 1946. So it simply looks as if her parents separated for some reason not long after she was born.

How much of this my grandmother actually knew if anything, is unknown. I mention it only as it shows some big change occurred at or just after the time of her birth which may account for the missing birth certificate. Unless I have missed something completely obvious, I am starting to think that she was either one of the very few who were never registered or she was adopted and so registered under a name completely unknown to me. My mother does not recall ever seeing a birth certificate for her but I find it hard to believe she lived to the age of 93 without needing to reference one.

Apologies for the length of this post but I wanted to include as much information as possible. However, am sure there is much more information I can provide if needed so please do let me know if this is the case.

Many thanks.

[Mick Loney]

Must be the area I have the same problem with my Grandfather Wiiliam Loney, born in limehouse around 1890/91.
Like you, I have his brothers and sisters registration, but cannot firnd his. I have his seaman’s registration card, 1939 entry and his death certificate, all confirming his date of birth, but no birth certificate!.
I can only assume that rather than get fined for late registration, my great grandparent didn’t bother. How he got through life without the need for the certificate I don’t know.
As I actually met his father, so the absence of the birth certificate wasn’t a problem genealogy wise, but it would be nice to tidy things up.