There was (and still is) a hefty fine for deliberately giving wrong information, so informants were trusted to be truthful. It wasn't the registrar's job to ascertain the truth unless he suspected serious fraud. Many people lied and most of them got away with it.
I must look shifty because when the registrar visited me in hospital aftrr the birth of one of my children, he asked if I was married (routine question) and when I said yes, promptly asked me the date of my marriage!
Short certificates were issued free at the time of registration. Long certificates had to be paid for and most people couldn't see the point of that, so didn't bother.
OC
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