My grandfather, Joseph John ALLAWAY, was born on 29 June 1870 in Ruardean, the son of Thomas ALLAWAY and Eliza PARSONS.
Whilst I can find the baptisms in Ruardean of all of his brothers and sisters, I am unable to find his baptism.
So, are some of the baptism records missing for this period, or is anyone aware of any reason why his parents did not (or could not) have him baptised?

Shirleyanne

There are no missing Ruardean parish records for that period that I am aware of.

I am in same same situation as you as I am unable to find a baptismal record of my great-grandfather Joseph WATKINS born Ruardean c1867. According to census records he was born out of wedlock to Esther WATKINS with 6 other siblings (no baptism records) were also living at the same house born out of wedlock to Esther. This I find hard to believe are the true facts and still do not know who the father of Joseph is and I'm not convinced that Esther is even the mother.

You gave a birth date for Joseph John ALLAWAY so I assume you have obtained a copy of his birth certificate. It is worth considering that maybe your Joseph John was born out of wedlock to a member of the family. We tend to believe what is on a birth certificate is absolute fact but that is not always the case. The registration details would have been supplied by a relative of the child and they could have told a few white lies. It is a lot harder to get away with that kind of thing these days but was not so hard to do a hundred or more years ago.

Record_ID: 14817
Entry_Number: 671
Year: 1870
Month: Jul
Day: 17
Parents_Surname: HOLLOWAY
Child_Forenames: Joseph John
Fathers_Forenames: Thomas
Mothers_Forenames: Eliza
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Ruardean
Occupation: Collier
Officiating_Minister: William Barker Vicar
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P109 IN 1/3
Page_Number: 84
Parish_Chapel: Drybrook

Thanks - this must be the 'missing' baptism. The family name has been recorded as Holloway on other occasions.