Genealogy Chat

Hi

My gggran was born illegitimately under her mothers maiden name in Warninglid, Sussex. Only 6 months later, she married the alleged father. His previous wife died 6 weeks before the birth of the illegitimate babe. The father probably didnt want to marry the mother as soon as his first wife died because she was about 7 months pregnant and he needed time to grieve. Also, he had only 1 child who was 12. Afterwards, he then moved his new family to London.

Once the parents wed, the babe was given his name and was baptised as his daughter and every cert, census and poor relief document says that he was the father.

I might not prove it, but in my opinion, I think he probably was. He worked as a servant and his first wife was ill for quite a while before she died.

Because he had an eventful life he is one of my fave ancestors. I'd hate to find that he actually wasnt a biological rellie. But I think he was.

Ben

Thanks for all your comms, I'm afraid that i will probably never be able to trace my tree back on my grandmothers paternal side as there are no clues in her name and when i checked for a bastardy order in the assize records there was nothing listed.
Thanks for all your input
Sue

Does your grandmother have an unusual second given name? Quite often the kiddie was given the surname of the father as the second name.

Thought for quite some time that one g g grandmother was illegitimate as she had a most unusual second name, and her father wasn't named on her marriage certificate. A lot of searching, plus a couple of lucky breaks, revealed that her second name was in fact a female ancestor's maiden name. Her father had died when she was 2 and she had been fostered out, so she simply didn't know his name.

My great-grandfather had no father's name on his birth cert, but the father given on his marriage cert was the man his mother married 4 years after he was born, whose surname he always used. I didn't think he could be the father, as both parents were free to marry at the time of the birth, but I was lucky enough to find his will, which described my GGF as "my natural son".

My grandparents never married, and as such, my mum has no father named on her birth certificate.But thanks to word of mouth, I have a name and occupation.

Not much, but better than nothing.

Gail

The fact that there's no father named on the cert doesn't necessarily mean that the father was married or a person of standing. I don't think the father could be named unless he went to register the birth with the mother.

A clue is often found in the child's middle name; e.g. if the child is called Anne Brown Smith, and her mother was Miss Smith, the father may have been a Mr Brown.

My grandmother was illegitimate. She was born in the workhouse with no name for the father. Apparently this shows that the father was a person of standing or married, who couldnt be named. As I found out, he was the local landowner - a baron, her mother worked for. Gran told us she played up at "the big house", went hunting, played in the garden etc. Unusual for the family to be so generous - they also supported her and sent her to be trained as a nurse.Barbara Taylor Bradford's biography explains about certificates with blank "father".

Jane

Great tip, Thanks Ann

Hi Gwyn
We have all the adoption papers, and certificates and there is no mention of the fathers name.
Thanks
Sue

There just may have been mention of a father in adoption papers, - if this was formal adoption after 1927.
Unfortunately I believe that only the adoptee has permission to access their records.

Gwyn

Thanks Kate, My Grandmother was later put up for adoption so the only names listed were her adopted parents
sue

Thanks Kirsty,
All relatives that would have any information are now deceased.
Regards
Sue

I'm not sure - because the father is not named, I think it will be an uphill struggle (unless there are any family rumours floating around - although I suppose they would only have been known to her own mother's family, if at all).

One possibility - if you can find her baptism, perhaps there might be something on the record that suggests a father's name. I have seen quite a few children baptised with something like "John Smith, his supposed father" written under father's details!

My Grandmother was illegitimate, there is no name on the birth certificate under father. Are there any records or searches that i can do to fill in the missing blanks.

sue