Genealogy Chat

Hi there

Did all women out of wedlock have a record like this. Have a family member in 1804 in tickhill Doncaster.

Thanks

:-)

a record like what????



what I have found over the years I've been researching for myself and others is that illegitimate children were just as, if not more, common then as they are now .........

and living together common law was also at least equally as common


Forget all your pre-conceived notions of how moral and upright they were .......... this is very much a Victorian ideal that was promulgated mainly by the middle class.

Women who were pregnant or who had 1 or more children were frequently welcomed into a family ............... they had proved they were fecund, and therefore there would be a younger generation to take care of the oldsters.

This was especially so in rural areas, but also found in urban areas, and it doesn't seem to have been limited to what one might call the "lower classes".

A lot of my husband's ancestors were millers and farmers .............. and one particular branch seemed to get married only when the bride was pregnant! In fact, one person with whom I was in cotnact re this family pointed out that most of her brides in this fmaily had the midwife waiting at the door of the church. At least mine was only 5 months pregnant!

Even the so-called Victorians were not immune ................ my own grandmother was around 2-3 months pregnant when she married in 1902. And the number of upper class girls who were taken on the "European Grand Tour" by their mothers is pretty high!


It is relatively uncommon to find bastardy records, as most women often would not identify the putative fathers

Hi there,

Thank you for that,

I am simply stuck with just his name and mother, and trying to go back from there is impossible, I thought it may lead me to a fathers name.

Thank you.
:-D

Have you looked for the baptism of the child? Sometimes a father is named on the baptism record or if the child has what looks like a surname for a middle name then that can give a clue to the father.

There would only be a bastardy record if the woman tried to get financial help from the father but not all did and not all bastardy records will have survived.

Kath. x

Hi there,

Alas I don't have access to baptism records to find out, and it was before 1837.
Thanks :-D

Try here and put the name in the birth search. Baptisms come up:-

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/igi

Kath. x

If the mother was going to become a charge on the Parish then she would be examined by the Overseers who would do their best to find out who the father was so he could be forced to pay for support.

If the father came to a private arrangement or she was able to support herself, maybe with family help, then there is unlikely to be a formal record.

You need the Overseer’s to the Poor or/and Vestry records for the parish to see if she appears.

I would start by a search in an online catalogue of the relevant record office to see what records survive.

You may find this interesting
http://www.tickhillhistorysociety.org.uk/local_carepoor.asp

Good luck
Chris

Thank you everyone. Will check it out. :-D