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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: dudjac on Saturday 22 April 06 19:40 BST (UK)
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Hi.
Maybe someone can tell me if it was usual for the mother of an illegitimate child to include the fathers surname as part of the childs name.
e.g. In 1856 I have a ancestor who had such a child and called him William Bromley Spink and also gave the fathers name as William Bromley Spink, a shoe maker by trade. I know this child was illegitimate and have found a person with the name William Bromley who was a shoe maker. I can never be sure if he was the father, but its a possibility.
Secondly I now come across another rellie in 1795, called Peggy Galton who had an illegitimate child and call her Mary Toms Galton.
I havent as yet tried to trace a chap called ....Toms, but again it seems a possibility.
Any remarks appreciated.
dudjac
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Hi dudjac !
It's very possible .... ! but it's also been suggested - that it could be the name of a "godparent" !!
I thought I had found the "long lost " father for one of mine and the "godparent" was on the baptism record !! ::)
Just a thought !
Annie :) :)
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Hi Annie.
Many thanks for your reply...I hadn't thought of that.
dudjac
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In all the cases I have come across the surname as a second name has been that of the father. I have three in my tree.
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My mother was always led to believe her fathers name was William Alvey Machin, but we could never find anything about him. Searching through bmd's I notice 'Alvey' as a surname and VOILA! Found him. After finding even more info about his family, he wasn't really an illegitimate child, rather, his mother was sleeping with somebody else - who she had many children with, even though she was still married to her first husband. Tut tut.
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Yes, I understand it was quite usual in Victorian times at least. My 4 x great grandmother was Fanny Culling. She had four or five children, all illegitimate, who were:
Josiah Green Culling
James Green Culling
Charles Winchester Green Culling (born in Winchester Street!)
Ada Anne Green Culling.
The last two at least were brought up by their grandmother, Mrs Ann Green, a widow of South London. Ann Green had three children that I know of: Josiah Green, Walter J Green and Martha, who married twice - Stanton and after his death, William Henry Giesen. She and William brought up Charles at least until William's accidental death, when Martha moved in with the widowed Walter and his children, and Charles and Ada had to live with Anne. There's no other connection that I know of, why the Greens should have been involved with Fanny's children, unless they knew and accepted that Josiah was their father.
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Thanks everyone for your replies.
Dudjac
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Hi.
Maybe someone can tell me if it was usual for the mother of an illegitimate child to include the fathers surname as part of the childs name.
e.g. In 1856 I have a ancestor who had such a child and called him William Bromley Spink and also gave the fathers name as William Bromley Spink, a shoe maker by trade. I know this child was illegitimate and have found a person with the name William Bromley who was a shoe maker. I can never be sure if he was the father, but its a possibility.
Secondly I now come across another rellie in 1795, called Peggy Galton who had an illegitimate child and call her Mary Toms Galton.
I havent as yet tried to trace a chap called ....Toms, but again it seems a possibility.
Any remarks appreciated.
dudjac
Hi there!
I am a direct descendant of Mary Toms Galton and have only just located her siblings and her mother Peggy. According to the Bishop's Transcripts (via Dorset Online Parish Clerk) that her fifth child, James Galton, was illegitimate, so I think we can assume they all were. Mary is the only one to have an additional "middle name" and I thought too that it might be the father's surname.
I've only just discovered all this as I said (after years of trying to find anything on Mary Toms Galton at all) so I've not done any more digging, but I would be interested in getting in touch as I see your research interests include Jacobs. My great grandmother was Anna Jane Jacobs (1872-1955), daughter of Samuel Jacobs (1826-1902), who was the son of James Jacobs (1794-1879) who married Mary Toms Galton.