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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: gill baker on Thursday 11 February 16 10:41 GMT (UK)
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My relative was accordung to birth certificate illegitimate in 1909, Scotland. Father not given.
Father not mentioned on marriage certificate or death certificate. As far as I know no paternity court case in Sheriff Court.
Family members from this period are all long gone.
Are there any other sources I can search or is this a question that will never be answered?
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It is a question that will never be answered.
If he isn't named on any surviving documents (and seems you have checked all possibles) then any "guesses" will be no more than that, and it is grossly unfair to label someone as father of an illegitimate child on that basis.
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Have you located a baptism record? sometimes clergy were quite deligent in recording the father ;)
You say family members from that period are no longer living but what about their descendants? it's not uncommon for such information to be handed down. You might not get a name but something along the lines of 'father was working on next farm' might be remembered.
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Hi
Tried asking next generation only 2 people both over 80 - still no knowledge of father's name.
No know ledge of any baptism. Birth took place in Glasgow where there were many non-RC churches and non-conformist groups.
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Would the mother be called to church to answer the "act of fornication charge" in the early 1900's or was that a previous thing?
Regards
Malky
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one of mine has it written on his baptism record (well both versions of his name I don't know which one was 'real')
However for the one in the 20th century I have no hope of working it out
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I'm afraid that you've probably come to the end of the line.
I have something similar with a great great grandfather. His mother and aunt appear to have been the principal suppliers of illegitimate children to the village in the mid 19th century (three apiece, and two infant burials which were probably theirs as well).
Without a record ... it could have been almost anyone in the village!
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I'm afraid that you've probably come to the end of the line.
I have something similar with a great great grandfather. His mother and aunt appear to have been the principal suppliers of illegitimate children to the village in the mid 19th century (three apiece, and two infant burials which were probably theirs as well).
Without a record ... it could have been almost anyone in the village!
Similar story in my tree. I've accepted that I'll probably never know who the father was, but I'm hopeful that the village busybody kept a diary which might reveal something!
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Sorry but as others have already said it looks like you will never be able to find this out.
My own mum has no father named on her birth certificate even although her mother and father had been engaged at the time of his death (lost at sea WW1). A long story but from bits of info I have learned and lots of research over a number of years I have it narrowed down to 1 person but I cannot prove a thing so just something I have to accept sadly.
Maybe one day you will get a breakthrough.
Dorrie
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I too have a birth certificate of someone I'm tracing in 1901 with no father on. It must have been quite a scandal back then as I know even in the 40's unmarried mothers were looked down on.
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The further back you go (especially pre the Victorian era) the less of a scandal it was. Communities were mainly worried about who would support the child, so fathers were encouraged to be named. There was a bit of a "try before you buy attitude" in earlier times. :) :D
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Are there any surviving biological descendants of this couple? If so, autosomal DNA testing could potentially lead to an answer.
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Does the child have a middle name? sometimes the mothers added the fathers surname as a middle name.
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My ancestor Sarah Eade had a illegitimate son in 1818. She married in 1819 to James Archer, my ancestor. I descend from a daughter born in 1823. The son never took his mothers husbands surname and always remained as James Eade and when he wed in 1848 his fathers name was left blank. I think we can say that the man Sarah married was not the baseborn baby's father. I looked for poor law records but not found any. The father could be anyone in Hacheston or Parham in Suffolk.
Sometimes you can find a father and other times you will never know, not even the ability to find a possible candidate.
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My grandmother was born illegitimately in 1881. On her marriage certificate she gives her father as "H Hancox" no occupation but this can really only refer to her mother Harriet Hancox - she doesn't take the easy option of naming her stepfather Samuel Manton. On the 1881 Harriet was staying with neighbours described as "domestic servant out of place"
I think she'd probably been sacked for being pregnant (8 months at the time of the census) and I wonder whether the father might be the master or young master of the house, or a fellow servant. Had she been still in employ at the time I'd at least have something to go on. I wonder why she upped sticks to North Wales in 1905, there was no family connection, I wonder if this was something to do with the errant father.
Those whose relative's birth was soon after a census (not the OP sadly) might have something to go on if the mother was working away from home at the time.
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The Session records might be worth checking, you never know.
Skoosh.
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Have you checked the 1911 census? I have a number of family members born out of wedlock who are listed by their father's name on the first census after their birth but never again.
Jen
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Hi
Tried asking next generation only 2 people both over 80 - still no knowledge of father's name.
No know ledge of any baptism. Birth took place in Glasgow where there were many non-RC churches and non-conformist groups.
You could start by trawling through them all starting from the nearest church to the address shown on her birth certificate and widening your search. If you are lucky you might find the clergyman of the church has written his own notes, rather than bastard, illegitimate or born to a single woman it may name the reputed father. I know it's a laborious task with a big city but it's the only way, don't forget to check off those you've already searched as you go along. Then there also are Poor Law records which might be worth looking at.
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Then there also are Poor Law records which might be worth looking at.
That's a good suggestion.
My grandfather who was born in Glasgow in 1888 was illegitimate. He and his mother had a very tough life and were forced to apply for poor relief. I was able to get a copy of the application which did name the father.
Jacquie