Connecting Child and Parent?

[moonmom]

I wonder if anyone can help me with my dilema.My g.grandfather Thomas William Barber was born in London in January 1857 the illigitimate son of Jane Barber.He was baptized in Mendham in November 1857.He appears next on the 1861 census as 'a visitor' with the Mitchell family in Mendham and likewise for 1871 at another location.By 1881 he is married and living in Alburgh, Norfolk.By process of elimination I have located his mother Jane and her family as being from South Elmham, St. Cross.However, at no time do I have Thomas living with his mother during a census, nor did the baptismal record that I saw tie them together. I would like to find some documental evidence that the Jane Barber that I have identified as his mother is actually his mother before putting her in my family tree.Does anyone have a suggestion?Have I missed something?

Thanks.

[Rick]

Presumably you already have William's birth certificate?  It would also be well worth checking to see if an Application for a Bastardy Order was issued against William's father.

As he was born in London, there is a good chance that his father lived there too.  Any surviving Petty Session documents would be found at the London Metroplitan Archives.

If he was conceived in Suffolk and Jane just ran away to London, there could well be a removal order for her at the LMA.  This would have involved a verbal "examination" by the Parish Guardians, which may hold valuable biographical clues, as would the Bastardy Order.

If you draw a blank at the LMA, you could try The Suffolk Record Office.  Mendham is a border town, so you may need to check Norfolk also.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/0hk/

http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/LeisureAndCulture/LocalHistoryandHeritage/SuffolkRecordOffice/

http://archives.norfolk.gov.uk/nroindex.htm

Rick

[moonmom]

Thanks for the info.I will follow follow through on that.I had rather suspected that Jane had taken Thomas to Mendham (she was from St.Cross) because the father of Thomas William was Samuel Self the person that Jane married in London in 1868.He originated in Mendham but was in London in 1851 and 1861.Jane was also in London in 1861.My thinking was that she had gone to Mendham because Samuels family was there.As it turned out Jane had other connections to Mendham, the Mitchell family who were from St. Cross, and also there were Barber family members living there.So I can not assume she was involved with the Self family.What I find interesting is that throughout his life Thomas as he moved from one border village to another was very often living in close proximity to Barber family members and yet I have never found them inder the same roof, as a witness to Thomas's marriage, or even the use of family names .The Mitchell family had other 'boarders' and a 'nurse child' or two who stayed with them into adulthood and beyond.Perhaps they actually became family.Anyway, a very interesting social issue that I must explore.

Pauline.