Illegitimate birth - any chance of finding name of father?

[ambleetc]

Hi

I wonder if anyone can help me.  I am interested to know if there are any places I could look to find out if the father of my great-grandfather is named anywhere.  He was born in Amble Northumberland 1877.  I have the birth certificate and there is a blank space where the father's name is put.

Would there be any record anywhere else - such as Church records/poor law records? If so, where would I go to find them?

All help appreciated.

[stanmapstone]

After 1834, bastardy cases were mainly dealt with at the Quarter Sessions.

Stan

[ambleetc]

Thank you Stan.  I don't know what quarter sessions are, but I will try to investigate.

[stanmapstone]

Sorry, the Quarter Sessions were the meetings of the county justices held four times a year. They were replaced by Crown Courts  in 1972.

Stan

[ambleetc]

Thanks for explaining.

[stanmapstone]

See History of child support in the UK http://www.childsupportanalysis.co.uk/information_and_explanation/world/history_uk.htm

Stan

[ambleetc]

Thank you again.  I will read this.

[staceyk84]

Some baptisms also name the father of illegitimate children, not always but it is worth a look if you haven't already checked.  I came across one from Northumberland today that said son of singlewoman and then underneath the name of the father, although admittedly i haven't come across it very often.

 

[ambleetc]

Thank you very much indeed for this lead - I will look in to this too as it is certainly worth investigating.

Thanks!