The Stigma of being illegitimate & female in 1800

[marcie dean]

In Scotland you will often see marriage under Warrant, which in my view was the womans recourse for when she found she was pregnant and the father would not automatically want to marry her, although he was part of the reason why she was in this way. Sometimes they could be arrested and marched to the church.

Spoke to my mum yesterday and she mentioned my grandad had two brothers, actually he had three.  His parents married under warrant when she was 19 (grgran) he was abt 32 funnily enough the same year just on 8/9mnths she had william.  But I dont think he survived the year.  must look for his death cert. It will now be available to view.
My nan was illegitimate and it plagued her all her life that her father did not want her, that s how she saw it and yet he was also the father of her sister, difference being by this time they had married.
marcie

[RJ_Paton]

In Scotland you will often see marriage under Warrant, which in my view was the womans recourse for when she found she was pregnant and the father would not automatically want to marry her, although he was part of the reason why she was in this way. Sometimes they could be arrested and marched to the church.

Sorry but that is wrong.

Scots law recognised several forms of what became known as "irregular marriage" which continued into the 20th century. When civil registration came into being in 1855 several mechanisms were introduced to allow the registration of these marriages if the participants wished to do so. Marriage by Sheriff's Warrant was a pre cursor to the modern day marriage at a Registry Office - it simply meant that the participants had declared their marriage in one of the accepted forms (usually a declaration in front of witnesses) and then they had 90 days in which to present their proof of marriage to a local sheriff who, if satisfied that the marriage was genuine, issued a warrant "In Declarator" and the marriage could be registered in the normal fashion.

[coombs]

When my gggran was born illegitimate her mum left the village with a man and they married in London shortly afterwards. The husband had been living not too far from her and was a servant.

Finding a very likely father is pot luck with illegitimacy.

[Foresthamlet]

Thankyou all for your comments....all very interesting.

Regards Chris

[Lookin2]

I think the problem here is those that never knew the father's name. Like those  who   have been born via sperm donation or during wars, you hear of many who wish to know who the parent(s) were.  In today's world with medical advances sometimes it is critical to know  the medical history of both parents.Lookin2

[Jeuel]

Coombs

I mean the baptism of a child will often be just a few weeks after the marriage!

My gt x 3 grandmother (unfortunately called Honor!) got married in St Columb Register Office in 1852 and her first child was baptised 3 weeks later.  I also have gt x 3 grandparents who had their first child baptised within days of their marriage - and whose daughter, my gt x 2 grandmother, was the mother of Ruth, who I mentioned earlier.

[coombs]

So you mean the parents waited until after the wedding to baptise the child.

[Carmela]

I came across one case in which the child was christened on the same day as the wedding!

Carmela

[coombs]

I have one where the parents baptised the child 4 months after the marriage at the same church and the child was 10 months old.