Greensleeves Scavenger Hunt...Everyone Welcome To Join In

[Greensleeves]

was the child bp. as an adult in which case it possibly is not Roberts sons but Alices from a first marriage but bp in his name to enable him to inherit or something ?

The PR on Durham Records Online gives the baptism thus:

"Baptism St Hilda's Church, Hartlepool.

20 Apr 1788 William Shadforth, born 7 Mar 1788, illegitimate son of Robert Shadforth (jun'r) & Alice (his wife)"

I assume Alice was still alive at this point, or she would have been described as 'late wife', I assume...?  However, she was buried on 23rd April, three days later, whilst William was buried on 25th April, aged about six weeks.

[Greensleeves]

I think it is more likely that the parish clerk (e.g. Robert's dad) knew his daughter in law had been playing away and so decided to note his displeasure (never dreaming that in 150 years on, there would be people pondering over every nuance!)

I am wondering this too, whether the Roberts (father and son) were going out of their way to discredit Alice.  I would really like to find out who she is and where she came from.  As she was so much older than Robert Jnr it could well be that the family didn't approve of the union in the first place.

[Greensleeves]

And with the mother dead, the baby wouldn't last long unless a suitable wetnurse could be found. So again, sad but not surprising that little William followed Alice into the grave.

The only things I can think of re the illegitimacy is that either Robert was working away and everyone knew he couldn't have been the father; or perhaps marital relationships were not good and he denied paternity! Would his word automatically be believed in the latter circumstance?

I am making the assumption that Robert Jnr was not working away as he was the Sexton of the church, but I suppose that does not preclude him from going off on trips.  I don't think I have found out what his occupation was, other than sexton.  Would that have been a full-time job?

And of course, as Robert Jnr was sexton and his father, Robert Snr, was Parish Clerk, it was likely that one of them might have been making the entry in the Parish Records, so basically he would be free to enter what he wanted, I assume.

[Greensleeves]

Perhaps posters don't want to say this but it has been alluded to on that thread that it may have been physically obvious that the child wasn't Robert's child although if it was perhaps mixed race  then he  may not have been actually the son of a coloured man but with our knowledge of genetics there may have been some coloured ancestry on Alice's side.

I'm sure any port town even then had it's share of children who were the result of mixed race relationships but I would wonder if these were considered to be from the lower end of society and for it to happen in a respected family wasn't acceptable.

Yes, Jaywit, I had wondered this too.  Of course, it could have been something like red hair or as you say, a child a shade darker than expected.  As nothing was known about genetics in those days, if the marriage was in trouble, I suppose that a child's physical appearance could be used to suggest a wife had been unfaithful - particularly if the husband wanted to cast her, and the child, aside.

[angelfish58]

This may be coincidence but there's a burial for a William Laws,taylor,(sic) St Hildas 12 Feb 1776 and a marriage at St Hildas 24 Aug 1774 between a William Laws & Alice Burrel,by Banns,Witnesses Robert Shadforth & Jane Hastings these are from Durham Records Online but of course may not have anything to do with your Alice.

[Greensleeves]

This may be coincidence but there's a burial for a William Laws,taylor,(sic) St Hildas 12 Feb 1776 and a marriage at St Hildas 24 Aug 1774 between a William Laws & Alice Burrel,by Banns,Witnesses Robert Shadforth & Jane Hastings these are from Durham Records Online but of course may not have anything to do with your Alice.

Oh, Angelfish, that looks very interesting!  How fascinating, I will follow this up, thank you so much for this.

[Greensleeves]

Oh, just noticed that one of the witnesses to the marriage of Robert Shadforth Jnr and Alice Laws was William BURRELL....

[angelfish58]

Oo-er,that's interesting

[Annie65115]

sounds v promising!