Who were the fathers ?

[Lillith]

Eleanor Eliza Thorne b. 1886 Cerne Abbas had four illegitimate children. William Henry b. 1911 d.1911 Flossie b.1913 Dorothy b.1919 and Leslie b.1923. Is there any way I can find out who their fathers were. I cannot find any baptism records for them. In 1940 she married William Hammond but if he was their father why didn't they marry before?

[Wiggy]

Maybe he was already married but not with his wife - just a thought off the top of my head!   

  If you are really serious about knowing, buying the birth cer4tificates is probably the only way you will find out - if the father/s were mentioned that is.   Might have to buy them . . . . .  If you can find any records for them, - and if you can't find any records, from where do you know the dates?     
 Sorry not meaning to sound smart - just asking      

Where have you looked so far?

Wiggy     

[Wiggy]

These are the birth records I can find - are these what you are working from?

William H    Dorchester, Dorset           5A   291    1st Q 1911

Flossie        Dorchester, Dorset           5A   684    3rd Q 1913

Dorothy E   Christchurch Hampshire    2B 1002    3rd Q  1919

Leslie         Christchurch Hampshire    2B 1095    2nd Q 1923

These seem to tally as mother's maiden name is Thorne.   Can't tell with 1911 as Mother's name was not given.

Maybe they weren't baptised.   

Wiggy   

[lizdb]

You will only find out who the father(s) were if the mother a) named them b) recorded that in some form, ie on their birth cert or christening , or a maintenence order and c) that document has survived.

If you have rules out christenings, then your best bet is to buy the birth certs. Or to enquire at the Local Record Office if there are any records of any bastardy or maintenece orders surviving (unlikely but always worth a try).

If all these fail, then the father(s) name is a secret that the mother took to her grave.

[Lillith]

Thankyou for the replies. I got their dates from Ancestry.
Could she have named the father/s on the birth certificates without their permission? Family lore states that they youngest ended up in Dr Barnardos so that might be one line of enquiry. The family were Congregationalists and I don't know if they went in for christenings or if they would have christened an illegitimate child. She lived in Cerne Abbas so everyone would have known. One old relation now dead told me that her parents sent her to the workhouse.

Surely it must have been very unusual in 1911 for a 25 year old to start producing babies with no husband. She did get married in 1940  when she was 54,so I wonder if she had a married boyfriend and they had to wait for his wife to die.

[janan]

The mother couldn't name the father of an illegitimate child without him being present at registration, they both signed as informants see

http://www.dixons.clara.co.uk/Certificates/births.htm#COL4

Jan

[david.lyon]

is William Hammond on the 1911 census, you would have thought he would either live with the family or be close by, and did he have a middle name, acnt help thinking that may be William junior is named after him

Another thought try a wild spelling of Hammond when searching, just looked for Hammond on the 1911 census and could not find 1, but remove the "D" and there are quite a few

[Lillith]

According to the 1911 Census William Hammond was living with his parents in Dorchester. On the marriage certificate he is described as a batchelor working as a domestic gardener. As Eleanor was a domestic cook I imagine they met at their place of work. I don't think he is a candidate for father of any of the children.

I have found out that the surviving 3 were brought up in Doctor Barnardo Homes. Were there any in Dorset around 1920?

[Redroger]

Though it is a century earlier (1777) from the next county (Henstridge in Somerset) I have an instance where the officiating clergyman has inserted the father's surname and then crossed it through. The staff at SRO told me this was a device used when the vicar knew or thought he knew the name of the father. Hope that proves helpful.