Genealogy Chat

Some parish registers say 'bastard of', others say 'illegitimate of', I have seen one which says 'base born', some of the records just name the mother with no mention of father, some give the mother and in the occupation 'single', so it is up to the person who fills in the register what is put.

Huia.

Many thanks for your comments - it's a great help.

I've got a few like that - I've got a 5xgreat aunt who had 3 illegitimate children (before getting married and having two more!).

When she was 22 and had the first, the baby's father was noted as George Arnold. When she had the next at 25, no father was mentioned - maybe they were trying to shame her into behaving herself? The next one arrived when she was 33 and the dad was again named (one James Shellow) but the baby had its mother's name. So I think perhaps they were trying to shame the father into taking responsibility!

My 4 times great-grandfather married in 1817 and had 7 children.

However, in the parish records there is an entry for a birth of a son two years earlier, who was named after him. None of his subsequent children were named after him which is unusual as the family tended to follow naming conventions and he had been named after his father.

I know it is my relative as it also shows the name of the farm where he lived at the time.

This entry also gives the full name of the mother of his child, both first and last names, which makes me think they weren't married. However, there is no indication that this is an illegitimate birth (illegitimate births in the records usually have an exclamation mark beside them).

I can find no marriage and I cannot get to view the original records.

My feeling is that this is an illegitimate birth but I would be grateful for your comments if anyone has come across this before. Many thanks.