Genealogy Chat

As a new member I am trying to discover the identity of my grandfather. My father was 'a natural child' and never new the identity of his father. I know he was a sailor of the great war period and all I have is a photo of him,in uniform, and I know where he came from originally. I realise that ,for members of his family, this might still be a delicate subject and am also aware that the Data Protection Act might apply. Any suggestions as to how to proceed delicately would be appreciated.

If the man was not named on his son's birth cert, your chances of learning his identity are slim..........

Do you know whether the child's mother sued the father for upkeep of her illegitimate child?

If she did, there may be some legal paperwork to be found...............

I wonder if his naval records would help. In the photograph does it have the name of his ship on his hatband?

Hi;
My grandmother had several 'natural children' in the 1910 to 1920 era, and I am told that if the mother was unable to name a father for the birth certificate in those days the usual procedure was to give the (male) children the names of the father.
for example: if you have 'John Stevens Jones' as the son of Mary Jones, then the father's name was John Stevens. . .

HTH

Ian

(Edit: Just thought I'd add that the names above are fictitous ! )

LOL Ian - it still happens!
My grandaughter is (eg) xxxx Brown-Smith (father's name- daughters name).
Daughter is going to marry soon and her new partner wants to adopt grand daughter - so her name will be (example) xxxx Brown-Smith-Jones - she also has 3 'first' names - and has to learn how to spell all of them - and the surnames!!!

If he was christened, the Parish Records might help?

We have found births in parish registers of a baseborn child, giving no father's name, although in the margin the vicar has written "reputed father" and written a name.
Liz