Genealogy Chat

I have received the birth cert (year of birth 1946) for the son of my father's half-sister and even though she was married in 1941 it does not show any father on the cert. A notation on the side says - Re-registered under the Legitimacy Act 1926, on 24 May 1948. I am stumped as to where to search now.

I searched the June Qtr 1948 but there were none with the correct maiden name & I think that perhaps they changed his forenames as well as his surname. I have no idea where to go now. I am open to any suggestions.

Does this act apply only to illegitimate children or does it apply to those who actually were legitimate but whose father was not present at the registration of birth? Should I assume that the mother married the father before May 1948 but after the birth of the child in 1946 or could the father actually have been her husband?

Kerry it might be worth looking for a marriage for the mother between the 1946 birth & the 1948 re-registration, the usual thing that happens under the Legitimacy Act is if a child is born Illigitimate & then the parents marry the child can be re-registered as legitimate. I hope this makes sense? Georgina.

...I think our postings crossed. If she was a married woman and her husband was the child's father, I think he would have been shown on the birth certificate. I would suspect that the child was not her husband's but that the 2 natural parents later married and re registered the child. Gwyn

I have searched marriages between the the birth date and the re-registration date and found several with the same first name & middle initial and the her married surname but have no idea which could possibly be the right one.

Did the child's parents marry and he was registered in the birth father's name? Have you looked for another marriage of the child's mother, after his birth? Gwyn

Kerry if you want to send me the names in a PM I will take a look for you. Georgina.

I have no idea who the father is. It is possible the first husband was killed. He was a police constable in war time London.

You need to eliminate them one by one from the possible marriage matches. Using your list look for a child's birth registration in the correct quarter for each man's surname in turn, with the correct mother's maiden name. Gwyn

Have you looked for the 1st husband on the Commonwealth War Graves site....there are civilians on there too. Gwyn

I am willing to look but don't know the address for the War Graves commission.

Kerry Google CWCG and you will find it / stands for Commonwealth Graves Commission and is searchable by WW1 and WW2 then by name. Shirley

I searched the War Graves site but no luck on the husband.

I have searched the deaths looking for the first husband and found a listing for the March Qtr 1942 in the right district but the age is two years older and the middle intial is wrong! Otherwise nothing.

As I am not sure which cert you have in your possession, you need to ask the GRO to send you 'the other one'. There will have been two certificates, the original one and then the one issued at re-registration. Although thinking about it, the first registration would show her husband as the father of her child unless she was scrupulously honest and offered the Registrar the information that he was not - by law, a husband is always the father of his wife's children, born during the marriage. But you say there is no father named on the cert, which suggests you have the original, not a copy of the re-registration. The whole point of re-registering under the Legitimacy Act was to show the name of the father of the child. So, I would ask the GRO for a copy of the re-registration cert. OC

Just a point.... A child could not be 're registered' under the Legitimacy Act if at the time of the birth either of the true parents were already married. Even if the true parents went on to marry the child could not be 're registered'. Having said that.....The registrar only had to be satisfied with the facts, no formal documentation needed. I certainly have one where the son 're registered' his birth and managed to keep the name he had been known by (his mother's surname) by swapping his mother and father's surnames for the cert! http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb(.)com/~framland/acts/1926legitAct.htm Chris

Chris I had good look at that link about the Act. So from reading that info the husband either had to dead or divorced from her, because if she was still married at the time of the birth the child could not be legitimised by the future marriage of it's parents... Olde Crone have sent you PM

I have replied to Kerry's pm, but just in case anyone else is interested, I think that Kerry has been sent the 'wrong' certificate, in that she should have been sent a copy of the re-registration cert. There isnt much point in having a Legitimacy Act which provided a new 'respectable' birth cert, and then sending out copies of the old one! As a matter of information, although Chris is correct of course about both parents having had to be free to marry at the child's birth, I think there has been more recent legislation which removes this qualification, so a child can be legitimized even if either or both parents were married at the time of the birth. I don't think it is retrospective though. Let us know how you get on Kerry, as I am interested to know if the birth is indexed twice - it shouldn't be, in my opinion! OC

I have sent the email and the GRO website says it will take 5 days for a reply. I will let you know the outcome. Just got an automated acknowledgement that says 5 working days for a reply....so we shall know if five woring days!!