Genealogy Chat

I'm still quite new to researching this info....so i'd like to ask you all out there with more experience - what reasons could there be for leaving completely blank the fathers details on a birth cert and a baptism record? The obvious one is ilegitamacy, but wondered if there were other reasons...like death maybe or the father being away? Any thoughts appreciated..

The usual reason is illegitimacy - although sometimes the child's name gives a clue, for example Eleanor Fox had a son called Brown Fox (and that's a fact too!!). If father is deceased it usually says so. Peter

To expalin the situation a little further... I bought the birth cert of my grandfather after hoping it would confirm the right person was found, thus helping me move past this brickwall and find some info on my great grandparents. However the cert came back with just enough to confirm it was the right guy (am grateful for that!) and an address. So more like a little dent rather than a breakthrough hehe. The birth was 1903..i was wondering would an illegitimate child be baptised? or would this have been difficult or frowned on at that time? Later on when the child was married himself (in the same church) he listed on his marriage cert his fathers name and occupation.Truth of fiction? I was in the train of thought that often people moved away for an illigitimate child in those days...so i find it intiguing that he obviously lived near his birth place and even married in the same church as his birth. Which makes me cast some doubt on the question. Unfortunatley the mothers name is very common..both first and last, and the occupation was the standard of the town..with every 2nd person working in that industry in the area. Also the fathers name on the marriage cert is also extremely common and again no middle name and common occupation. If anyone has any ideas i'd love to hear them..as i fear this may be a bigger blockade than i first thought! Steve

If the father was not named on the birth certificate, then the child was almost certainly illegitimate. If the father had been married to the mother, then he would still have been named on his child's birth cert, even if he had died before the birth or been away at the time of the birth registration. There is no reason why an illegitimate child would not be baptised - in fact, most children were baptised in those days, illegitimate or not. Sometimes the imputed father would be named on the baptism record, but not always. The fact that in this case there is no father named at the baptism is more evidence that he was illegitimate. The fact that he named his father on his marriage cert suggests one of two things - (1) he made up a father's name at the time to avoid the social stigma of admitting to being illegitimate; or (2) he did actually know who his father was, despite being illegitimate. Is the father's surname on the marriage cert the same as his own surname? If so, then that would suggest an invented name, if not then maybe he did actually know who his father was. Richard

Steven Agree with the other replies - blank space for father's name always means illegitimacy. Illegitimacy was seen as a great stigma and people almost always made up a father's name when they got married, or sometimes put the name of a male family member, such as a grandfather or uncle, who had been a benevolent influence in their life. Most women would have taken out an Affiliation or Maintenance order against the father - you may be lucky and find one. These were usually dealt with by the Magistrates Court in the mother's area. Good luck. OC

Hi there, I've just come across this with one of my relatives born in the mid 1850's - the family story is that she was illegitimate - so it is probably the case with yours. A tip off is if the childs surname is the same as the mothers maiden name, as well. Was there by any chance an eight digit number anywhere on your certificate, as the one I received had this in the father column? Regards, Kim

Hi Steven, My grandfather and his sister were both illegitimate (no father listed on either of their birth certificates). They both listed their grandfather as `father` on their marriage certificates. This was no doubt due to the fact that their grandparents brought them up but also no doubt to `hide` the fact they were illegitimate from their spouses and new `in laws`!! Janet

Thanks everyone for the replies. Yeah it looks like the obvious is true. I just wanted to check to make sure i hadn't overlooked some other common reason. In regarding the names, on the birth cert the childs last name is the same as the mothers surname (i assume that his her maiden name not married name).....and on the childs marriage cert the surname of the father given is the same one. The childs middle name matches the fathers first name. I was thinking this was the fathers real name, given that names were commonly repeated through generations, but am now thinking he just put his own middle name to throw the scent. Kim, no there isn't an 8 digit code anywhere on the birth cert....fathers name and occupation left completly blank. It looks like brickwall just got bigger!