Genealogy Chat

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Hello all I had a great birthday present yesterday of 5 certificates arriving from Jersey - very exciting :o) Anyway, 2 of my 3 birth certificates do not have a father listed, but on the marriage cerificates for the same people, they have given the name of their father. Now, these missing fathers were all seamen / mariners. Am I right in thinking that if the parents were not married then the fathers name could not be given unless he was present? And if they were at sea for any length of time then this may have been difficult... There does not seem to be any doubt as to who the fathers were, just that their names were not written on the birth certificates (although their occupations were). Advice would be appreciated :o) Thanks Cheryl x

I don't know if that is true, but I have a marriage certificate for someone stating her father's name - and her mother never got married so Lord alone knows who this guy was, but he wasn't her father!! Maybe just a name she picked out of thin air to make it look better, who knows.

Yes, I too have quite a few made-up fathers, on wedding certs. Illegitimacy was so shameful back then, that you would just make up a name to impress your new In'laws, who wouldn't want their son/daughter marrying someone illegitimate. But of course, there are probably quite a few which are correct too! I tend to believe the ones where the father has a different surname, because why would you embarrass yourself having to explain that unless it was true? I don't know anything about research on Jersey, or the laws there - did they have a Maintenance system for illegitimate children and if so, was it dealt with by the Courts? OC

If the father was away at the time of the birth and the 6 weeks that you get to register the birth then the mother couldn't put his name down even if she wanted to. I have this in my family. The father was known but was absent for the 6 week registration period, so the space was left blank. Both the cases in my family appear to have the missing fathers name as a middle name which gives an idea where to look.

Yes, in both cases the births were registered 5-6 weeks after the birth - maybe waiting for the father to be present so that his name could be given?! And the children have also both taken the fathers surname, rather than the mothers even though the parents were not married. This is why i am inclined to think that there was some rule preventing the fathers name being given at the time of registration if they were not there as their occupation (seaman) was given both times. OC - I am not sure about maintenance in Jersey - will have to look into it. The children were living with grandparents though rather than the mother (who was working nearby as a servant) so i presume that they were happy to take over the care of him. And jersey research takes so much longer because, other than census returns, it all has to be done by post! Cheryl

Cheryl Well, certainly in England, the father's name cannot go on the cert if the parents are not married, unless the father is present at registration and gives his consent (or gives written, sworn consent). That has always been the law in England and still is, and I expect it is the same in Jersey. But from what you say, it sounds as if you have the right father, if they took his surname. OC

The law says that either parent can register the birth, but if the mother registers the birth the father has to be there to sign to confirm that he is the father. If the father registers the birth, then no problem, but if he was absent then he couldn't be named. There was a case recently (Diane Blood I think the ladies name was, who had IVF from her partner/husband and he sadly died before the birth and she went to the high court to get his name on the birth cert).

That has sorted a few things then, thank you all. I have had so many father-less birth certificates (all on my mother's side ;o) ha ha - she doesn't quite know who she is anymore!) that I was going a bit crazy. But, yes, I am happy with who the fathers are in these two cases, I just wanted to confirm why their names were not on the certs. Thank you all again for your wise advise Cheryl :o)

Some of your replies are not quite right! From 1850 til 1875 father's names could not be entered on birth certs, with or without their consent, if they were not married to the mother. After 1875 the 'unmarried' father's name could be added, but only if he went with the mother to register the birth and signed the register under the mother's name. With very few exceptions this law is still enforced today. It's more to do with inheritance problems than to do with illegitimacy. Even if a child is born after it's father's death, as long as the parents are married the father's name can go on the birth certificate with 'deceased' after it. By the way, the Diane Blood case was very different, the problem there was that her child was CONCEIVED after the death of her husband, that's why she needed special permission. Carlè