Genealogy Chat

i wonder if this was quite common? My GG Grandmother had three children who took her surname (Goodwin). On the census she says that she is unmarried. SHe was living with her parents in Amcotts, Yorkshire. Does anyone know if the birth certificates for the children are likely to state the nameo f the father or if there is any other way to find out who he was?

You will have to get certificate to see, but I have one who has not fater mentioned on Birth or Marriage certificate and no chance of finding who father was, it is quite common in the past.

Even if no father is named on a birth certificate it is worth looking for a baptism. Checking parish registers near here I noticed that one particular vicar named the father for each and every child baptised in that parish...including the illegitimate ones. Gwyn

Someone did a survey which proved that, apart from the most recent thirty years, that the rate of illegitimacy has been around the 10% mark since records began in 1554! The illegitimacy rates rise in wartime to about 20%, then fall back to the 10% mark. (Illegitimate in this survey means parents not married at the birth of the first child). This does not of course allow for those who simply lied to the Registrar. OC

I have a mother with 5 kids and she never married. No father stated on the birth certificates, but a name for a father on a marriage certificate for one of the kids. As the mother never married, I've no idea whether the first name is right, but the surname is actually the mother's maiden name.

The name of the father(s) will appear on the birth certs only if he/they was/were present when the births were registered. If the births were pre-1875, they may not even be registered, as it wasn't compulsory until then. Reg

Thanks for all the info - it looks as though I will have find some marriage certificates and try to check parish records. I used to have a link to a website where I could check parish registers but I seem to have lost it - does anyone know?

Dear Jennifer Sometimes the child was given the father's surname as a middle name - perhaps this might be a clue? Best of luck Maria

I have a few illigitimate children in my tree, and I find their birth history fascinating. Fathers unlikely to be on birth certs, BUT I would advise you visit parish records to see if they were baptised. If they were, at least one of them may have a middle name that looks like a surname. That will prob be the biological fathers name. This may actually be on the birth cert anyway, but in my family, a couple of kids only had their fathers surname on the baptism cert. Also, check the bastards register (what a way to put it!), the father(s) may have been made to pay maintenance.

My GGrandmother had 7 illegitimate children. Her first is registered under her maiden name with no father listed. The next two were legitimate, having her husbands surname. The remaining 6 were registered under their fathers name and he is listed on their birth certs. She never married their father and all the children used their mothers name in later life. If yours, like mine, are registered under a name that is not their mothers then I think there's a good chance the father will be named on the cert.

Rebekah I have enough Bastardy Orders to paper my front room, lol! They are usually very informative indeed, particularly those pre 1835 or so. My 3 x GGM was a bit of a slapper, and had three illegitimate chilldren to two different men. the first father disappeared when summonsed by the Poor Law committee and, to save my 3 x GGM from going to prison, or being put in the workhouse, her father steps forward and swears a Bond, saying that he will be responsible for the child's needs, 'bodily and spiritual'. The second father pays up for his first son, but not for the second, and Grandad, who is fed up with his loose daughter by now, won't stand Bond again, so she is on her own. I then trail her in and out of the Workhouse, and backwards and forwards across the county, being regularly removed from Chorley, back to her native parish. In one of these Removal Orders she states that she was in Chorley 'to see my sons', so I gather from that, that the boys were living with their father on his farm. Utterly fascinating! OC

How do you get hold of Bastardy orders? Old Hannah Goodwin used her own name for the 3 children and there son't seem to be any unusual middle names. She openly states that she is unmarried on the 1851 census Later on she married and had a legitimate child and I found her staying with my GGfather under this name with assorted children in 1901. I wish I could have met her! Her descendants turned into terrible snobs and I would have such fun telling her about them all

Lol OC! Try the records office for the applicable area Jennifer, the staff are usually fantastic.