Genealogy Chat

Hi, I can beat Andrea's record my G granmother had 12 children and wasn't married. My grandfather was left in the workhouse with his brothers and his mother left them. When my Grandfather was married he put down fathers name was James. I looked for about a year and couldn't find a James to fit, I went to the local priest and asked him to look in the church records which he kindly did and we found 12 children with no fathers name all the priest said was "what a colourful lady she must have been". I think he ment she had a red light out side her door. We'll that could be a possibility. Or the father was already married and if catholic would not be willing to get a divorce. But don't know who their fathers are. Barbara.

I have a relative with 9 illegitimate children and the only adult male in the house was her father. She did not marry until he had died. Then she lied about her age by 11 years and said she was 40 and married a 30 yr old man when she was really 51. her first Daughter was the same age as her husband! makes your mind boggle and this was in a small village. Kim

nicola i have my gt. gt. grandfathers marriage cert. and his fathers details are left blank on that too. so you may find that yours is too

my great great grandads birth certificate has his fathers name missing when i asked my great auntie she said it was because his mother was in service for the earl of dudley and that he was the father but he wouldnt allow himself to be put on the certificate. if servants became pregnant by the master of the household they were told not to put the name on the cert.

Yes I've got one too, mother was a widow for 4 years with several children and then husband's ancestor was born. He later reverted to his middle name as surname. However in 20 year later census his father and mother were living together but father was down as a visitor. His mother registered his father's death and stated he was single and herself as an acquaintance though they were married on son's wedding certificate!!!!!!

Julie In reference to the middle name, yes, the child (girl) has a middle name of Wauman - hardly the name for a girl. Interestingly, I did a search on the surname Wauman area - it is highly unusual. However, there just so happened to be a Wauman living in the same town at the same time of the right age. He died before the next census was taken. My older relatives told me that the father's first name was Thomas. The only Wauman in that area was called Thomas Wauman! This probably solves the unusual middle name of the daughter!

Hi, Fathers named on marriage certificates are not always the birth fathers. Step fathers were often named and sometimes fathers were invented to avoid embarrassment. I've also seen grandfathers' names entered as father Gwynne

Hello everyone yes iv got the marriege certificate but no father on that either, just have to give up on this one Christine

Thank you for that i have a birth certificate with no father on it and no maiden name for the mother so i sent for one of her other sons BC hoping there would be a clue on that but its just the same..........she must have been a lady of the night! so iv come to a dead end on that side of the family Christine

Try looking at the childs marriage certificate........ i had this problem and father was named on the marriage certificate ( after my g.gran was adamant she didn't know who her father was!!) It's worth a try anyway........ Jane

Does the baby have a middle name as often the unmarried mother puts the father's surname as the baby's middle name? Sometimes the child reverts to the middle name later on Base means born to unmarried parents. Often efforts were made to get the father to provide for his child by bastardy orders or settlements.

base-born means out of wed-lock!! I had a birth cert. arrive, and was relying on the father being on there. I didn't know who the father was, as the mothers husband had died! I then found the child in the parish records with a father listed, and it fitted in with what I already knew. The mother had a lodger, and this child was his child.

What does base born mean please? Christine

hi Jonathan, Usually it means the mother was unmarried and either unable or unwilling to name a father. Sorry it's such a bummer as it really can bring you to a dead end. There are records I think called Barstardy something or the other where a father admits a child is his and pays money. A bit like the modern day CSA. Naomi

After finding it in a parish record, it took me ages to work out what `base child` meant. Thought at first, that it was the first child as a base for a family. Now I know different

Usually signifys an illegitimate birth. If the mother is down as single or hasn't got a maiden name listed then it's a fair bet that the baby was base born.

Does anyone know what it means when an old birth certificate (as in 1800s) omits the father's name? Does it mean the child was born out of wedlock? Does it mean that the father died before birth? Or are there other possibilities? I have a couple like this and I'm trying to work out what it all means (also stops my research dead in its tracks too!).