Genealogy Chat

Thanks for both for your reply It looks as if I won't find out. Her mother Lucy, did eventually marry but her daughter Elleanor, was six by then and Elleanor lived with her grandmother. Funnily enough my great grandmother May, who was Elleanor's daughter was also born before her parents marriage. This time they were kind enough to give May her fathers surname as a second name. Michelle

There might be a bastardy bond, though the period is a little late for that. The man I suspect of being my bastard ancestor's father was on the verge of marrying another woman when the baby was born. The marriage was called off and he didn't marry her until several months later. Only when when his first wife died did he marry the baby's mother. My gut instinct is that he's my man, but I'll never know for sure. Unless the father was forced into either marrying the girl or providing maintenance for the child, there are unlikely to be any useful records. Brenda

Possibly. He might be in the baptism record in the church register, which should be in the local record office if C of E. There were papers relating to bastardy orders when unmarried mothers were questioned by the parish officers about the father so they could get him to provide maintenance. Not sure when this stopped. Again, papers about this would be in the local record office. Illegitimate children were sometimes given their father's surname as a second name. You could check the census for men with this name in the vicinity, if this applied to your ancestor. Her father might be named on her marriage cert. Good luck nell

Hi My Great great grandmother was born in 1861 before her mother was married, therefor its blank on her birth cert. where her fathers name should be. Is there anyway of finding out who he was? Michelle