Genealogy Chat

My wife was pregnant when we married and so was my mother when she married, it's nothing new. Bob

i have heard that some men wouldn't marry unless she was pregnant, and capable of providing a heir!!!!

No I don't think the mother had to show proof of marriage and lucky you Kevin if your gt grandparents'marriage only occured a few months after conception. My gt gt grandparents registered births of 9 children from 1842 to 1860, with mother's name given as Margaret Ann Manley, formerly Cliffe, they also show on '51, '61 and'71 census returns as husband and wife so as you can imagine it took a while to find their marriage in 1880 38 years after the birth of their first child. Oh how I wish I could go back and ask them why! Judith

I couldn't find my great grandparents marriage even though on my grandfathers birth certificate it said norton formerly hutton. it wasnt' until someone else mentioned that they may have not been married at the time of conception. it turned out that they married a month before the birth (the devils ;-) ) Just because sex before marriage was frowned upon doesnt mean it didnt happen.

Thanks. I have the father's name on the birth certificate (Thomas Blenkiron), then under her name it says Emma Blenkiron (formerly Woolley), but so far I have been unable to unearth a marriage ref for them. I've just received a death cert for a Thomas Blenkiron which I think is the correct one, in the hope that Emma might have registered the death, but no, it's thrown up another child!!!!!! Oh well, it's fun, although very addictive, searching.

I don't know whether this helps you, it's more to do with illegitimate children, but before 1875 a mother registering a birth was able to give the fathers name even if they weren't married. After 1875 the father had to agree for his name to go on the certificate.

Hello, I'm fairly new to this but thanks to the internet have made faster progress than I ever imagined. However, and this is probably a typical newbie question, does anyone know whether a mother had to provide proof that she was married when registering a childs birth in the 1860s? Many thanks Michelle