Genealogy Chat

Please can anyone explain why a father's name and of course occupation is missing from a birth certificate. The birth was in September 1858 the mother's name is given as Ann Byng formerly Mountford which I assume therefore means she was married. There is no signature by the mother just an x and The mark of Ann Byng Mother and the address which was in Aston (now part of Birmingham) Warwickshire. Can anyone help PLEASE? pat

Ann was obviously illiterate. She may have left the father's details blank as she knew that her husband was not the father. If he was illiterate too he may never have seen the entry and would not realise.

Thanks Brian, Never thought of that. My initial reaction was perhaps her husband had died and the registrar did not therefore put the father on the birth certificate.

What was the childs name, if it was the mothers maiden name than yes the man she was married to was not the father. Do you know when the husband died. I have not checked on this before but doesn't the husband have to agree, although then in 1850's it was the register who use to go round and record the births. That changed in 1875 when it became law for the parents to record the birth. Would be interested to hear if anyone has more information on this. Irene

Irene, here are the details on the birth certificate. Registration District: Aston 1858 birth in the sub-district of Deritend in the County of Warwick. Columns: No: 328 1 When & where born: ninth September 1858 51, Lower Trinity street. 2 Name if any: James 3 Sex: Boy 4 Name &and surname of father: - - - 5 Name,surname and maiden name of mother: Ann Byng formerly Mountford. 6 Occupation of father: - - - 7 Signature,description and residence of informant: x The mark of Ann Byng Mother 51, Lower Trinity Street Aston 8 When registered: Twenty ninth September 1858 9 Signature of registrar: Joseph Rawlings Registrar 10 Name entered after registration: this column is crossed through. I have had great difficulty tracking down any details on James before 1880 finally finding his birth on 1837 after searching for some time. Cannot find Ann Mountford's details (for certain) yet and no trace yet of a father. Any futher ideas.

Hi, Generally usually means child was illigitimit, I have the same thing with family going back to 1850's, quite often mother gave child fathers surname as a middle name i.e. with me daughter was called Emma Solomon Pells, mothers name given as Louisa Pells. Very difficult to get any further back on fathers side, although you could search for a marriage cert to husband Byng and her birth certificate as mountford. Local records office best place to search registers of these events or alternatively 1837online but difficult if you do not have any idea of years of these occasions and can get expensive, free at records office not so online. hope that helps zoë

One thing comes to mind. They didn't like children born out of wed lock. If they could find the father then he would have to pay to keep him no different from today really but the courts delt with it. Was she still with her husband after the birth do you know. One thing I have found just recently is my g grandmother had a son after my g grandfather died. His surname is her maiden name. He was on the 1901 census but I thought it was a nephew. Irene

FreeBMD shows an Anne MOUNTFORD marrying in the Aston Registration district in March quarter 1854. Listed on the same page is a Simeon KING. Given that the name has been copied several times before you received your certificate, could this name have become BYNG?- It's a long shot and still doesn't sort out James' father. Can you find Ann and James living with a man in 1861, or find a baptism in Aston area and see if the vicar made a comment about his father.Either might give you a lead.

Hi everyone, Thank you all very much for you help. When you come to a brick wall and run out of ideas it is super to get a fresh outlook and leads. I shall try the 1861 census to see if Ann was living with someone. I think you are all probably right that Ann was not married but just pretended. It was a real stigma in those days to be an unmarried mother. Perhaps the father was someone just passing through the district. By the way James went on to marry (in Walsall) in 1880 and had about 11 children the eldest child was my grandmother all had the surname Byng. So he obviously used this surname. I may apply for his marriage certificate and see if he has a name listed there under father, but can I trust that info? Anyway thank you all again.

>I may apply for his marriage certificate and see if he has a >name listed there under father, but can I trust that info? No. I have seen several spouses acquire a father called 'John' around the time of their marriage. As someone posted earlier illegitimacy was frowned upon more so in those days. Pauline