General Chat

Thankyou for that Shirley. It answers a lot of strange things in the family history and as I can find no record of the child after 1911 am wondering if at some point she changed her name to either that of her birth father or her mothers maiden name. I doubt I will ever find out.

A birth will be registered in the mothers current name whether that is her single name or her married name.

If the husband is the father of the child then his name is on the cert and he has no need to attend the registration of the child .

If the husband wasnt the father then to have a fathers name put on the cert the father would have to acknowledge paternity and attend the birth registration.

SO is no dad is named then the child was illegitimate and the father never acknowledged paternity

The husband was in the workhouse in 1911 and the mother dead. The child was in a cottage home. There is no record of a baptism. Workhouse records show that they were living at the same address at around the time of conception but as both were constantly in and out of the workhouse and often readmitted and discharged to different addresses its almost impossible to even second guess it. Thanks for suggestions.

The husband was in the workhouse in 1911 and the mother dead. The child was in a cottage home. There is no record of a baptism. Workhouse records show that they were living at the same address at around the time of conception but as both were constantly in and out of the workhouse and often readmitted and discharged to different addresses its almost impossible to even second guess it. Thanks for suggestions.

Is the mother's husband with her and the son on the 1911 census?

It might, but even if paternity was in doubt it's likely a husband would want his name on a birth cert if he was raising the child as his own.

The Registration Act of 1874 states:
"The putative father of an illegitimate child cannot be required as father to give information respecting the birth. The name, surname and occupation of the putative father of an illegitimate child must not be entered except at the joint request of the father and mother; in which case both the father and mother must sign the entry as informants"

What does the child's baptism say about who the child's father is?

I would think that the birth was indexed in the woman's then surname as she was a married woman.
It sounds very much as if the child was illegitimate and so the father could not be named without him being present.

Have you found the family in 1911 to see what the situation was then?

Post some names here if you would like help with that search.

EDIT
Sometimes a baptism record will name the father of an illegitimate child.



Gwyn

I have just received a birth certificate for a birth registered in 1906. The section for name and occupation of father are blank. The mother was definitely married and the baby registered under her married name. Would this mean that her husband was not the father of the child and whoever was was not named because he was not present at the registration or could the father still have been her husband but also still not named as he was not present? Thanks for any help.