Genealogy Chat

if a child at the turn of the century was born illegitamate how did it work. did they have tobe registered? did the father have to be named? my nan was illegitamate and her fathers name is on her marriage cert. but we cant find a birth certificate for her. if she knew who her father was would there be some sort of record for him being so and where is it?

My husband's great grandfather died in York Workhouse, his death is in the workhouse records, but we cannot get a death certificate. It appears his death was not regestered. I asked "the Expert" Anthony on Tuesday and he said it was probably a clerical error by the workhouse and he was missed somehow. Perhaps the same happed to your relation. Margaret

Silly question but have you looked under the mothers maiden name? Also may be different area to which you are expecting. Could be not registered at all though, despite threat of fines etc. Depending on date, sometimes there are court records if father was sued for maintenance. They are called Bastardy Orders I think and should be in the local Record Office. My grandmother was born just after parents wedding, we think, but there is no record of her birth anywhere. As it was in the East End and there were so many churches, it will be a long search for a baptism. Even that probably won't confirm fathers name. Do know though that parents were courting for long time, so can be fairly certain. Maz. XX

I have a situation similar to Nina's. My gr grandfather was illegitimate; his mother married about 18 months after his birth. On my gr grandfather's marriage certificate his father is down with the Forename of his mother's husband and mother's maiden name. I have sent for the birth certificate but don't expect a father to be on it as there was none on the birth record that I found on the LDS site. Melanie

I sent off for the marriage certificate of a William Habberfield, thinking that between his age and fathers name I could place him in my tree. When it came back the age said Full, the father's name looks something like John Straw, its pretty unreadable but no where near long enough to be a Habberfield.

In addition, to Amanda's comment my 3 boys were registered when born. In my maiden name and no father on cert. Twins in 95 and Ben in 98. But when we married in 2002 we re-registered all three births again to legitmise their births(registar's words not mine!!)This time they're registered in married name with both parents present and correct. So their births appear twice tho the first entry should crossrefer the searcher to the second so I'm reliably informed. I know this won't help Dawn but thought I'd add my tuppence worth Shelli

Hi Dawn. My understanding is that registration of a birth was compulsory. Naming of the father was however optional.

but in the 1920s could they get away with not showing proof of who they were on a marriage certificate