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Topic: Illegitimate children - bastardy and adoption records? (Read 345 times)
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kob3203
RootsChat Extra
Posts: 96
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If a woman was engaged to be married, but her fiancé died before the wedding leaving her with child, I'd assumed that there would be no certain way of identifying the father.
Certainly you could check for male deaths in the relevant area in the 9 months before the birth, and with some luck and cross-checking you might narrow it down to a small number of possibilities.
But you could never be certain.
Bastardy Records?
Then I found some references to bastardy documents (recognizances and bonds).
Is it true that an unmarried woman who fell pregnant was legally obliged to identify the father?
How strictly was this law enforced (i.e. what proportion of women actually did this)?
How would I go about tracking down such a record?
Adoption Records?
When the mother remarried, her husband was usually identified as the "head" in a census, and the child as "stepdaughter".
Sometimes on a later census the same child appears, but with the father's surname and identified as "daughter".
Does this mean that he has legally adopted the child?
Would there be documentary evidence, e.g. adoption papers?
Once again, how would I go about finding them.
I'm interested in two possible cases:
- Mary J Harries (born c1868 Llanelly), daughter of Jane Harries. Appears in 1871 census as Mary J Harries, stepdaur, but in later censuses (censi?) with her step-father's surname, Reynolds, as "daughter"
- Bronwen (born c1894 Ystrad, Glamorgan), daughter of Catherine Lewis. In 1901 census she has step-fathers surname, Williams, and is identified as "daughter". However, we know she was Catherine's daughter from an earlier engagement, but the father died in a mining accident
TIA, Pete
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Researching Welsh and Irish family history from SE Asia...
Browne: Mallow, Co. Cork (1895-1935) + Cahir, Co. Tipperary (1860-1895) Purtell: Cahir (1860-1895) Fanning: Cashel (to1886)
Corbett: Mitchelstown, Co. Cork (1860-1935) Sweeney: Mitchelstown (1860-1935)
Griffiths: Llanelly, Carmarthenshire (1837-1934) Reynolds: Llanelly (1837-1901)
Williams: Llanelly (1837-1934) Lewis: Ton Pentre, Glamorganshire (1837-1901)
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stanmapstone
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 6591
My answers only refer to England and Wales
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Prior to 1927 there was no formal adoption process. Occasionally it was arranged through a solicitor, doctor or charitable organisation but adoption was viewed as an essentially private arrangement between the parties concerned.
Stan
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marcie dean
RootsChat Member
Posts: 245
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Correct me if I am wrong, but in Scotland which I find v strange is a wife can be about to give birth, being legally married and all that, but if her husband dies before the child is born then the child is stated as being illegitimate. I found that stated on one of the births I was researching some months back.
Also in Scotland the woman is made to state who the father is and the father is made if he is available (not already married) to marry the woman and support the child. as happened in my families case.
marcie
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Scotland.
Lanark/Argyll/Renfrew/Ayr:Smith, Steele,Kirkwood,Hamilton,May,orO'may
Edinburgh/Aberdeen: Laidlaw,Brown,Dean/Barron/Charles/Hall/Slight/Johnston
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MonicaLesl
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 9121
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Marcie, not sure what you mean here.
Never seen a situation where if the father died whilst wife was pregnant, the child is registered as illegitimate. The child would be legitimate (in fact no reference made to it on the cert as to legitimacy) but father would naturally show as deceased at the time of the birth. Perhaps what you are thinking of here is that the husband had died and wife had gone on to have an illegitimate child. It would be a matter of dates of events (or maybe situations like the couple were separated and wife had a relationship with someone else etc.).
Again in Scotland, as elsewhere, no woman could/can be made to state the name of the reputed father on the registration of a birth. She may chose to do so and in order for the reputed father's name to show on the birth certificate, he would have to agree to paternity and attend the registration of the birth in order that his name would be included on the certificate by the registrar. If the father refused to accept paternity, the woman could decide to take the matter to the Kirk Council or indeed a local court and from that could come an arrangement of some form of maintenance for the child. Not sure how many women actually went this far to prove paternity or push for support for the child.
Monica
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MacIsaac, MacDonald, MacPherson, MacVarish, MacMaster: Moidart - Inverness-shire. Gillies: pre-1850 Knoydart, Inverness-shire /post 1850s Fort William area - Argyll. Tully, Tulley, Moran, Murphy: Lanarkshire. Durnan, Durnin, Kelly, Tully, McPhillips: Co Monaghan. McIntyre, McMahon, Tully: Co Cavan (?) Ireland. Moran: Co Mayo (?) Ireland. ..........and lots of Spanish name interests........ Census information Crown Copyright, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk |
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net64
RootsChat Senior
Posts: 328
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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marcia, hi
Don't think that is actually correct. 
My gr gr grandfather in Scotland died when his wife was 3 months pregnant.
When the child was born he wasn't put down as illegitimate but his father was named as being deceased .
Annette
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Doherty-Inishowen,Donegal/Glasgow,Scotland
Bradley-Inishowen,Donegal
Limerick-Derry/Inishowen,Donegal
Brown - Inishowen , Donegal
cConway-Inishowen,Donegal
Harvey-Glasgow/Campsie,Scotland
McGill-Glasgow,Scotland
Carroll-Ireland/Glasgow
McGruer-Cullen,Banff/Glasgow
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marcie dean
RootsChat Member
Posts: 245
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Hi all,
Referring back to the marriage of my grgran to George Steele. They married under a Sherriffs warrant, due to the fact that he was said to be my nans father.
When researching a record of a birth, it stated that her husband was dead and so the registrar wrote illegitimate in one of the columns under the childs name. I found the death cert of her husband and he had died two months previously.
marcie
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Scotland.
Lanark/Argyll/Renfrew/Ayr:Smith, Steele,Kirkwood,Hamilton,May,orO'may
Edinburgh/Aberdeen: Laidlaw,Brown,Dean/Barron/Charles/Hall/Slight/Johnston
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