'Natural Son'

[joboy]

I dont know what to make of this ... perhaps someone can?;
Stephen WOOD bp 23-Nov 1760 son of Sarah Wood natural son   

[Annette7]

It's another term for illegitimate.

Annette

[joboy]

Thanks Annette .... euphemistic eh? ........ they must have had a 'Pollitical Correctness Brigade' in those days too.
Joe

[Treetotal]

I've never seen that before....a polite way of putting it.
Carol

[Annette7]

I agree that it somehow sounds nicer.   Occasionally the actual father is named i.e. John Bloggs, son of Sarah Bloggs.   Natural son of John Smith.   I guess that only happened if the father acknowledged that it was his child.

Annette

[Cas (stallc)]

Confirms posters

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/natural+child

[smudwhisk]

It's often used in Wills where the writer wants to admit he was the father of the named individual.  More polite than illegitimate.   Either that or they use "reputed" child.

[mike175]

Possibly a little more sensitive than a baptism entry I found which stated, "Conceived in fornication" 

[artifis]

In one parish I researched in Oxfordshire the incumbent had a real thing about such children, he always recorded them as 'Bastard!' and in several instances 'Bastard, son (daughter) of a Bastard!' 

His successor took a much kinder approach using 'Natural son (daughter)' or 'Natural child'.

He also had the difficult situation of a brother/sister relationship where he recorded the offspring's baptisms as 'Natural son (daughter) of a natural relationship'.  I only know it was incestuous because of the final baptism entry for the couple by his successor who recorded the entry as 'Natural child of brother and sister xxxx & yyyy zzzz.  They weren't my ancestors but having come across the entry it intrigued me and I did some research to try and find out more about them but found they must have moved from the parish shortly after this last entry and there were no marriages/burials for any of them.  It seemed like the relationship was kind of accepted by the initial recording incumbent and even his successor who simply regularised the parentage entry, perhaps there was a 'reason' for the acceptance such as mental health issues - this was in the early 1700s in a small village in the middle of a small farming community isolated by some distance from its nearest parish neighbours.