Illegitimate birth? Jedburgh Sheriff Court Paternity Decrees , free index.

[ScottishAncestry]

A new resource has been added to www.maxwellancestry.com to help you overcome the brick walls caused by illegitimacy. Here's a blog all about it: http://scottishgenealogyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/sheriff-court-records.html

By indexing the paternity cases in the Sheriff Court books we hope you can find out what is going on in your family tree.

Hope it helps: http://maxwellancestry.co.uk/ancestry/resources/courtsearch.aspx

Emma

[carolineasb]

My understanding is that if a Decree of Paternity/Declarator of Parentage is granted in Scotland, the Court informs the GRO and a docquet is added to the Birth Entry in the Register showing that the Decree has been granted or there is an entry in the Register of Corrected Entries to enable a Birth Certificate as amended to be issued, should it ever be required.

An Action raised at the Court and included in an Index will only show that the Action was raised and nothing else.  Many might not proceed any further than being raised or may even be dismissed.

[ScottishAncestry]

You are correct that a decree naming the father made after 1855 would be recorded as a correction to the civil registration birth certificate; but this index begins well before that date and will commence about 1830 when completed. As of today it begins in 1842.

This is an index to decrees: a decree records the decision made by the Sheriff Court. This is a new index prepared directly from the pages of the original register of decrees of the court. The full transcription of the decree will therefore tell you whether or not the pursuer (usually the mother in these cases) was successful in the action, as well as details about the alleged father. Even when the pursuer was not be successful this does not mean the case is not useful. We today can use DNA as a tool in our research, and if a family has a brick wall a potential father's name could still be very useful. This is one reason why the index extends later than 1855, into the period where the information was also recorded on civil registration birth certificates. Additionally, the decrees usually contain more information than that which would be added to the birth certificate.

One useful thing about the index is that you can search by name of pursuer (almost always the mother) or defender (usually the father). You may find that by searching for your ancestor you find a case you previously did not know about. You can search by just pursuer or just defender.

Emma

http://maxwellancestry.co.uk/ancestry/resources/courtsearch.aspx

[carolineasb]

Hi,

I understand that the index MAY give you a hint towards a POSSIBLE father in a case before 1855, however, I am unclear as to what other information an index can give you which will be more than that which is added to the Birth Register entry?

What other information do you envisage being given in the actual Decree?  And I thought this was just an index of the Decrees?

I also note that this is just Jedburgh Sheriff Court and not Scotland as a whole .

[ev]

Hi all  ,

To avoid confusion I think we'll change the header on this and move it to the Roxburghshire board.

What would a full transcription contain?

The original decrees are very informative. Typically you would expect to find at least the following:
The full name, address and occupations of both the pursuer and defender. Other relatives, such as parents, are also named in some decrees.
The sex and date of birth of the child is usually recorded, but only rarely the child's first name. The amount of aliment (if any) to be paid to the mother is always recorded.

http://maxwellancestry.co.uk/ancestry/resources/decree_example.pdf

ev

[gmaxwell]

Hello all,

Graham Maxwell here, Emma's husband (Emma is ill and in the hospital). I have been working on this index. Just to try and clarify....

A Sheriff Court decree records the final decision of the court after all consideration of the evidence advanced by both pursuer and defender. As far as the court was concerned, there was no "MAY" or "POSSIBLE" about the judgment, and the decree was good for enforcement (in fact, that was the very purpose of engrossing it in the register). Of course, I am sure there were miscarriages of justice, but I would not have envisaged that this would be a reason to disregard a valuable series of records.

The decrees do usually contain more information than the Register of Corrected Entries and the birth certificate. Details of the amount of aliment, for example, are included, and grandparents of the child are mentioned regularly. You would not expect to find this on a birth certificate. Of course, before 1855, there was no civil registration, and in quite a number of cases no parish register entry can be found. The court decrees almost always give the date of birth of the child, information which might not otherwise be found.

Before 1860, the court process may well also still exist, and the decree can lead you to locating this. This bundle of papers will tell you much more. They will usually contained detailed information on the case as seen from the perspectives of the pursuer and defender, and also record the evidence each sought to bring forward (including that of witnesses) to back up their case. Relatives are frequently named, and the testimony recorded can shed light on the individuals concerned and their lives.

We have started with Roxburghshire (bear in mind this has only been going for a week or so) and soon plan to widen to other counties. We had to begin somewhere.

We hoped the information in the free index would be helpful to people, never mind the extra information they can get by consulting the original decree by means of the NRS reference which is given by means of the index results. If the general feeling is that the information is of little value, that is rather disheartening but I guess that's the way it goes. Of course, if the project is not helpful to people it may be better to discontinue this and move on to something else.

Graham

[ev]

Hello Graham ,

Sorry to hear about Emma , I hope it is nothing serious 

I'm sure we all appreciate the free access both of you have given to your Census transcriptions and other resources.

If the general feeling is that the information is of little value, that is rather disheartening but I guess that's the way it goes. Of course, if the project is not helpful to people it may be better to discontinue this and move on to something else.

I'm sure the project will be of great value , thank you for the time spent undertaking it.

ev