Bastardy Records

[ang1985]

I was randomly searching through the British Newspaper Archive searching for names off my family tree when I came across an article featuring my Great x 3 grandmother Elizabeth Page... I was quite surprised to read that she had managed to get a warrant issued against a man for non payment of arrears of bastardy in 1848, at this time she was already married to my Great x 3 Grandfather... All the children I have listed for her were born after she married my Great x 3 Grandfather. I did think of the possibility that the article could be in reference to a different Elizabeth Page however this not very likely as Great Shelford is a village and I cannot imagine more than one Elizabeth Page living there at the same time. My question is would this have been a claim for a child of her own or could she have been helping a relative? If it is a child of her own.. I have heard of Bastardy records, I was just wondering where to find them if they indeed do exist.. Would they be in Cambridge where she lived or in Suffolk where the accused lived?

[stanmapstone]

The child of a married woman can not be illegitimate, the father is always presumed to be the husband, even if he is not.
Stan

[amondg]

There is more than one Elizabeth Page in Great Shelford.
The 1851 census has Robert and Elizabeth Page both aged 68, with an unmarried daughter Elizabeth  aged 24 living with them plus grandchildren Elizabeth age 10 and James age 2. 

[Guy Etchells]

The child of a married woman can not be illegitimate, the father is always presumed to be the husband, even if he is not.
Stan

Not correct, you are correct in saying "the father is always presumed to be the husband" for children born within the couple's marriage but not that "The child of a married woman can not be illegitimate".

Where it can be shown the husband did not "have access" to his wife during the relevant period (for instance he was overseas) or if he can show he was sterile etc then the resultant children were in law bastards.
Cheers
Guy

[stanmapstone]

Of course in those rare examples that is correct, but generally what I said is true. There are always exceptions.

Stan

[stanmapstone]

Another type of illegitimacy that is very difficult to prove is when a married woman has a child by a man other than her husband. The law assumes that a child is the legitimate issue of a husband if the husband and wife are living together. (If he has been off to war for two years, that is another story.) http://www.genealogy.com/articles/research/52_donna.html

There was a common-law presumption that a child born of a married woman was legitimate. This presumption was rebuttable, however, upon proof that her husband either was physically incapable of impregnating her or was absent at the time of conception.
Stan

[ang1985]

Many thanks for all your help with this one, this newspaper article appears to have opened a huge can of worms for me, the discovery of the 1851 census entry mentioned above is very helpful and has made me re-evaluate a section of my tree where I think I may have made a mistake. A little bit more investigation is required I think. Thanks again!