HOW MANY Illegitimate children ?!?

[andrewalston]

I am currently trying to sort out a few of my Bullough ancestors, and trying to find the common ancestors of two strands which were joined by marriage in the late 19th century.

Now Bullough is a surname which is very local to the south Bolton area. There are a few who moved out, such as the branch who made mill machinery at a large works in Accrington, but most stayed in the area.

Going through the data pretty much at random, I noticed that several named someone with a different surname as father when they married. So I looked up the birth registration of one of these, so see whether it was just the mother being widowed and remarrying.

So I looked up on LancashireBMD the Bulloughs born in Bolton district in 1845. Total 10, including the Henry concerned.

Those with mother's maiden name of Bullough?  70% !

The proportion in the surrounding years is (thankfully) lower.

Has anyone found anything similar?

[marcie dean]

seems like most of the womn in my family had sex before they marrrid th g=fathers of their children except one wose beau was already married and another who was killed in a dreadful accident on their wedding day

[davidft]

Just a thought.

I don't know if this may help but in the book My Ancestor was an Agricultural Labourer by Ian Waller

http://www.sog.org.uk/books-courses/books-publications/my-ancestor-was-an-agricultural-labourer/

It was asserted that in times gone by in rural areas when a couple got engaged they did engage in intercourse and if successful they married, if not they didn't. This would make sense in a period when it was important to continue your line. Of course there would always be some who once they had done the deed didn't fancy getting married and so the at times high number of illegitimate births.

I assume Ian Waller has some source for the suggestion or it would not have ended up in his book.

[lizdb]

Or could there be a higher than expected number of Bulloughs marrying other Bulloughs? eg cousins or second cousins etc marrying, thus giving mums maiden name as the same.

[marcie dean]

seems like most of the women in my family had sex before they married th father's of their children except one wose beau was already married and another who was killed in a dreadful accident on their wedding day
at least one every generation of my family tree on on side my grandads' family ancestors and my nan on my nan's tree , just thought alexander smith and janeto'mays' first was iilgetimate alexander smith born 1874/5