Illegitimacy - how have you handled it on your Family Tree?

[Biker]

Hello,

I know this is a difficult question because each case will be different and factors which strengthen/weaken the case of establishing the Father (e.g. if the parents can be proved to be living together on a census before the children were born, baptism record names the father, names of children reflecting 'Father's' name).

However, I've just come across the first illegitimate birth in my family tree where two children are born (Father not mentioned on birth certificate) several years before the marriage of the Mother and who (might be) the Father of the children.

Have you come across this in your family?  If so, how have you handled it with regards to your Family Tree?  Left the Father's name blank and treated it as a dead end?  Inserted the Father (indicating somehow, unproven paternity)?, claimed the Father? or ....

Comments and opinions welcome.

Regards
Jonathan

[JillJ]

Hi Jonathan,

I have a couple of cases of illegitimacy in my tree, both proven one way or another, and I have put the word 'illegitimate' in brackets after the name of the child.   If the mother's husband was the father, he would be linked to the child, but if not the information is there.

Jill

[kerryb]

This is a very tricky one.  I have one strand of my family tree where 3 out of 4 generations are illegitimate culminating in my grandmother.  

She always told us she was brought up by her aunt and uncle and her father was supposedly Italian.  She died nearly three years ago and I don't know whether she knew the truth or not but when I got a copy of her birth cert and her mother's marriage cert it was clear the Italian was not her father.  

He was fighting with the Canadian army over here during WW1 and therefore not here when my gran was born in 1913 before the start of the war.  He married my gr grandmother in 1918 and they went back to Canada soon after.  Why did they leave my grandmother behind with aunt?  Quite clearly, he did not want to bring up somebody else's child.  Very sad.  

I would love to know who her real father was, so would my dad.  But how do you find out?  

I also have a case of three illegitimate children born before the girl eventually married.  Were they children of the eventual husband or someone else's?  The surname used for all three was the mother's maiden name.  

On my family tree I have left father unknown.  Like Jill the husband is linked to the mother, in my case with the rest of the siblings.

kerryb

[suttontrust]

I have several cases of illegitimacy in my own tree and I have just recorded it as fact.  It's only a difficult matter, I think, when the people concerned are still alive.  My favourite instance is an 18th century ancestor called Grace.  She married Wm Fox, had several kids, then he died.  A couple of years later she had another son who everybody knew was the child of Ed. Clark.  The boy had to be baptised with his mother's name, Fox, but soon after that Grace married Clark, and the boy was known to everybody as Clark.  Confusing, but I should think it happened frequently.

[Biker]

Thanks for all that feedback, good to get other people's experience.

In my particular case everything points to the eventual husband as being the father.  The son was named after the husband (no such names in mother's family), the daughter named after the mother's mother.  All of the addresses on birth and marriage certs are within 2 streets of each other (the mother's family home and the couple's home after marriage).  The marriage took place in 1859 and both of the illegitimate children assumed the name of the husband on the 1861 census and from there onwards.  On the marriage cert of the son, he uses the husband's name as his and  indicates his mother's husband as his Father.

I am very tempted to claim him, but think the idea of putting 'illegitimate' after his name on the my Tree is a good idea.

Any other opinions?

Regards
Jonathan

[Boongie Pam]

A couple?  A few here and there!

I have the grand total of around 40 illegitimacies on my tree.  Which is slightly below the 1861 percentage for Dumfrieshire (10% of all births).

The vast majority I have to call a dead end other's there are clues, one went to the kirk sessions to prove paternity.

It sounds good in your case Jonathan but always cautious. 

The strangest one in my tree is Thomas Thomson son of Thomas Thomson and Margaret Green born 4th May 1894 he is called illegitimate on his birth cert but both father and mother sign the informant. 

Margaret and Thomas marry 29 Nov 1895. 

But Thomas's first wife Agnes Campbell doesn't die until 17 Sep 1895.

I would love to know what was going on? Agnes died in Troqueer Kirkcudbright and Margaret was living in Dumfries Dumfriesshire which are geographically nearly the same town (either side of a river).

Later on Margaret and Thomas started to fib about their marriage date on subsequent children's certs.

Another family Margaret Fallen has 5 children 2 who have a middle name not associated with my family - guess that's related to the father.  One of her daughters is very confused as on her second marriage she has 3 aka's she isn't sure what her name is!

I have always (if it is cheap  ) followed the step father/mother line as well as they are the people that influence through behaviour the type of person we are.  It ain't just nature!

Pam
 

[Biker]

Pam,

Certainly sounds like you have a 'colourful' lot! - guess it makes the research interesting.

I think what I probably will do is put (illegitimate) after his name, which would be the most accurate I think.  Of course, his father and grandfather are both elusive and probably rapscallions of some sort if I know my lot!  But that's another story .... 

Thanks to all

Regards
Jonathan

[MrsLizzy]

I have a case that really confuses me:  my great great grandfather always said he was "of German extraction" and that his father was Henry Richard GIESEN.  After 20 years or so of trying to find his birth in 1862, where it should have been, I found a record of him in the 1881 census, Charles Giesen, aged 19, living with his grandmother, Mrs Ann Green, and Mrs Green's other grandchild, one Ada Culling, aged 17.  Then I found a record of the birth of one Charles Winchester Green Culling in 1862.  I knew his middle name was Winchester, so I ordered the certificate, thinking the Mr Giesen was going to prove to be a stepfather.  Almost, but not quite.  He was the illegitimate son of Fanny Layton Culling, no father's details given.  Ada's birth cert stated she was Ada Anne Green Culling, and further research revealed earlier sons called James Green Culling and Josiah Green Culling.  It certainly appeared Fanny was claiming that the children were related to Mrs Ann Green in some way and the only son I knew Mrs Green had was Walter J Green, so I thought he was probably the father of Fanny's four or five illegitimate Green children.  Amazement then, when I found in an earlier census (with the help of Rootschatters!) that Mrs Green had an older son - Josiah Green. 

Josiah and Fanny never married - in fact Fanny never married anyone as far as I know and she died in her 30s of pthisis - a form of TB.

Charles and Ada were "adopted", still very young, by Josiah's sister Martha, when she married William Henry Giesen - here is where Charles got the story of the "German extraction".  After William's tragic accidental death in 1875 Martha sent them to live with Mrs Green, and herself went to live with her twin, Walter.  Ada was never very happy apparently, and committed suicide in 1881, two months after the census was taken - by swallowing carbolic acid.  She was never talked about by the family, although I recall my grandmother telling me "there was a sister called Ada - but she died."  I am never sure how to show Charles' parentage on the family tree.  Son of just Fanny, father unknown, as it's unproven?  It's only supposition really that Josiah was the father.  Natural nephew and adopted son of Martha and William?  It's enough to bring on a headache!

[leagen]

My gt-gt.-gd.-mother had a dau. before she (m) my gt.-gt.-gd.father.  The dau. had the same last name as the mother and family history said she (m) her cousin and he was the daus. father.  There is a name on the daus. death cert. listing a father who has the same last name as the mother but NOWHERE have I ever found that man listed where he should have been living if he really (m) my ancestor and 10 months before my ancestor had that dau. she was still living at home w/parents w/no husband living w/them.  So I think the dau. was Ill.. and I state all this info in my records.  That dau. went on to have a son under sim. circ..  That son had a different last name but nowhere have I ever found anyone who could be his father or a (m) for his mother.  I state all that in my records.  As was said before, state the facts.  My own mother had a child out of wedlock and the whole world knows it. Truth is truth and it can't be changed even if people don't like it.  I am doing family history, not writing a book of fiction.     Leagen