Illegitimacy & Dead Ends

[david64]

I have come across an illegitimate birth in 1918 and the birth certificate doesn't name a farther, not even a profession. Am I pretty much left with looking for someone who may know that is alive?

[PurpleCupcake]

Hi David

Although mine is further back in time, I had an illegitimate birth back in 1839 but her father is listed on the marriage certificate.  Perhaps you could try this? Otherwise I dont know!

Kind regards

[patrish]

You have to be very careful with illegitamate's marriage certificates as the fathers names were often falsified to avoid the stigma.

[david64]

You have to be very careful with illegitamate's marriage certificates as the fathers names were often falsified to avoid the stigma.

Do you mean that people would put a name of a man they would prefer to be there or that of their husband (in the case that the child was through the result of an affair)?

[patrish]

Exactly....... its was quite a common occurance so it did not appear that they were illegitimate

Sometimes they give a brother or grandfathers name as in the case of my own maternal gt. grandmother.

[Spidermonkey]

All types of father's names get put on to marriage certs - sometimes Stepfathers names were given, sometimes the name of a close male relative (grandfather for example), and sometimes the names are completely made up - perhaps Mum had pretended to be a widow and so children grow up believing that their dad died young.

[acorngen]

I concur with the information others have said.  Had it been years before you could have tried bastardy bonds but at 1918 that is not possible.  One option is the will of the mother if she left one.  She may have named him in there.

Rob

[david64]

I concur with the information others have said.  Had it been years before you could have tried bastardy bonds but at 1918 that is not possible.  One option is the will of the mother if she left one.  She may have named him in there.

OK, will have to look for a will; thought I doubt she left one. I think I am left with the marriage certificate, the half-brother and half-sister of my grandmother and failing that a spiritual medium.

[andarah]

I am in the exact same position with my husband's great granfather.  He was born in 1885 with no father listed and there is a father on the marriage cert.  In my case, the father's name is identical to the illegitimate child - easier to remember if questioned??

Anyway, one thing I am trying, that you can also try, is tracing the people he's lived with.  His mother died when he was 12 (1897), so I am tracing the family he's living with in 1901.  Maybe I will find something?  Even if I do find something, it will be a guess and I probably won't know it if I stumble over it.

I am thinking that DNA testing may be the only option.  Luckily for me, it's my husband's paternal line.

Does your person have siblings?  Did the mother eventually marry?  Supposedly, it wasn't uncommon for the mother to marry the father at a later date.  If you have siblings, you could try tracing their father, as that's a possibility.  For me, mine was an only child - another dead end.

I would love to hear other ideas.