A hypothetical Question

[mofid42]

Harriet gave birth to an illegitimate son whom she called Edward just days after the 1851 census was taken.

She lived in a small village in Berkshire.

A typed transcript of the 1851 census for the village and surrounding area showed that the name Edward was not in common use.
Apart from a few children under the age of 10 there were only six men in the area called Edward.
The youngest was a lad of 16, the oldest was 65, married and the local landholding gentry.
Two others were unmarried men in their thirties, not local to the area so possibly migrant workers and lived the furthest from Harriet.
Of the two remaining men, one was the newly married Vicar in his twenties and the final man was in his early forties, married with several children, the youngest of which was a baby just three months old. He was also Harriet's next-door neighbour.

So was child's name  a clue to his father? 
If you had to choose a possible contender for the father of Harriet's baby who do you think was the most likely?

[KGarrad]

Personally, I wouldn't make any assumptions!

What does it say on Edward's Birth Certificate and Marriage Certificate?
Are there any relevant Bastardy Bonds?

[mofid42]

The question was meant more as a bit of fun than anything serious, hence the title.

There is no fathers name on his birth certificate. Edward died when he was eighteen so never married. There are no bastardy bonds.

Harriet married a man called James later in 1851 so he could have been Edwards father. Harriet may have chosen the name Edward to name her child simply because she liked it.

[Pejic]

What was Edward's name when he died?  Assuming he never had any offspring I would put his father as his mothers's husband, with a note "Assumed"

[Erato]

She named him after the vicar who was sympathetic and helped her out when she was in a heap of trouble.

[mofid42]

I like you version Erato....not one I had thought of.

I asked this question elsewhere and most people decided it was the nextdoor neighbour!

Pejic....although I can't be 100% sure I don't think Edward was James's son as the 1861 census entry for Edward describes him as son in law

[Flattybasher9]

Did Queen Victoria have a holiday home, 2 doors up from Harriet, the other side of Edward??

Just curious

Malky

[mofid42]

He he! I doubt it very much Flattybasher9....not unless she liked slumming it!