SAGHS index search for unknown surname? COMPLETED

[Dinkydidy]

I am searching for a birth of a son with an unnamed father in order to find the mother's name. I know the father's name, because he acknowledged the son was his, but the son is not registered under the father's surname.

The son was known as Edward Summers, and from his age at marriage and death, he would have been born about 1855, in Adelaide. His father is named on his marriage as Nathaniel Summers. Nathaniel Summers had a son, Henry William, born to his wife Jane Good Whittard in 1850. The couple were separated, and the only surviving reference to Edward's mother in the known family history is that she was "the servant girl". Nathaniel died in 1860, but Edward is not named in his will. Edward was apparently old enough to have been sent to school by Nathaniel, so it is possible he may have been born before 1855.

Assuming his first name is the same, is it possible to look for any Edwards born in the early 1850s without knowing the surname?

[pinefamily]

If you are referring to the online index, then the answer is no; the online SAGHS index requires a surname imput.
Someone maybe able to help who has access to the older CD-ROM indexes.

[pinefamily]

How do you know Edward went to school? Is it a family story or have you found a record? Compulsory schooling did not come in until 1875 from memory.
If Edward did attend school, it is possible it was a church based school, and there may be records available. Are you able to identify the area they lived in?

[cando]

Nothing I can see on my resource for an Edward with unknown father in 1855.  It is possible his birth was not registered at all.

[Dinkydidy]

The private school record names only the father.

[cando]

Nathaniel Summers had a son, Henry William, born to his wife Jane Good Whittard in 1850.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207118609
Adelaide Times  31 Aug 1850
BIRTHS.
On the 29th instant, at North Adelaide, Mrs Nathaniel Summers, of twin sons, one still-born

[pinefamily]

The private school record names only the father.

When did Edward start school though? That gives you an idea of a birth year.
And have you looked for a baptism?

[cupoflife]

You can search using wildcard % eg: Surname: % (tick exact) and Name: Edward with a date range
Birth: 1856 HOLMES, Edward; NULL; Huldah HOLMES; Adelaide; 5/33
Unfort not your Edward as death: 1857# 5/182 HOLMES, Edward; Huldah HOLMES (M); Adelaide   

You can also trawl through the alphabet eg: Surname A%, B%, C%, etc. and Name: (left blank) with a date range. These are some examples:
1856   HEINSTER Heinrich Fredrich Stolle; NULL; Dorothea HEINSTER; Onkaparing; 6/40
1857   DEWELL Franklin; NULL; Charlotte DEWELL; Adelaide; 7/10
1857   GASNEY George; NULL; Ellen GASNEY; Adelaide; 11/14
1857   LOGAN Frederick; NULL; Mary Ann LOGAN; Strathalbyn; 13/25

There are others with a lot of “null” which makes things harder.
1852   THOMAS NULL ; (not recorded) THOMAS; NULL; Adelaide; 4/3
1852   NULL August Carl; NULL; NULL; Adelaide; 4/10
1853   NULL NULL; NULL; NULL; Adelaide; 4/163
1854   NULL Hermann Johann Friedrich; NULL; NULL; Adelaide; 5/12
1855   NULL Augustus; NULL; NULL; Adelaide; 5/183
1857   HUTCHINS NULL; NULL; Ann HUTCHINS; Adelaide; 7/19

Also wondering if unmarried mothers simply used their own surname for the fathers details to avoid issues. eg: 1850 MORGAN, NULL; (not recorded) MORGAN; Elizabeth MORGAN; Adelaide; 3/16

Can I use wildcards in the search? https://www.genealogysa.org.au/help-faqs.html

[Dinkydidy]

Thank you all for your input. Cupoflife, that is the kind of search I was hoping was possible, but didn't realize I could do it with only an initial letter. I will keep that in mind in future. I should read the fine print a bit more carefully.

As it happens, following advice that seems to have disappeared from view, I have just completed browsing the registered births for all 1348 Edwards, with variations, born between 1850 and 1860. This was possible without entering anything in the surname field, on one of the subscription FH sites.

I found only one Edward registered without a father's name, but this child died nine months later. There was also an Edwin, but I haven't been able to find anything else about him or his mother yet.

I have earlier found a Holy Trinity christening record for an unregistered child, which is a possibility, but will perhaps post it for discussion separately.