Author Topic: Illegitimate batisms early 1800s  (Read 609 times)

Offline StalyJason

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Illegitimate batisms early 1800s
« on: Saturday 30 November 19 12:04 GMT (UK) »
Hello all,

Hope you are all having a good weekend? I have a fairly general question about illegitimate baptisms in the early 1800s. My particular ancestor, one Susanna/Susan Hassall b.1780 (possibly Staffs.) had a child John Hassall b.1805 in Stalybridge, Cheshire. John was baptised at the parish church in the next town Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancs. giving Susanna as the mother but no father was named. On checking through the Bastardy Accounts for the church there was no application made for financial support (which I've been told would have led to Susanna being required to name John's father?). I infer from this that Susanna and her child must've had support either from the father privately and/or from her own family? Am I right to assume this?
Secondly, looking through the same church records I have found 4 other illegitimate children baptised over the next 11 years (1805-1816) all born to a Susanna/Susan Hassall of Stalybridge and again no fathers named. Given the rarity of the Hassall name in this area this surely has to be my Susanna and what can really have been going on here? To have 5 illegitimate children and not apply to the church for financial support? Also I assume she had them baptised away from her local parish church to avoid gossip and rumour?

Many thanks in advance,
Jason.
HASSALL~Stalybridge/Audlem; LEVER~Stalybridge; TENNANT~Yorks/Staffs/Shrops; NICHOLSON~Wick/Banff; CAMERON~Newcastle/Banff; McKAY~Macduff; WATSON~Macduff/Whitehills; WRIGHT~Manchester/Leeds/Bradford; HEYWORTH~Rochdale/Ashton;

Offline Andrew Tarr

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Re: Illegitimate batisms early 1800s
« Reply #1 on: Saturday 30 November 19 12:38 GMT (UK) »
Can't help with your immediate question - but you may be able to confirm a father if you can trace the marriage of one of the daughters (I presume there were one or two?).

A ggg-uncle of mine never married, but fathered a daughter in the 1840s, unidentified on the Manchester birth record.  However when the daughter married in the 1870s he was acknowledged on the certificate.  It turned out he lodged with the daughter's family and her unmarried mother ....
Tarr, Tydeman, Liversidge, Bartlett, Young

Online mazi

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Re: Illegitimate batisms early 1800s
« Reply #2 on: Saturday 30 November 19 13:10 GMT (UK) »
Genuki suggests Stalybridge did not have a church at that time, ashton u Lyme was the nearest.

Mike

Offline StalyJason

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Re: Illegitimate batisms early 1800s
« Reply #3 on: Saturday 30 November 19 15:54 GMT (UK) »
Mazi no that's incorrect. Old St George's church in Stalybridge opened in the 1770s.
HASSALL~Stalybridge/Audlem; LEVER~Stalybridge; TENNANT~Yorks/Staffs/Shrops; NICHOLSON~Wick/Banff; CAMERON~Newcastle/Banff; McKAY~Macduff; WATSON~Macduff/Whitehills; WRIGHT~Manchester/Leeds/Bradford; HEYWORTH~Rochdale/Ashton;


Offline StalyJason

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Re: Illegitimate batisms early 1800s
« Reply #4 on: Saturday 30 November 19 15:55 GMT (UK) »
Andrew,

Thank you for that tip. There was one daughter so I might be able to trace her.
HASSALL~Stalybridge/Audlem; LEVER~Stalybridge; TENNANT~Yorks/Staffs/Shrops; NICHOLSON~Wick/Banff; CAMERON~Newcastle/Banff; McKAY~Macduff; WATSON~Macduff/Whitehills; WRIGHT~Manchester/Leeds/Bradford; HEYWORTH~Rochdale/Ashton;

Online arthurk

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Re: Illegitimate batisms early 1800s
« Reply #5 on: Saturday 30 November 19 16:12 GMT (UK) »
This sounds similar to something my wife has in her family, and for a long time it seemed she'd never be able to work out who the father was. Diligent research in censuses and parish registers didn't produce the answer, and while the man's will would be a good source, it's often next to impossible to find it when you don't have a name.

In the end it was solved with the help of a FHS's CD index to marriage licences. We'd already found a marriage licence for one of the sons years before when we visited the record office, but this CD also mentioned an abortive licence application from a little earlier, which hadn't been in the record office index. The reason it wasn't successful was that the lad (aged under 21) had named his father in it, but because he was illegitimate he didn't have a legal father.

Subsequent research into the father, with the help of DNA, proved beyond reasonable doubt that the woman in question had been living with the man and had several children with him, but she was still married to someone else.
Researching among others:
Bartle, Bilton, Bingley, Campbell, Craven, Emmott, Harcourt, Hirst, Kellet(t), Kennedy,
Meaburn, Mennile/Meynell, Metcalf(e), Palliser, Robinson, Rutter, Shipley, Stow, Wilkinson

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Offline StalyJason

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Re: Illegitimate batisms early 1800s
« Reply #6 on: Saturday 30 November 19 17:51 GMT (UK) »
ArthurK

Don't we all have fascinating people in our families? Thank you for your input

Jason.
HASSALL~Stalybridge/Audlem; LEVER~Stalybridge; TENNANT~Yorks/Staffs/Shrops; NICHOLSON~Wick/Banff; CAMERON~Newcastle/Banff; McKAY~Macduff; WATSON~Macduff/Whitehills; WRIGHT~Manchester/Leeds/Bradford; HEYWORTH~Rochdale/Ashton;