West Sussex Bastardy Lookup

[jbradley12]

Looking for information on father, I do have some information out of local newspapers.

From newspaper:

City Bench--February 3, 1845 (this is the date of the court preceding not the newspaper date)
John Cottrell was charged by Harriet Goble with being the father of her illegitimate child. Defendant did not appear; but the case having been proved to the satisfaction of the Magistrates, he was ordered to pay 5s. per week for the first two weeks, and 2s. 6d. per week for the remainder of the period.

One description says the court proceeding happened in Midhurst and another says Chichester. I know who Harriet is and who the child is. I'm looking for any additional information on John Cottrell, like an age, birth date, or an address, something to differentiate him from other men of the same name. I was hoping some type of court document might have this information, whether it be Bastardy, Petty Sessions, Quarter Sessions.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

[Liz_in_Sussex]

Hi,

I am a bit puzzled! The newspaper reports i have read all refer to Chi being where the case was heard (which is what I would expect). I wonder if this is what you are referring to - see the screenshot below - it has Midhurst as the heading but the actual article refers to Chi not Midhurst.

Do you know where Harriett was living in the 1841 census? There seem to be several possible Harrietts around the county.

There are however only 4 John Cottrell's - 1 in Barcombe - he seems unlikely, 1 in Brighton, again unlikely - if Harriet was local to either of them the case would have been in Lewes.

The other 2 are interesting - both Chichester and I notice that one of the Harriet's is also living on the edge of Chi in Rumbolds Wyke.

Of the 2 John's in Chi one is in his 40's and the other is the same age as the RW Harriet. So that would be the one I would follow up to start with. He is living in East Street less than a mile from Harriet (if she is the correct one).

There is only one John Cottrell baptised in the right timeframe according to the SFHG database and he was John Cottrell son of William and Ann Cottrell, William was a sadler in East Street Chichester.

Liz

PS If you know that Harriet was living somewhere else please ignore all of the above!

[jonw65]

Welcome to Rootschat.

Index to Chichester City Bench Book 1843-1857
Harriett Goble. Information under the Bastardy Act. Year: 1844. Page 89
Harriett Goble. Information under the Bastardy Act. Year: 1845. Page 102

West Sussex Record Office
http://185.121.204.173/SearchOnline/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=MP%2f2113%2f2

Baptism at Singleton, 19 January 1845, of William, son of Harriet Goble.
Mother a Servant of Chichester
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-D4H9-XJC

[jonw65]

Cross ref with John
John Cottrell. Information against him under Bastardy Act. Year: 1844. Page 89
John Cottrell. Information under the Bastardy Act. Year: 1845. Page 102

http://185.121.204.173/SearchOnline/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=MP%2f2113%2f1

[Liz_in_Sussex]

Sorry, welcome from me too!

Baptism at Singleton, 19 January 1845, of William, son of Harriet Goble.
Mother a Servant of Chichester
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-D4H9-XJC

I assumed the child in question was John Cottrell Goble registered in Dec Q 1844 in Westhampnett (Freebmd has his middle name indexed as Cottrell but the GRO as Cottnell) - there is no mother's maiden name given in GRO. (No corresponding baptism in the SFHG database.)

Liz

[jonw65]

Well, you are probably right Liz!
There could be several Harriet's...could be more than one illegitimate child!

[Liz_in_Sussex]

Of course, it has just occurred to me - Singleton is in Westhampnett Registration Distrtict - and there is no William Goble registered at that time in Sussex.

So are they the same person?

Harriett who I found earlier living in Rumbolds Wyke, Chi was a servant - so it makes me more inclined to this being the correct couple. If so, I think John's background should be quite easy to research given the business in East Street.

But given that WSRO is shut at the moment, it might not be possible to confirm with anything online.

Liz

[Liz_in_Sussex]

Just seen your reply jonw65 - no I think we are both talking about the same one - Harriett brought up in Singleton, sent to work as a young girl as a servant in Chi, gets pregnant by son of local business owners, takes the baby back to Singleton for baptism under the name he is known by but registers him by his "formal" name (perhaps before someone tells her "you can't call him that!!") and so he is known as William thereafter???

Possible?

I have just found a tree on Ancestry that has him down as William Goble Cottrell Bird - Harriett married James Bird in 1849 in Norfolk but I haven't checked it out.

Liz

[trish1120]

1849 Marriage is on FreeREG