the Legitimacy act of 1926

[retire]

Wondering if anyone is familiar with this act. I understand it was designed so that a couple who had a child out of wedlock could legitimize that child when they married. I am wondering if it could also be used when a couple marries and the woman had a child out of wedlock but not with that same man she is marrying and the man she is marrying wants to put his name as father. I have an instance where someone who was born in 1927 has a new birth certificate issued in 1931 and it says issued under that act. This couple married in 1929 but we believe that the mans name on the 1931 certificate was not her biological father. Does anyone know if this act could be used in this way. Thanks, Roberta

[Jon_ni]

it was not supposed to be used in that way for step-fathers, just for the subsequent marriage of the (biological) child's parents, however as with all births, and parents on marriages, information given may not always have been true see the Act https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/16-17/60/enacted?view=plain

Provided that the Registrar-General shall not authorise the re-registration of the birth of any such person in any case where information with a view to obtaining such re-registration is not furnished to him by both parents, unless—
(a)the name of a person acknowledging himself to be the father of the legitimated person has been entered in the register in pursuance of section seven of the [37 & 38 Vict. c. 88.] Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1874 ; or
(b)the paternity of the legitimated person has been established by an affiliation order or otherwise by a decree of a court of competent jurisdiction ; or
(c)a declaration of the legitimacy of the legitimated person has been made under the Legitimacy Declaration Act, 1858, as amended by this Act.

There are examples on https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/birth-certificates-and-the-full-birth-certificate-policy/birth-certificates-and-the-full-birth-certificate-policy#re-registration-of-births
plus a summary https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/relationships/overview/legitimacyadoption/

it is the subsequent marriage of the parents that legitimates the birth and not the re-registration itself. The re-registration ensures there will be no subsequent disputes eg ensures equal inheritance status - there is a lot of reference to that in the Act.

[AntonyMMM]

They would have to say  that the (now) husband was the father of the child, but whether that was true or not isn't something that could, or would, be checked.....and still wouldn't today.

At that time, for a re-registration under the Legitimacy Act both parents had to have been free to marry at the time of the birth (even though they didn't) ..e.g. neither could have been married to someone else in 1927. That part of the legislation no longer applies.

If the informant lied about any of the information they gave for the re-registration then they were committing an offence of perjury for which they could be imprisoned (if discovered).