Illegitimate children in Derbyshire 1820s - Denby Parish

[jonwicken]

Hi I am researching the family of distant cousins of mine I have identified through smaller DNA matches to descendants of Thomas Hunt (1826-1899) and Hannah Moon (1827-1897).

Thomas Hunt was born to his mother Sarah Bardell|Woolfitt|Hunt illegitimately in 1826 in Denby and baptised as Thomas Wafit [sic] and in 1829 another child was baptised as Anne Wolfit [sic]. The mother Sarah had married Joseph Woolfitt in Denby in 1821 but his name is not on the baptisms. She then went on to marry John Hunt in 1835, but I suspect the father of the elder children was not John Hunt.

Thomas Hunt and Hannah Moon became Mormons and then went to the United States and there is a lot about them online. I am however only looking myself at primary sources and starting from the ground up.

DNA matches in this cluster of matches I have of over 20 people suggest that the father might have been a member of the Gregson family of Longford.

I am therefore trying to see what records the church/local governance may have on these two illegitimate children and I emailed Derby Records Office, who helpfully informed me of the following:

A catalogue of the records we hold for the Parish of Denby can be found in our online catalogue under reference D1428. https://calmview.derbyshire.gov.uk/CalmView/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=D1428%2fA

The collection does include bastardy bonds but only until 1814. After the church registers, the only records in the parish collection that cover the period 1826-1829 is an apprenticeship indenture for a Samuel Hunt (ref: D1428/A/PO/142) and a Sunday School account book 1825-1853 (D1428/A/PI/135) which primarily appears to contain details of subscriptions (i.e. charitible donations for the running of the school) as well as expenditure. It does appear to include some names perhaps of pupils or others in the village, but not detail such as father/son of, etc.

Amongst the archive collection for the County Quarter Sessions (predecessor to the County Council), there are a small number of orders for maintenance and bastardy examinations covering 1826-1829 (ref: Q/RV…). Unfortunately, the catalogue does not include an index of the names recorded in these records.

I have also seen on the Denby UKI website links under the Poor Houses section here: https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DBY/Denby
some moree information on illegitimate children with two links.

I was please wondering if anyone here has any experience of these Derbyshire records of illegitimate children and what the chances are of something perhaps coming up in the records to identify the father.

Thank you,
Jon

[goldie61]

Mike Spencer did a lot of transcribing at Derbyshire Record Office many years ago, and has put a lot of information on his site Yesterdays Journey.

This page includes the bastardy bonds for Denby.
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~spire/Yesterday/index.htm

This page gives you many, many parishes and townships for which he has transcribed the bastardy bonds.
 http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~spire/Yesterday/index.htm

You'll see down the side of the page several other kinds of records he transcribed, which may be worth searching too.

[Designer Jeans]

Not quite what you were after but just in case you don't have it - Stamford Mercury 15 June 1821

[goldie61]

Hi Jon
Did you see the replies to this post a couple of weeks ago now?
Were they of any use or interest?

[jonwicken]

Thanks so much for the replies. So sorry or the delay in responding. There does not seem to be anything in the bastardy bonds published sadly. The newspaper article was fascinating to see it made the paper.

I am just hoping I can tie with Gregson of Longford clusters in with the Hunt/Moon of Denby ones. Nothing yet, but they are a sizeable grouping, so I hope something will turn up at some point.

Thanks again,
Jon

[spendlove]

Hi,
You will not find any info re illegitimate births for Thomas & Anne Woolfit because as far as the Church was concerned they were registered as the children of Sarah Woolfit a married woman, even if her husband was dead.

You do not say when Joseph Woolfit died, do you have this information? Where and when he died could lead to his Will.

Are you also aware that a William Woolfit, also of the Parish of Harmston, Lincolnshire married
Sarah Hunt on 2nd January 1821 Denby Derbyshire.

What relation was Joseph to William?

[jonwicken]

Hi,
You will not find any info re illegitimate births for Thomas & Anne Woolfit because as far as the Church was concerned they were registered as the children of Sarah Woolfit a married woman, even if her husband was dead.

You do not say when Joseph Woolfit died, do you have this information? Where and when he died could lead to his Will.

Are you also aware that a William Woolfit, also of the Parish of Harmston, Lincolnshire married
Sarah Hunt on 2nd January 1821 Denby Derbyshire.

What relation was Joseph to William?

Thanks so much for this reply. I hadn't even thought about the fact that as she was a married woman these births would have been les scrutinised.

What though if a married woman with illegitimate children became financially dependent on the parish, wouldn't they then track down the children's reputed father?

The interesting thing about the newspaper article is that the Woolfit family she married into, they must have been more affluent for it to be reported there. Sarah herself is known to have been able to sign her name, she was perhaps from a similar family

I have no idea what became of Joseph Woolfit or indeed who that William Woolfit is.

Thanks so much for finding that marriage though, as it would then seem the 1821 baptism of a John Woolfit son of William and Sarah in Denby on the same day as the Joseph Woolfit and Sarah Bardill marriage in 1821 must be the child of William Woolfit and Sarah Lunt. I assumed the name on the baptism was an error, but clearly it was not.

This is all really helpful information and yes looks like I need to track what happened to Joseph Woolfit.

These is a big sideways bit of research from a DNA cluster of matches!

[spendlove]

Hi,

It is important to find out when Joseph Woolfit died, it does look as if they were living apart, but you never know.

Just to be accurate Thomas Woolfit born 1826 was actually baptised  in Smalley Derbyshire, although the entry does state there Abode was Denby.  I cannot read what it says under Sarah's name.

[jonwicken]

Hi,

It is important to find out when Joseph Woolfit died, it does look as if they were living apart, but you never know.

Just to be accurate Thomas Woolfit born 1826 was actually baptised  in Smalley Derbyshire, although the entry does state there Abode was Denby.  I cannot read what it says under Sarah's name.

Thank you. I think it says Sarah Woolfit Spinster as this is then crossed through as she was married. Do you think that is correct?