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susanx123
12-06-2008, 09:09 PM
My great gran Alice Hazelwood Smith was born 11/05/1888. at 33 Spencer St Coventry. Her birth cert also shows her mother Emma Smith is a domestic servent but there is no father's name

Am I right in assuming (much to the horror of my great aunts-Alice's daughters) that Emma may have not known who the father was or is there any other reason why she may not have named the father? and is there any way of finding him?

Later (not sure when) Emma met a man called George Moore and my great aunts are certain they were married because "people did in those days" and we called them granny & grandad Moore - Not concrete evidence I agree!
but I cannot find any evidence of a married on Free BMD unless I am looking in the wrong place- I'm fairly new to family history.

On 24/02/1906 Alice married Jonathan Batchelor and she gives her father's name as George Smith. Do you think this is her biological father or is it George Moore and she has used her name Smith so they have the same surmane to be respectable?

Alice also gives her address as 74 Eagle Street Coventry where Emma and George spent most of their "married life".

Emma lived there until her late 90's but again I cannot find a death cert for Emma Smith or Moore.

With Alice's unusual middle name Hazelwood- do you think this might be a reference to her father's name?

One of my great aunts hoped that Emma had married Alice's father and he died while she was pregnant and that is why she was unable to name him on the birth Cert. Is this possible?

Although we realise it is a simple case of Emma being a an unmarried mother but was it usual for her to bring up Alice on her own and how would she support her finanically?


As you probably guess I'm clutching at straws so I will be grateful for any
help to point me in the right direction.

thank you

Michelle.

jane.harrison.9
12-06-2008, 09:44 PM
Hi Michelle,

It does look like your great gran was born out of wedlock.
I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm.But!!!!

As to finding him, if he is not mentioned on her birth certificate it's going to be hard if not impossible. Emma may have made an application for poor relief, that being the case the father may have been mentioned in her application.

There were far more illegitimate births than we have a tendency to believe.

My own grandmother was one of three born to my g grandmother she had the name Peters as her middle name but I can find no significance for the name.
I spent years looking for someone named Peters to no avail.

My grandmothers sister gave her grandparents names as her parents on her wedding certificate, yet a year later when my g grandmother died she was the one who registered her death as her daughter.
My grandmother gave a name for her father on her wedding to my grandfather
using her maiden name as his surname. They probably both did this to look respectable.
The name Hazlewood could have come from anywhere, a distant relative ,the midwife or a friend, maybe even the father.
My g grandmother's brothers middle two names were taken from the vicar William Webster.

Good luck with your search but don't be too disappointed if it comes up blank.

Jane

jane.harrison.9
12-06-2008, 09:51 PM
Hi Michelle ,
If you read through this thread is does give some explanation as to why the fathers name even if known may not be on the birth certificate.

http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29637

Regards
Jane

Jan1954
12-06-2008, 09:58 PM
But on the bright side, I have a Mary Ann Dean Cross, who was born to Sarah Cross, unmarried.

Her father turned out to be William Dean.

So you can strike lucky sometimes. ;)

Annie
12-06-2008, 10:10 PM
Have you found them as a family on any census, might help narrow down searches for a marriage, is Alice named as daughter or step/in-law?
Daughter in law is often used for step daughter.

Annie
12-06-2008, 10:15 PM
there is a possible marriage:
Name: George Edwin Moore
Year of Registration: 1900
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
District: Coventry
County: Warwickshire, West Midlands
Volume: 6d
Page: 946
on the same page Emma Smith

susanx123
12-06-2008, 10:25 PM
Thank you for all your wise words.
I thought it was going to be a long shot but thought is was worth a try.
I will get the marriage cert for emma and george to follow the family line through emma.

thanks again

Michelle

Annie
12-06-2008, 10:42 PM
IF this is the family in 1901, then I think you can rule out George Moore as the father of Alice:
Hannah Kirby 66 Mother-in-law
Emma Moore 36 Wife
George Moore 26 Head
Norman Sinclair 5 Nephew
Alice Smith 12 daughter-in-law
RG13; Piece: 2911; Folio: 118; Page: 32

Peter Goodey
12-06-2008, 11:18 PM
There are paths to research but you have to step outside the BMD certificate zone. The book "My Ancestor was a Bastard" by Ruth Paley ISBN 1 903462 78 9 will provide guidance.

Jan1954
12-06-2008, 11:33 PM
There are paths to research but you have to step outside the BMD certificate zone. The book "My Ancestor was a Bastard" by Ruth Paley ISBN 1 903462 78 9 will provide guidance.

Available here: http://www.parishchest.com/shop/index.php?cmd=viewproduct&cat=&id=P26700&pageOffset=0

Roger47
14-06-2008, 05:27 PM
[QUOTE=jane.harrison.9;167571]Hi Michelle,

It does look like your great gran was born out of wedlock.
I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm.But!!!!

As to finding him, if he is not mentioned on her birth certificate it's going to be hard if not impossible. Emma may have made an application for poor relief, that being the case the father may have been mentioned in her application.

There were far more illegitimate births than we have a tendency to believe.

My own grandmother was one of three born to my g grandmother she had the name Peters as her middle name but I can find no significance for the name.
I spent years looking for someone named Peters to no avail.


Maybe your looking for a Mr Peters rather than a Peter somebody was their a relative or lodger or employer with the chrisian name of PETER the implication being Peter's child

My g
Grandmother used the middle name of one of her base born as Daniels like you I searched for a Mr Daniels 4 years later I found she had a cousin called Daniel Evans and he fitted the MO perfectly right name right place and time
Maybe a sideways look may help

Roger