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  1. #1
    Araminta
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    Default A couple of questions about illegitimacy

    Is it possible to look up records of bastardy bonds for early nineteenth century Yorkshire?
    Or cases that were brought for them? There is one example in my tree where a couple married a few months after the woman had an illegitimate child - is it feasible he'd have decided to marry her instead if action brought?

    Re. a different relative: would it be routine for a widower's father not to be shown on the certificate for his second marriage, instead just a line in the space for father? What about if his father was deceased? I am wondering if this ancestor might have been illegitimate.
    Re. this same widower, a single man who'd been the father of an illegitimate child in the mid nineteenth century wouldn't feel the need to describe himself as a widower, the way a woman who had a child out of wedlock might have said she was a widow, would he? So if he says he's a widower, he really did have a previous wife who died?

  2. #2
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    From memory there is no one repository for court records dealing with illegitimacy. I would start with the nearest geographical record office and ask their advice.

    I don't believe that you can ever assume that one set of thought processes apply to any situation. So why does a man marry a woman soon after she has an illegitimate child? You cannot without other evidence assume that its to avoid a court case, nor can you assume that he is the father. There are many instances of women taking men to court for financial support because they have had pressure brought to bear on them to do so by a third party, such as parents, or religious leaders, or the poor law guardians. Equally if supported by her family, not every unmarried mother went to court.

    Why did the man not marry the woman before she had the child? I can think of a number of scenarios: he was ill, he was in prison, he was away serving with the forces, he was away on business etc.

    To get a flavour of the sort of things that I am talking about it's well worth having a read of old newspaper for the court reports of such actions. I have seen cases where the father of the girl sued the 'seducer' because of the costs he, the father, had incurred in relation to her giving birth. In that case the baby was still born, but the father/grandfather was successful in his action.

    With regard to wedding certificates these should always show fathers where they are known whether they are deceased or not. That said the recorder was wholly reliant on the declarations made by the bride and groom, because as far as I know in those days there was never a need to prove anything you declared including your own name.

  3. #3

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    Is it possible to look up records of bastardy bonds for early nineteenth century Yorkshire?
    Depends where in Yorkshire, Ancestry has the database "West Yorkshire, England, Bastardy Records, 1690-1914"

    I don't know how complete it is, couldn't find the record I was looking for.

  4. #4
    Araminta
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    Thanks Megan.

    Re. the first set of ancestors, the woman already had one illegitimate child several years older. She was older than her husband, whom she married a few months after the birth of her second child. The husband would have turned 18 the year of their wedding. Another idea I had re. the timing of their marriage was that they both genuinely wanted to marry, but had to wait for him to turn 18, as family disapproved of him marrying this older woman who presumably had a bit of a reputation. (In the end, it didn't get in the way of him having a reasonably successful career.)
    I am not sure if it makes any difference but re. her first child, the parish register says 'illegitimate' but for the second the father's name is simply left blank. It was the same vicar, though his habits may simply have changed in the ensuing years.

    So record offices for court records and old newspapers are the only place - nothing online for this area by the sounds of it. Covering these two sets of people, it would be c.1810-35 I'm interested in.

    Quote Originally Posted by Megan Roberts View Post
    With regard to wedding certificates these should always show fathers where they are known whether they are deceased or not. That said the recorder was wholly reliant on the declarations made by the bride and groom, because as far as I know in those days there was never a need to prove anything you declared including your own name.
    So in the second case it's quite likely he was illegitimate, but not certain? This was an 1840s marriage and at that point record keeping doesn't seem very thorough in a lot of places.

  5. #5
    Brick wall demolition expert!
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    Quote Originally Posted by Araminta View Post


    So in the second case it's quite likely he was illegitimate, but not certain? This was an 1840s marriage and at that point record keeping doesn't seem very thorough in a lot of places.

    I don't know. You can theorise but never know for certain. If I were you I would simply make a note of what I know, and then clearly show what I assume, and why I assume it.

  6. #6
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    You would be best off getting hold of the book My Ancestor was a Bastard by Ruth Paley ISBN 9781903462782 published by the Society of Genealogists

  7. #7
    thewideeyedowl
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    Default The National Archives

    Hi Araminta

    Interesting question and the others have given lots of useful advice.

    I'm chipping in to say search Discovery at TNA: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/. Enter (surname AND bastardy) - just like that and then filter with a time frame, e.g. 1750-1850. You might be surprised what comes up because Discovery now lists holdings at local archive offices.

    By searching Discovery, I got the lead to a Bastardy Recognizance held at East Yorkshire Archives; clicked through to them, emailed for a quote etc. The photocopy of the Recognizance arrived a few days later and gave me the answers to a lot of questions.

    Don't rely only on subscription sites!

    Owl

  8. #8
    Araminta
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    They weren't there - though it was interesting seeing records of people with the same names. Good to know that search site is there - thanks.

  9. #9
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    They weren't there
    I'm not surprised. The National Archives catalogue, Discovery, now incorporates the old Access to Archives catalogue which used to be available separately. However they stopped adding to the A2A catalogue many years ago and you certainly shouldn’t rely on Discovery for searching regional record offices.

    You need to search the catalogue of the relevant record office. I don't know what the relevant one is because all you've said is Yorkshire and there is no such thing as a single Yorkshire record office. Provide some parish names and we may be able to advise you further.

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