Emily Sophia Black - parentage & childhood?

[christanel]

Just an observation
The death registration for Gustave Black gives his age as 37 so born circa 1843 which matches 'your' Gustave Felix.
Just because Elizabeth had a child after the death of Gustave which was registered with the surname Black does not mean Gustave was still alive. My great grandmother's first child was illegitimate, she then married but her husband was dead within 12 months. A year later a daughter was born and registered in her dead husband's surname. A second daughter was registered with the surname of her natural father but always known by her mother's deceased husband's surname. 10 years after the husband's death another daughter was registered in his name. Maybe she took the permanent lodger along to pose as the father when she registered the births.
You may never find the father of Emily Sophia unless Elizabeth tried to get support from him and a bastardy bond exists for this. DNA could be another path to try.
Christina

[ElizabethNield]

Just an observation
The death registration for Gustave Black gives his age as 37 so born circa 1843 which matches 'your' Gustave Felix.
Just because Elizabeth had a child after the death of Gustave which was registered with the surname Black does not mean Gustave was still alive. My great grandmother's first child was illegitimate, she then married but her husband was dead within 12 months. A year later a daughter was born and registered in her dead husband's surname. A second daughter was registered with the surname of her natural father but always known by her mother's deceased husband's surname. 10 years after the husband's death another daughter was registered in his name. Maybe she took the permanent lodger along to pose as the father when she registered the births.
You may never find the father of Emily Sophia unless Elizabeth tried to get support from him and a bastardy bond exists for this. DNA could be another path to try.
Christina

that's all very intriguing! How would I find out if a "bastardy bond" (never heard that term before) exists?

I wonder how difficult/expensive it would be to get DNA testing done...

[christanel]

There seems to be a general consensus that ancestry.com is the best and cheapest for DNA testing and matching the results to others.
The Lost Cousins website has some very informative newsletters about DNA. Just google it.
Bastardy bonds were called "affiliation orders" in the 20th Century. Your only hope would be is if there was a child maintenance order made under the Affiliation Orders Acts against the father at the local court but as she had registered Emily Sophia in Felix's name she probably didn't seek support from the actual father.
See https://www.inbrief.co.uk/child-law/affiliation-orders/
Christina

[ElizabethNield]

Uh...

*stares at birth record*

Thomas Black?

That's a new one...

I mean, I'm grateful to have acquired the birth record, took me long enough and I thought I'd never see it (Thanks GRO site for sending PDFs) but...just...Huh?

[christanel]

Uh...

*stares at birth record*

Thomas Black?

That's a new one...
I mean, I'm grateful to have acquired the birth record, took me long enough and I thought I'd never see it (Thanks GRO site for sending PDFs) but...just...Huh?

First name of Thomas Smith and last name of her deceased husband to match with her widowed surname as she doesn't appear to have married Thomas?
Christina

[ElizabethNield]

That's the only logical explanation I can come to, but does that mean Thomas was the father, do you think?