Hi



Having experienced a few illegitmacies in the family, I thought I'd share a few more hints and tips on illegitimacy and finding the putative father, and determining if the subsequent husband was the father, or being suspicious of the youngest child many years younger than the penultimate one.



If you come across an illegitimate birth in your family, and you at that time being have no evidence of who the father could be, dont always assume that he was a local person until you have verified that through census, church registers etc. If the mother was a servant, she may have had positions at different houses, and if you find the putitive father lived several miles away in a census, look at his occupation. If he was a male servant or footman or coachman, then he may have travelled around a bit or had roles at different houses. Even if he was just a labourer, he may still have known people who lived a fair distance away. If you do find such a reference, check old maps and if there was good rail and carriage access to the mothers home parish, then it is very possible. He may even lived even further away like Stafford and the woman in London, he may have alternated between the two places and met her there or visited there on occasions or through work.



A lot of illegitimate births after 1837 went unregistered for that reason, but parish records, and if they survive, affliation and Illegitimacy orders may have survived. If the illegitimate birth was before the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, the chances of finding a Illegitimacy order actually increase due to poor law rules but dont be put off trying for a post 1834 affliation or court order against a putitive father. Checking local newspapers can help.



Did the mother marry shortly after the birth? If she did marry a man, not always, but in my opinion, mostly it was to the childs father. There could have been several reasons why they married after the birth, ie, money, or the father may have still been married, perhaps to a dying wife and had sought comfort while his wife was still alive. Was they baby baptised as the natural daughter of the new husband? If so, that is a good clue and he probably was the father in that case.



Did the mother flee her home parish after the birth of an illegitimate child? If she did, and married within a few months, check to see if the man she married had lived in the area that the mother moved from and went with her. If he was also living in the same area as the mother before the move, then you are almost certainly dealing with the father of the baseborn child. There could have been a scandal which made them flee their home areas.



Why was the last legitimate offspring 8 or more years younger than the penultimate one? Yes, the mother could have had a final baby later in life, but this could also indicate the covering up of the birth of an illegitimate grandchild, and one of the much elder daughters was the mother. You may not prove it, but you can try and theorise.



Ben