Genealogy Chat

Ross I think it was almost universal that women gave the name of the father as a second name to the child - their way of saying: He refuses to acknowledge that he is the father of this child, but I am damn well going to let the world know who he is! Marjorie

Hi Sarah,had same thing happen with an aunt of mine. Name and Surname of father left blank,but under childs name were Ruby Winifred Newton..Anybody explain that???Only thing i can come up with is that the mother wanted the fathers name on somewhere/somehow??? Regards Ross. P.S. The person who registered the birth was neither mother or father!!!

Sarah If she was not married to the child's father, she COULDNT put the father's name on the cert, unless the father attended at the Registration. There are quite a few threads on this topic at the moment. Marjorie

I'm fairly certain I know who the father is - the mum married him 12 years later (!) - I was hoping the certificate would confirm it is who I'm thinking, or give some clue as to why it took them so long to marry. There is still a niggle in the back of my mind though - the (suspected) father was 20 yrs older than the mum...she is listed in his household as 'housekeeper' prior to the marriage...she definitely gave HIS surname to her son as his middle name, and after her death censuses show him listed as the father. The lack of any maiden name or 'formerly known as' on the cert implies she was unmarried, so I'm now trying to work out why, if she married the boy's father, she didn't put his name on the cert in the first place. What do you all reckon - order the marriage cert for the mum and dad which should show his marital status? And there is always the possibility that the actual father wasn't the guy she married, but another of his rellies eg son, and she just married him later.... thats it - I'm confusing myself again! lol

Hi Sarah, As Nell says, you can sometimes find clues on the certs. My G grandmother's birth cert does not list a father, I think that her middle name might be a bit of a clue though, FISHER!!! Her marriage cert was no help though as it listed her Grandfather as her Father. Sue:-)

Sarah You have an illegitimate member of your family - join the club! Does his name give a clue - does he have her surname, or a surname as a middle name? Could you find his baptism - fathers are sometimes listed there. Alternatively, is there a name on his marriage cert (though it might be made up for respectability). You could also check bastardy bonds in the parish records at the relevant records office. nell

After the time and money spent trying to track down the birth of my GG grandfather I finally get his birth certificate today....AND SHE DIDN'T PUT HIS FATHER'S DETAILS ON IT!!!! Doesn't it just want to make you spit!