Genealogy Chat

Hi everyone

I hope someone can clarify something for me...

My Grandmother was born in 1903. She was baptised a Roman Catholic but her father is not named in the baptism record. The obvious assumption is that her mother was unmarried.

However, this is not the case. Her mother was married, they had 3 older children and my Grandmother's birth certificate gives her mother's husband as her father.

I've had 3 ideas about why the father might be omitted:

1) Her father was not Roman Catholic - is this sufficient reason for his name to be omitted?

2) It is just possible her father had died by this point - I know he died within the next 10 years but have been unable to find any record of his death. Oral family history suggests it was a few years after her birth but it may be wrong. If this was the case would his name have been omitted?

3) The other possibility I have considered is that although she was married, her husband was not the father. In this case she might have been prepared to lie to the registrar but not the priest. However, if this was true I imagine that by doing this she would make it public knowledge so it doesn't seem likely.

Can anyone shed any light on this or suggest other reasons for the father to be omitted?

Many thanks for your help,

Sarah