Genealogy Chat

I have come to a dead stop in 1823 with a baptism which states the child to be 4 years old and illegitimate. The child does have a middle name given and this according to his marriage certificate in 1839 was his fathers surname. I know the church liked the mother to name the father but would there be any records anywhere of him having to pay towards the upkeep of the child. ****************** Many thanks for such a quick answer to my question I shall certainly take some time to travel to the local area to see what I can find. ****************** Yes I have looked for the father but the only person I can find died in 1837 aged 37. He would be about the right age but I just need some real proof before I add the name to my tree. Thanks for all your help and suggestions Colchester here I come!!

There might be bastardy records somewhere (probably the County record office for the area). I've never used them so I'm not sure what date they go up to and what they contain. Kath. x

If you know the parish where the child was born you may be able to locate bastardy bonds. These are often found at the archive where the parish records are lodged. The system for working out just who was going to pay to support a child, a precursor to the CSA, this operated from 1601 - 1834 Pete

I had no idea these 'bastardy bonds' existed. i have 2 generations of illegitamate children ( a son and his mother both had no father registered on birth certificate) Its bugged me for ages not knowing where they came from.

Its good you have the father named on the baptism cert and the marriage cert, most people aren't that lucky! Have you checked the 1841 census to see if a man of that name was still in the vicinity?