Any genealogy buffs?

Question

England. 1800's Unmarried parents. Is it possible to trace the father without a marriage cert to give clues?

My grandfather was born to an unwed mother who lived with his father (her boyfriend) and had two other siblings. They never married and eventually broke up.

I discovered the name of the father from writing to Dr. Barnado's Homes and the social worker's report had the name of the father.

Would anyone have any suggestions as to where to go with that?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi Angie, While I am not as familiar with British genealogy, I would think to suggest looking at the census for data (who lived at that address etc) then proceed to the birth certificate, then go for his fathers death certificate then his birth certificate. Also church records seem to be the safest bet (although he may not have been a practicing member if he was living unwed) also any business directories, tax records, military service records. You may even find if he had any other children or relations. LDS has a lot of really good resources and are open to the public somewhat free of charge, look for your local family history center. also if your public library has Ancestry.com you could look up British records there although I could not say how complete they are. Hospital records are useful but official vital records tend to give the most information, just don't assume that all the information is necessarily accurate, sometimes people lied or wrote wrong info down. Good luck!!!

Answer 2

If their relationship occurred during 1841-1901 then they may well have been living together on a census night.  Since you know the father's name and the rough area he lived in (which I'm guessing is the area your grandfather was born in) it might be worth searching the census for the closest years to your grandfather's birth and seeing if any likely candidates come up.  Ditto the parish registers/overseers log books or anything from the area from that timeframe - he could well have gone on to marry someone else, or overseers accounts might have mentioned his original location.

The other option is looking at bastardy bonds or examinations due to illegitimacy - they were generally conducted by the mother's parish (mostly because they wanted money from the alleged father to support mother and baby) and if they've survived could be useful.  However they would be more likely to be useful in the early 1800's and if I recall correctly Dr Barnado's Homes were mid to late 1800's... still, it might be worth looking up.  

Is there any information about him such as occupation on your grandfather or his sibling's marriage certificates?  If you know his job, it might make finding a probable match on the censuses easier.

You're already a step of most people with illegitimacies in their family tree: you have a name.  Most of the time there's no record of the father's name in records!  I'd focus on the census records, since you know his name hopefully you can find a possible match or two (particularly if he has an unusual name).  Best of luck!

Answer 3

Were the parents living together when a census was taken i.e.

every ten years from 1841 to 1901?

Was there anything at all put for father on the kids birth cert or that of his siblings?

Did any of the kids have a middle name which might be the surname of the father ?eg My g grandmother who was born to unwed parents in 1883 had the middle name of Griffiths which was the father's surname.

Edit:  I really didn't read your question carefully :-(

Thought you said you didn't know the name of the father.

Okay, well idea about finding him on the census is the same.

If he is on the kid's birth certs it should give an occupation which can be a handy clue.

What year are you talking about and what do you know about him?

Hopefully he's not called 'John Smith' or something equally popular?