England Overview of Illegitimacy (National Institute)

Illegitmacy
To the genealogist the discovery of the christening of a baseborn child with only the mother’s name given in the parish register is frustrating. This, however, is an area in which the Poor Law records can really provide answers. The overseers records were not concerned with pedigrees and inheritance as many other records were, but with the pragmatic solution to the problem of paying for the child’s upkeep.

The law required that the mother provide the name of the father to the overseers, (but there must surely have been a few cases where there was more than one likely suspect!) The process involved the overseers and churchwardens receiving intelligence from either the mother or someone else that she was pregnant, or had already been delivered of a bastard. They then arranged an interview for her with a Justice of the Peace who would determine the particulars, especially the name, parish and occupation of the father. The overseers then had to find the man and extract payment, or, if he was not already married, to ‘persuade’ him to marry the young woman, either way exonerating the parish from the support of both mother and child. The marriage of such a couple was known as a knobstick wedding after the staves of office of the churchwardens who attended to see that the ceremony took place.

Maintenance orders from the Justices of the Peace might be applied for by the woman, her parents or the overseers, and these records are frequently found in Petty Sessions, and early ones of these are particularly detailed, as well as Quarter Sessions.

Illegitimacy rates rarely rose above 3% before the early 19th century thus bastardy was not a huge problem before then. The current sad rate in Britain is 30%.

A rather large number of unmarried mothers were domestic servants (Hey), and in such cases countless family stories have been passed down about philandering sons of the gentry, which are more easily accepted, perhaps, than saying that the footman, coachman or butler did it! It is probable, too, that many such pregnancies were the result of delayed or abandoned wedding plans (Hey). If a more affluent rascal admitted blame, then a quiet family lump sum or continuing payment may have sufficed, and no record would appear in the parish chest. If the payment was made to the parish officials, however, then it would be duly recorded.

There is a great variety of documents to be found in the parish chest relating to provision for illegitimate children. There are also variations in terminology of these documents over time, in different parts of the country, and in genealogy texts! Eve McLaughlin claims in Illegitimacy, that there were 20 different forms for use in differing circumstances. I have divided the forms into three groups:


 * Examinations are records of facts ascertained by interviews.
 * Bonds are an agreement made by the father and the officials.
 * Orders and warrants are documents from the JPs requiring something to be done.

Sometimes they will be found amongst overseers’ records, in other instances in the churchwardens’ records, but they could also have been stored separately.

After 1834 the Minutes of the Boards of Guardians are a useful source about fathers of bastards.

Bastardy Examinations
There were slightly different forms for examinations before or after the birth of a child, and in the latter case the child’s birth date and place is usually given, which may not be found elsewhere. A typical example is shown below, with a more unusual case following. Some examinations were carried out by midwives during the birth, and their depositions may be found in the Quarter or Petty Sessions.

Bastardy Examination 1775 Cheshunt, Hertfordshire

The following is both a Bastardy and a Settlement Examination:

Bastardy Examination 1789 Eling, Hampshire

Bastardy Bonds
These were also known as Bonds of Indemnification or Indemnity Orders, and were made by the father promising money for upkeep. The one below is probably from the father’s employer; this was quite common because when hiring a man for the requisite twelve months he would automatically gain a settlement in this new parish after forty days.

Bastardy Bond 1789 Eling, Hampshire

I have come across one example of a note of indemnification from the father’s parish in the christening register of the mother’s parish, as follows:

Indemnification Note in Parish Register 1755 Coldwaltham, Sussex

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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course English: Poor Law and Parish Chest Records offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com]

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