General Chat

Can anyone enlighten me. I know my grandmother was born illigitimate in Calne Wiltshire. All my mother can remember is her father was a landholder called "farmer Ray". I want to get her birth certificate, and was wondering if anyone can tell me if the father's name would be on it if the child was illigitimate. Her name was Beatrice May Rivers born 1892 Calne Wiltshire.
Cheers Terry

In theory it is possible, but only if the father jointly registered the birth with the mother. In practice, unlikely and you will probably find a dash where the father's name would be.

Have a look at this site for more information Look at the section on Fathers Name under Birth Certificates.

http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm

Thanks InspectorGreenPen. I have put that link on favourites, it may help me in the future also. By the look of it, it's a bit iffy that the father's name will be on the certificate. I think in those days the "gentry" didn't want to know.
Cheers Terry

Births Mar 1892
Rivers Beatrice May Calne 5a 91

if her father WAS gentry, the think its highly unlkely that hs name will be on it.

How do you know who her father was? he could have been just a farm hand, gentry always sounds better passed dowwn in history

Hi Mini, I am only going on what my mother told me, and that is that everyone knew the father as "Farmer Ray"
Cheers Terry

Thanks for the info Minnie, I did find her birth registration and that is what started me thinking about getting the certificate to see if her father's name was on it.
Cheers Terry

Hi everyone, a VERY BIG THANKYOU to you for your valuable information. I am so impressed with the willingness of everyone wanting to help.
Cheers Terry

If it was widely known that Farmer Ray was the father, perhaps you can get a definite name for him, then check to see if he left a Will making provision for the child.
We have one where a father of an illegitimate child names in his Will 'My natural son, Thomas Davis '.

It is possible that a father was named on a child's baptism record too. It very much depends on the individual vicar, but I was looking at an old baptism register near here and the vicar had named the child's father in every case where an illegitimate child had been baptised.

Gwyn

Beatrice was born in Calstone.
There are only 13 pages in 1901
I would search the census for a farmer called Ray.
Edit
Only 11 pages in 1891

Hi Terence, just a thought, farmers, in my experience, rented all their land in those days from the wealthy people, they weren't landowners, ... so farmer Ray may not have been gentry, just a wealthier local person. Good luck!

What's Beatrice's mother's name? You could see where she was working in 1891.

Rose