Somewhere among our English or Welsh ancestors most of us find at least one instance of illegitimacy, either in the direct line or among close collateral relations.
There are a few generally known facts about the topic. Bastard children suffered because their parents did not conform to what was considered moral behavior, local authorities would do their best to avoid costs, and records exist relating to identifying fathers and obtaining support payments. Some of us have used these records, either those generated locally and found among the collective collections known as records of the parish chest, or those from the court of quarter sessions.
Not many see the need to understand the intricacies of the law, but the legal background is interesting and could be useful to a search. There is certainly good evidence of this in a recent book, My Ancestor Was a Bastard, by Ruth Paley and published by the Society of Genealogists, (2004).
Complexities of the Law
Church courts were involved in illegitimacy as far back as the 1500s and beyond. Care of children had a moral side to it and it was the duty of parents to look after offspring born in and out of wedlock. This role was affected by legislation in 1576 that gave justices of the peace the authority to deal with paternity and maintenance cases. In other words, up until the middle of the 1800s there were two types of law that could apply, church law and common law. They did not always agree on whether or not a child was illegitimate.
That is not the only complex aspect; inheritance matters could be difficult, and potentially a
genealogical gold mine. In her book, My Ancestor Was a Bastard, Paley sets this out in a clear and interesting manner, highlighting legal absurdities along the way. Differences arose depending on how the law was applied and because legal systems around the British Isles were not all the same.
What is known as common law applied in England and Ireland, but courts in the two regions acted independently and could interpret the law in different ways. Scotland's legal system was based on Roman law, a factor that contributed to similar types of cases producing dissimilar outcomes.
Inheritance issues were also influenced by the view in common law that an illegitimate child was no one's child and legally had no relatives. Provisions had to be made in a will for illegitimate children to receive anything from the estate of a parent. This was an issue for Catholics because their marriage was not always recognized as a legal union.
Finding Records
My article, " Overseers of the Poor," appeared in July 2003 in Ancestry Daily News and provides further background to this topic. In addition to the points made here about locating records, it stresses the value of published transcripts, often the projects of local history and genealogy societies.
Quarter Sessions records of the counties of England have received special attention within the Access to Archives collective catalog. You can conduct a keyword search using the name of anyone you think may have been involved in a bastardy case or experiment with the extended search options; but read the search advice first. Not all counties are part of A2A so it is wise to check out individual record office web sites.
Some records of the parish chest and the courts of quarter sessions are in the Family History Library and can be found using the Family History Library Catalog. Check out GENUKI as well; for example, there are helpful explanations and a selection of transcripts within the Lincolnshire section.
Conclusion
A very good place to begin research into illegitimate ancestors is with this book, My Ancestor Was a Bastard. Not only does it present interesting background, it describes how to initiate a search and includes a guide to all records that may provide information. The book sells for about $13.00(L6.50) and can be ordered directly from the Society of Genealogists bookshop or from retailers of British resources.
Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA Scot is an author, teacher, and lecturer specializing in English, Scottish, and Irish family history. She is the author of "Your English Ancestry" (2d ed., 1998) and "Researching Scottish Ancestry" (2003), and she is a contributor to several publications. Since 1996, she has been a study tour leader, course coordinator, and instructor for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University. She teaches online at MyFamily.com. Recently she served a two-year term as president of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
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