Rob wrote: > My mother was born out of wedlock in Manchester in 1915. Her birth > certificate does not record anything but a line under "Father". My mother > did not realise that her stepfather was not her real father until she was 19 > and never asked who her real father was. My mother and all the people who > might have known are now passed away. Her unknown father would have been my > maternal grandfather and needless to say, leaves a big gap in my family > tree. Was there any regulation or anyplace, like a hospital where this might > have been recorded? Lots of speculation in the family of course, but the > most popular guess is that her father was a soldier and killed in the war > before they could be married. Unless the mother applied for maintenance of the child, there's unlikely to be any record anywhere of the father. Not what you want to hear, I know, but as far as your mother was concerned her stepfather, the man who helped raise and guide her to be the lady she because was her dad. That fact makes him more important in many ways than her biological father who may not even have known he was about to become a family man. Unless the father went with the mother to register an out of wedlock child, he couldn't be named on the birth certificate. The one place there *might* be mention of him is in the baptismal register if your mother was baptised. The minister concerned may have added "reputed father" or something similar if (a) he asked and/or (b) the information was volunteered. You may have to reconcile yourself to never knowing who your biological maternal grandfather was.

The other place you might get a clue is in your mother's given names on her birth certificate. For example; I have an ancestor who was named Richard Henton MORGAN. His given names were the name of his father, Richard HENTON. Sometimes you just get lucky; sometimes. Bob -----Original Message----- From: eng-wiltshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:eng-wiltshire-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of Firebird Sent: September 10, 2006 8:58 AM To: eng-wiltshire@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ENG-WILTSHIRE] Unknown Father Rob wrote: > My mother was born out of wedlock in Manchester in 1915. Her birth > certificate does not record anything but a line under "Father". My mother > did not realise that her stepfather was not her real father until she was 19 > and never asked who her real father was. My mother and all the people who > might have known are now passed away. Her unknown father would have been my > maternal grandfather and needless to say, leaves a big gap in my family > tree. Was there any regulation or anyplace, like a hospital where this might > have been recorded? Lots of speculation in the family of course, but the > most popular guess is that her father was a soldier and killed in the war > before they could be married. Unless the mother applied for maintenance of the child, there's unlikely to be any record anywhere of the father. Not what you want to hear, I know, but as far as your mother was concerned her stepfather, the man who helped raise and guide her to be the lady she because was her dad. That fact makes him more important in many ways than her biological father who may not even have known he was about to become a family man. Unless the father went with the mother to register an out of wedlock child, he couldn't be named on the birth certificate. The one place there *might* be mention of him is in the baptismal register if your mother was baptised. The minister concerned may have added "reputed father" or something similar if (a) he asked and/or (b) the information was volunteered. You may have to reconcile yourself to never knowing who your biological maternal grandfather was. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-WILTSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message