I am interested in a James Harrold born 6th Feb 1873. On his birth certificate his mother is listed as Mary Ann Harrold. Would it be unusual for a illegitimate child to take his mothers surname . In the margin of the birth certificate is something like ''Paternity of child found by dea of court see reg of ? vol I.P 164 August 4th 1873'' Can anyone tell me what this is? thanks for any help or advice Iain

Hi Iain, I have an Alexander Walker born 1868 at Bogentenny who was the illegitimate son of Jessie Walker. He took his mother's name. I have this following info below which sounds a bit similar to what you have re register. On 1881 census Alexander is living at Torehead Croft with Jessie's parents, James & Ann Walker n.Smith. Also there are my grandfather James Hutchinson & his twin brother George. They too were illegitimate, their father, George Hutchinson. No sign of Jessie though so i presume she worked in service somewhere. I could not find her anywhere in Scotland & the closest to her is on 1881 census which i will enclose below. As you will see there is a Jessie Walker born Duffer[mine was b.Duffus] so i think this is an error & my Jessie would have been 34 having been born 1847. Guess i'll have to keep searching for her. Regards. Jan Alexander Walker 20th Oct.1868 Bogentenny,Pluscarden,Elgin Alexander was the illegitimate son of Jessie Walker & James Ogilvie Tod Forster.Alexander's birth certificate is shown to have been endorsed with a Reference to the Register of Corrected Entries.[21st Jan.1869] This entry reveals that Jessie raised an Action against James who was declared to be the father of her son Alexander. Household: Name RelationMarital StatusGenderAgeBirthplaceOccupationDisability William DRAPER Head M Male 39 Grantham, Lincoln, England General Medical Practitioner M.R.C.S. And L.M. Eng L.S.A. Lon Catherine A. DRAPER Wife M Female 37 Manston, York, England Robert A. DRAPER Son U Male 10 York, England Scholar Helen K. DRAPER Daur U Female 8 York, England Scholar William B.Y. DRAPER Son Male 4 York, England Philip N. DRAPER Son Male 2 York, England Julian M. DRAPER Son Male 12 m York, England Caroline DRAPER Sister Female 38 Grantham, Lincoln, England Annuitant Jessie WALKER Serv U Female 30 Duffer Elgin, Scotland Cook (Domestic) Fanny MACHEN Serv U Female 22 York, England Housemaid (Domestic) Sarah VAREY Serv U Female 18 Huntington, York, England Nursemaid (Domestic) Florence WILSON Serv U Female 16 York, England Under Nursemaid (Domestic) --------------------------------- Source Information: Dwelling De Grey House Census PlaceYork St Michael Le Belfry, York, England Family History Library Film 1342140 Public Records Office Reference RG11 Piece / Folio 4717 / 90 Page Number 14 --------------------------------- Jan Bell Newsdesk1_2000@yahoo.co.uk Newsdesk1@excite.com --------------------------------- ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!