Point 3 is incorrect. Illegitimate births DO have the father's name on the IGI and are easy to identify as the surnames are given as "Smith OR Jones" etc. With any index, it is essential to understand a) the purpose of the Index, b) how it is compiled, c) what are its limitations etc. The new National Burial Index is an example. According to recent magazine articles, there are not enough experienced transcribers to check the work of the enthusiastic volunteers, with the resulting potential for errors. Regards David Perth, Western Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mail" <hedgecoy@cwcom.net> To: <WESSEX-PLUS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 13, 2001 1:43 AM Subject: [WSX] Re: IGI > 3) Illegitimate births do not show the name of the father, even if recorded in register

David, I note your comments. Is not the rich tapestry of life interesting? I was trying to be helpful, and to advise novice IGI users on various matters. In my experience, I have found that where the baptismal record for an illegitimate child, - usually where the name of the father has been omitted from the register -, {the relative column being left blank}, that the name of the putative father may been added as side note, along the spine of the register. Such information does NOT usually appear in the IGI! Many thanks for bothering to send a message. regards Adrian p.s Bastardy returns are readily available from CRO's, but the name shown on the form, as declared by the "wronged" mother, may not be the biological father of the illegitimate child.

And on that note I think we'd better call a halt to this thread :-) Please! Paul Portland On Sat, 14 Apr 2001 11:03:55 +0100, you wrote: >David, >I note your comments. > >Is not the rich tapestry of life interesting? > >I was trying to be helpful, and to advise novice IGI users on various matters. > >In my experience, I have found that where the baptismal record for an illegitimate child, - usually where the name of the father has been omitted from the register -, {the relative column being left blank}, that the name of the putative father may been added as side note, along the spine of the register. >Such information does NOT usually appear in the IGI! > >Many thanks for bothering to send a message. >regards >Adrian > >p.s >Bastardy returns are readily available from CRO's, but the name shown on the form, as declared by the "wronged" mother, may not be the biological father of the illegitimate child. > > > > > > > > > > >==== WESSEX-PLUS Mailing List ==== >Useful introduction to UK genealogy >http://www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html >http://www.pro.gov.uk/leaflets/Ri2118.htm > > For 19th Century Newspaper Extracts see: http://members.netscapeonline.co.uk/pbtyc/News_Extracts/News_Extracts_Index.html