Hi Colin In theory at least From 1874 on, for the father to be included in the registration, he needed to attend the registration, the mother could not name the father and it be recorded if he was not present If they were married either could register and enter details If they were not married only the mother could register and in her name, unless the father also attended the registration and if he did would also be required to sign the register So in theory, if married only one (either) signed the registration, if unmarried and both attended both would sign But as proof of marriage & name is a relevantly recent phenomenon, if the mother turned up and registered the child, stating she and the father were married, how would the registrar prove otherwise? would the mothers word be taken if she stated her case in a believable way? Probably IMHO From the late 1920's (1927?) there were new measures brought in that midwives kept a register of births and notified the registrar, so there was a better way of checking and less chance the mother could make up details and the registrar could chase up non registration Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 27/09/2012 16:25, Colin B. Withers wrote: > When a woman had a baby born out of wedlock in the 1920s, did the > mother have the freedom to register the child using the surname of > the father (if she provided it)? Or was she obliged to register the > child in her own surname? > > Colin

From: Nivard Ovington <ovington1@sky.com> > Hi Colin > > In theory at least > > From 1874 on, for the father to be included in the registration, > he needed to attend the registration, the mother could not name the > father and it be recorded if he was not present > Quite true, but in my experience unmarried women who had a child and were a bit canny often gave a strong clue to the child's paternity by giving it the surname of the father as a middle name. I have very recently myself made such a discovery and you can read about it in my latest "Famous family trees" blog at Findmypast. My latest subject is Colin Dextor, the creator of Inspector Morse, whose father Alfred Dexter proved to be a real problem in identifying. Initially I got the wrong people as the author's father and grandfather because I could find only one Alfred Dexter in the censuses at Oakham, Rutland, who appeared to fit. Fortunately, I obtained his marriage certificate to Colin Dexter's mother and this showed a different man as the father to the one I originally thought it was. I ended up getting more certificates of Alfred's first marriage, his birth, the marriage of his mother to the man who was his father and also his father's death. It turned out that Alfred Dexter was born illegitimate in 1886 as Alfred Dexter Preston, registered by his mother with no father on the birth certificate. A few months later Alfred's mother, Alice Emma Preston, married the father, John Henry Dexter, who then died a couple of years later at only 25. For the full story see: http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/2012/09/famous-family-trees-colin-dexter/ -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Famous family trees blog: http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/tag/roy-stockdill/ "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE