Bastardy Bonds...
We probably all have an illegitimate ancestor, or relative, so hopefully this will help in finding who the parents actually were. As an example, I am using my 6x Great Grandfather, Richard Gregory. Using baptismal records, I had found out he was baptised on the 19 June 1795 in High Littleton, Somerset, his mother was Mary Gregory. So here I had an illegitimate ancestor.
The next step would be to look at the 'Bastardy Bond Records' for the parish. For most of these you will have to go to the local records office and look through the records there. However, some are online and this is where I found Richard.
To look to see if your ancestors parish is online, you can search for the parish and bastardy bonds or some parishes have a local history page which may have transcripts of these records (High Littleton does).
In these records I found out that Richard was the son of a Joseph Quarman (and obviously Mary Gregory) and he was born on the 20 May 1795. The record however doesn't mention Richard and it refers to him as a 'Male Bastard Child' so look for the mothers name when searching these records as this may be the case with your relative. It also gave me information that Joseph was a servant and that he had to pay 15 pence weekly for the upkeep of this child.
Interestingly, just before this entry there is a Phoebe Gregory having an illegitimate child with John Britton in 1795, this child was called John Gregory. However I can't find information to link the two just yet! John & Richard seem to be the only Gregory's to be baptised there at the time, it is presumed their mothers were originally from Paulton.
After 1834, when the New Poor Law, was created, the mother would have to apply herself for the bond this would take the father to court for it to be sorted out.
This weekend there is a free weekend for Find My Past and Lost Cousins, to use this offer you will have to have an account, which can be done for free without having to give over card information.
Published: 17 September 2015
The next step would be to look at the 'Bastardy Bond Records' for the parish. For most of these you will have to go to the local records office and look through the records there. However, some are online and this is where I found Richard.
To look to see if your ancestors parish is online, you can search for the parish and bastardy bonds or some parishes have a local history page which may have transcripts of these records (High Littleton does).
In these records I found out that Richard was the son of a Joseph Quarman (and obviously Mary Gregory) and he was born on the 20 May 1795. The record however doesn't mention Richard and it refers to him as a 'Male Bastard Child' so look for the mothers name when searching these records as this may be the case with your relative. It also gave me information that Joseph was a servant and that he had to pay 15 pence weekly for the upkeep of this child.
Interestingly, just before this entry there is a Phoebe Gregory having an illegitimate child with John Britton in 1795, this child was called John Gregory. However I can't find information to link the two just yet! John & Richard seem to be the only Gregory's to be baptised there at the time, it is presumed their mothers were originally from Paulton.
After 1834, when the New Poor Law, was created, the mother would have to apply herself for the bond this would take the father to court for it to be sorted out.
This weekend there is a free weekend for Find My Past and Lost Cousins, to use this offer you will have to have an account, which can be done for free without having to give over card information.
Published: 17 September 2015
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