In this post I am going to show some of the methods you can use to trace the
children of your ancestors. This list is by no means conclusive, but it is a start.
There does seem to
be a myth about our ancestors. They were all upstanding moral pillars
of the community. They were
married before they started to live together meaning that
all their children
were born at least nine
months after the wedding. Of course, there were
a few strays who had children outside marriage but
they are on other peoples' family trees
not ours. Well, I am sorry to break the news but that is
not the case. Our ancestors were
very similar to us. Some were well and truly
wed before the next
generation started to
appear. Others married after the birth of their first or
second child. Whilst some
preferred
not to marry or were not able to. They also suffered the problems of relationship
breakdowns and interesting personal lives. The point of all this means that it
can be
difficult to trace
all the offspring of a particular individual. You need to extend the
boundaries
of your search in order to
trace all members of the family.
When starting to
search for the children of an ancestor in both parish registers and civil
records it pays to be fairly generous with the dates you are
researching. Allow for a
few years before the presumed date of the parents' marriage. Any children born
before a couple were officially married may be recorded with either the father's
or
the mother's surname. It is worth checking both even if the child used the
family
(father's) surname later. Should the couple
come from different towns or villages
again check both. There are always the stories
of daughters being sent to stay with
distant relations to await the birth of an
illegitimate child. It may be worth extending
your search to
include the home towns of other relations.
You should also
check more local sources for details of bastardy bonds and paternity
suits.
These can appear in local records
rather than on the major websites.
Usually the
presence of such documents means that the child's parents
did not go on to get married.
Old Wills can also be helpful. You may find names of people you do not recognise. Or, it may be
you find a relative referred to by a slighter different name to that you are familiar with.
Example One
The son of my 3x
great aunt Frances Wills was born before his parents married. The birth was
registered in the September quarter of 1848 in Newport on the Isle of Wight.
The child's name shows on the civil records as Thomas Person Wills (This is a
transcription error his name was Thomas Pearson Wills). No other name is
recorded. In 1849 Frances Wills married Thomas Pearson Bissett in Portsea.
Frances and her husband Thomas Snr do not appear on the 1851 Census together.
Frances is shown in 1851 with the surname Bissett. Thomas jnr is shown as
Thomas P Wills. From 1851 onwards Thomas
jnr uses the surname Bissett.
Example Two
My great great
grandparents, Robert Emond and Jane Romanes , were married in Selkirk in the
Scottish Borders on Christmas Day 1846.
Their first child, another Robert, having been born
on 4 September 1844. He was
christened on 21 December 1845. The record of his
christening describes him as
the illegitimate child of Jane Romanes and Robert Emond. His
brother James was
born sometime in 1846. So, Robert and Jane already had two children when
they
married. Scotland's People have indexed the christening record of 1845 under
Emond.
Example Three
In another branch of
the family I found a little girl who only lived for nine months. Her parents
married a few months after her she was born. Her birth was recorded showing her
mother's surname and her death her father's.
Example Four
My 4xgrt
grandfather, John Newbolt, was baptised
in Minstead, Hampshire in 1732. He was
buried a short distance away in Lyndhurst in 1809. He was a timber dealer in
the New Forest. Fortunately various documents about him are available at
Hampshire Records Office. Two of these are bastardy bonds relating to his son
James Witherington. James was baptized in Lyndhurst in 1797. John is not
recorded as his father in the record of this event. Without the bond I would
not have made the connection. A copy of John Newbolt's Will is also available
at the records office. In it James is referred to as his natural son. James
always used the surname of his mother, Mary Witherington.
Example Five
John's
legitimate daughter, Sarah, is my 3xgrt
grandmother. There is no evidence of her baptism in the New Forest or of John's
marriage. The reason why is disclosed in another document held in Winchester.
It is a settlement certificate for John, his wife Elizabeth, Sarah and younger
daughter Elizabeth (born Lyndhurst). It is dated 1772 and is relevant to
Lyndhurst. It shows that around 1748 John was apprenticed to a cardboard maker
in Frome, Somerset. A search of the records for Frome showed that John married
there in 1753. My Sarah was baptised there in 1765. Sadly the records also show
that three other children born in Frome did not survive infancy.
Example Six
Back with my Selkirk
relations I found a paternitysSuit dated 1845. It related to the son of
Euphemia Emond and Benjamin Fearson (or Pherson). James was born on 31st
October 1842. He was baptised on 17th November 1844 when his name is given as
James Fearson. The paternity suit is dated 1845. After this date James uses the
surname Emond. So, this raises the question did Euphemia expect Benjamin to
marry her?
Example Seven
One of my great
uncles shared his life with a lady who was already married. The births of this
couple's children were all registered using the lady's married name and usually
her maiden name. Therefore it is almost impossible to trace the connection to my
great uncle. Although! On the 1911 Census he also used her married name so they all appear with the same surname. The name being that of her estranged husband.
Hint😉 You need to have a broad mind when searching for your ancestor's offspring! Good Luck!
