Tracking illegitimates part 2!

[Kate P]

Remember my errant ggg-grandfather and his illegitimate offspring? Well I think I’ve found another! I was revisiting the 1881 census for Joseph Stockton and family and staring me in the face is the six year old Ada White, described as a boarder. I’m convinced this is Joseph’s illegitimate daughter with Lydia White, the woman who won the maintenance award against Joseph in the court case. The dates are tight but do add up – the case was in late April 1875 and Ada’s birth is registered in Jun qtr 1875. I was speculating that it could be a late registration after Lydia has successfully got Joseph to acknowledge the child? And why else would there be a child of the right age and name in his household, apparently otherwise unaccompanied by maternal family? Furthemore, Ada is still present with the family in 1891, though apparently she’s fallen out of favour with Joseph’s wife Henrietta, as she’s now described as a servant, poor girl! So I’ve ordered Ada’s birth cert in an attempt to satisfy my curiosity – can’t wait to see what it says, don’t know what I’ll do if the mother is not Lydia :D

So, what do you reckon - % chance of success?!

Original thread herehttp://www.familytreeforum.com/resea...gitimates.html

[Lin Fisher]

Kate

This sounds exciting, lets hope her mother is Lydia.

I didn't read the original thread but do you know what happened to Lydia?

Fingers crossed

[Kate P]

Lydia was out in service in Yorkshire in 1881 and there's no obvious trace of her on censuses after that, and I'm not having much luck with marriage or death searches either.

I'm desperate for that cert to arrive!

[Mary from Italy]

The June quarter covers April-May-June, so it wouldn't be a late registration if she was born in April.

[Kate P]

The June quarter covers April-May-June, so it wouldn't be a late registration if she was born in April.

Oh absolutely, but it's tight nonetheless. Of all the certs I've ordered I don't think I've ever felt this twitchy before. It's the only even remotely out-of-the-ordinary incident in my tree as far as I can tell, the rest is (almost) boringly conventional you could say.

[Kate P]

The certificate has arrived and the mother is indeed one Lydia White! Yay! Ada wa born on 17th March 1875, the court case and order were reported in the local paper on 29th April, and Ada’s birth is also registered on 29th April. Was this done as part of the case? The birth is at an address in Hanley, Stoke on Trent, and is reasonably close to where Joseph and Henrietta are listed for the 1881 census. We also know that by 1881 Lydia had moved on by herself and is in service in Yorkshire. So presumably she stays around Joseph’s family for a while to receive the maintenance award, but moves on sometime after weaning Ada. My guess is she’s long gone by the time Ada is with Joseph’s household in 1881, so probably about 1878-ish? I’m going to see how far I can follow Ada next, did she make a marriage for herself, was she always constrained by her birth?

And my thoughts on Lydia and her sister Lucy, mother of Joseph’s other illegitimate,
have strayed towards how they came to be in that situation – to put it bluntly, I’m wondering if they were the village relief, if you know what I mean! Was this how they earned some of their living? But also, contraception was known about and practised within families at the time, so how and why did Joseph not only move from one sister to the other, but also manage to get both of them pregnant 6 years apart?! How easy was it for Ada to have ended up with Joseph’s family in the end, instead of with her grandmother, or in a home? Did Joseph particularly want her, did he need to put his foot down with Henrietta, or was he forced to take her in as he had been proved a father in court? I find these things fascinating and whilst of course I’ll never know the answers, even just asking the questions makes you think about how these issues might have been regarded in the day. Did the rest of the children know she was his daughter, was she just a ‘distant relative’ they had to take in? How was she treated by the family – by 1891 she is listed as a domestic servant, was she told it was necessary to start paying her way through going out to work, or was she used at home as an unpaid skivvy?

Am v pleased to have been proved right!

[Little Nell]

sometimes hunches prove true!

So many questions, especially over illegitimacy.

I have a gt x 2 aunt who had 2 illegit children - but 11 years apart, so you would have thought she'd have learnt after the first baby! First baby has no father on cert, 2nd one does, though haven't definitely found him. First baby is with maternal grandparents on 1st census, then with an uncle and 2nd baby is with an aunty and then with the grandparents, while mum is working in service.

Also a woman who married my gt x 2 uncle. They had 5 children, but the final child has no father named on the cert. Is this because uncle is dead? Why didn't child's mother just provide his name anyway?

Guess we'll never know.

Also have a "love child" with my widowed gt x 2grandfather in 1881. No way would a 2month old baby be with him - it turns out she was his daughter's illegitimate child, daughter later married and child was re-registered with new surname. Haven't got the cert so no idea if its the same man!

[Peter Stenning]

Kate ,
Its so nice when a piece drops into place on a hunch , it pays to not allways look at the obvious first thought but to question why this or that would happen and in youre case it worked out .

I get goosebumps when i find out a fact or read about a relative on an internet sight .

My WW1 relative does this when i read about the theatre of war he was in when he was killed , i even get the hairs standup on my neck when i see the War grave photos.

Peter