Genealogy Chat

My nan was born 31st July 1917...on her birth cert it says father unknown and has the word bastard written across it (her mum was in service) 5 years later her mum marries and a new cert is issued with an explanation on it that she is no longer illegitamate do i take this to mean that the man that married my ggrandma was the real father or was she adopted .....how would i find out....it was never spoken about until my nan died and we saw the certs....and pushed to the back of all my aunts and uncles minds (including my mum) as my nan loved her 'Da' . thank you in advance for your replies. regards Donna

The only ways to find out if they were her parents would be to ask them or to get a DNA test. Neither are very possible now. It is likely that the man she married was the father, given that the cert was re-issued, but there's no way of knowing.

Donna was your nan born in Scotland? Georgina.

Hi Georgina Yes my nan was born in Scotland Maryhill Glagow, her mum was born 1n 1895 also Glasgow...she was 22 when she had my nan.They both had the same name Agnes Walker Reid Blain but when my ggran married Wallace was added. My nan was born July 31st 1918 time 1.20 pm at 8 Murray Street Glasgow....her mum was born 9th April 1895 time 2.30 am at 64 Agnes Street Glasgow....Donna

Maybe you just have to make a decision on this for yourself, assuming part of the reason you would like to know the truth is that it makes a difference to your feelings about tracing the tree back for your nan's Da........ After all, if a person is born IN wedlock and has the husband's name down as the dad, we all happily go off to look for the next generation back without a care in the world!! No matter who the biological father might have been........we don't give it a thought!! My hubby has the wrong man down as his dad on his birth cert. We know 100% the info is wrong as hubby has had a DNA test with his real dad. His mum was married to the man named on the cert, but she hadn't seen him for over a year when hubby was born (LOL)!! Later she married hubby's real dad and they were married over 50 years, but she refused to do anything about her lie as she thought she would be in trouble :O(( Hubby is in the process of having an amendment made to the cert, but if he wasn't doing that, in the future no one would have known the cert info was wrong. His case is so different to yours though, as his bio dad is the man who brought him up, but surely the person who does that job can be treated as the DAD no matter what??! I think if it were me, and with no other contenders for the father in your nan's case, you should do Da's tree - he brought nan up and she thought of him as dad (and he may have been her bio-dad anyway!)....so treat him as such...... Good Luck Merry x

Hi Merry I was talking with my mum yesterday...and she said she had thought about this for a long time ...we both agree that we would dearly love it if this man was her natural father but for some reason they didnt get together till 5 years later (we were saying its a bit like a Catherine Cookson novel....young girl in service....etc) i have been tracing the Wallace line anyway as i think he could be the father....but if not he was a big part of the families life so he should have a big mention anyway....also my graet gran and William Wallce had another 2 children also and there were big gaps between them...9 years between my nan and her brother and 15 between my nan and her sister....Thanks for your replies just thought i would see if there was anyway of finding out. warm regards Donna

Donna why I asked if your Nan was born in Scotland, they have a law that if parents of a child born out of wedlock marry (no matter how long after the birth) the child's birth is then legitamised in the eyes of the law. The original birth entry cannot be corrected but a new birth entry is recorded. It would be worth contacting the GRO in Edinburgh and asking them for any information about your Nan's birth. Georgina. This is the info on the 'Register of Corrected Entries' from Scotlands people..... RCEs You may occasionally come across a statutory image with a note in the margin ‘RCE’ and a reference number. RCE stands for Register of Corrected Entries. If, after an entry in a register had been completed, an error was discovered or some other amendment was required as a result of new information, the original entry could not be altered. Instead, each registrar kept a register of corrected entries in which such amendments were written, originally after they had been approved by a sheriff. Corrections to birth entries might be to name, residence, identity, or as a result of a sheriff’s finding in a paternity case, with the father’s name being added as directed by the sheriff, or as a result of an illegitimate child being legitimated by its parents’ subsequent marriage. Corrections to marriage entries might relate to name, residence or identity, bigamy or divorce. Corrections to death entries might relate to sudden or accidental death. Images of RCEs are not yet available, though this is planned. In the interim, to find out the effect of an RCE, you will need to order an extract of the entry concerned. The extract will reflect the amendments recorded in the RCE. See Extracts for examples of RCE's.

Hi Georgina Thanks for answering ....how would i go about cotacting the gro would i ring them and what info would i need, this is something new to me but would love for this to be the case...once again thank you. warm regards Donna

Donna I have added some info on my answer above. Are you a member of Scotlands people? If you are you could email them (they are very helpful) if not you could telephone the Gro in Edinburgh 0131-314-4433. Georgina.

Hi Georgina Yes i am a member and will email them, thank you very much for your help really appreciated. warm regards Donna

Donna just explain to them about both birth certificates and see what they come up with. Good luck let me know how you get on. Georgina.

Hi Georgina I have just rang and the lady said it sounds like he is the natural father with the 2nd certificate saying that she is no longer illegitamate but she said to make sure i could send for the originalone and then i would also receive details of the change.I think i will probably do this as the original we have is in Scotland with my great aunt...she let my aunt have the 2nd cert for us all to see but think she was a bit embarassed to let us have the first one with bastard written on it...she even left the room when my aunt was reading that one...thank you so much for your help . warm regards Donna

Hi Donna, I would send for the certificate at least it was worth asking the question. I wish the English records were as good as the Scottish. Regards Georgina.

Hi Georgina Just rang my mum and i think we will send for the original....my aunt is sending me the 2nd cert via my mum so i should see that on saturday....i agree with you that you get more info on Scottish ancestry but wish that Scotlands people was set up like anestry as i have spent a fortune on Scotlands people trying to find scottish ancestors....but the feeling you get when you do outdoes the cost...will let you know when i get cert and thanks for your time and help. warm regards Donna