Hi Marjorie
A few more thoughts on your family and illegitimacy:
You shouldn't rule out the possibility that John Weeks was Edward's
father, unless you are sure that he and Julia could not have known
each other at the time that Edward was conceived. It was not
uncommon for couples to marry after the birth of their illegitimate
child (or sometimes several children) - though admittedly the fact
that Edward later reverted to Watkins suggests that John was not his father.
For more information on the records of illegitimacy the SOG
publication "My Ancestor was a Bastard" by Ruth Paley is very useful.
Shirley is correct to say that fathers' names are rare in baptism
records in the period you are looking at. I don't have much
experience of Powys, but I know that in Glamorgan and
Carmarthenshire, fathers' names were usually included up to the
1830s, after which they became increasingly rare, due no doubt to
the New Poor Law doctrine that "a base-born child should be a burden
to it mother, as Providence evidently intended". During the
eighteenth century fathers' names were found slightly more frequently
than mothers', though there was a lot of variation between
parishes. This is quite different from practice in most of England,
where fathers' names ended to be rare whatever the period, and is an
example of how attitudes to illegitimacy were different in Wales and England.
Anna
At 15:08 22/02/2015, you wrote:
Hello, I am new to this list and hoping someone can help me,
please.
I am looking for the father of Edward Watkins whose birth certificate shows
he was born on 4 July 1884 at Pendre Brecknock USD. His mother Elizabeth
Watkins was unmarried and there is no father's name on the certificate.
Can anyone tell me how, if at all, I can find any mention of Edward's
father? In 1886 Julia married a John Weeks and lived in
Monmouthshire for the
rest of her life with him and their children, including Edward who grew up
as Edward Weeks but married in 1905 as Edward Watkins and lived in
Newbridge, Monmouthshire with his wife and children, all with the
surname Watkins.
I also want to find Elizabeth's mother. I think she was Mary J A Watkins
who appears on later censuses as Julia Watkins, as the wife then widow of
Levi Watkins. Julia seems to have been born in Devonshire but Levi was born
in Breconshire, perhaps Llandefael (apologies if this is not the correct
spelling). Levi Watkins is on the 1841, 1851 censuses as unmarried, son of
William and Mary Watkins who in 1851 were at Millgreen, St David's Brecon.
In 1861 Levi was 40, still unmarried and in lodgings in Ystradfellte,
Glamorgan. 1871 Levi was in Pendre, Brecon with wife Mary J A and children
who included Elizabeth born c. 1864 but I cannot find a marriage for Levi
Watkins. I can't find Mary J A/Julia before 1871.
Any advice, information or comments will be very welcome.
Thank you
Marjorie
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