Thank you, Blanka. Whenever I'm helping someone and they run into one of these, they really want the note translated word for word. This blog post will help us match up at least some of the words, and prove to them that the note is only a standard legal phrase that the father acknowledges his paternity, and does not contain anything over and above that..
Mary, thanks for your comment. Please let me know if you bump into some more complex notes so I can add them here - sometimes there is a bit more, but not too often.
I see that some of these notes are professions of paternity. I can understand that. The father is owning up to his fatherhood. But can a child be legitmized by a marriage even when the new husband is not the actual father? We cannot assume that the new husband is necessarily the biological father.
I wonder what the illegitimate birth rate was in the late 1800s? I'm surprised by the number of such entries I see in my great grandmother's village (tiny place) in Okres Zlín. Was there a lot of social upheaval which may have contributed? Or were they just wild there? ;-)
My ancestor's baptismal record dated 5 Feb 1823 contains the citation "Litterae baptismal traditae 5 Mar 1839", i.e. "Baptismal record delivered." Although the parents' names are cited, ancestral lore was that he was the son of Hapsburg royalty. Would this explain the citation?
So I have found the birth records of my Great Grandfather, except it list the mother but no fathers name was given. Does this mean he was illegitimate?
Thank you, Blanka. Whenever I'm helping someone and they run into one of these, they really want the note translated word for word. This blog post will help us match up at least some of the words, and prove to them that the note is only a standard legal phrase that the father acknowledges his paternity, and does not contain anything over and above that..
ReplyDeleteMary, thanks for your comment. Please let me know if you bump into some more complex notes so I can add them here - sometimes there is a bit more, but not too often.
DeleteI see that some of these notes are professions of paternity. I can understand that. The father is owning up to his fatherhood. But can a child be legitmized by a marriage even when the new husband is not the actual father? We cannot assume that the new husband is necessarily the biological father.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the illegitimate birth rate was in the late 1800s? I'm surprised by the number of such entries I see in my great grandmother's village (tiny place) in Okres Zlín.
ReplyDeleteWas there a lot of social upheaval which may have contributed? Or were they just wild there? ;-)
My ancestor's baptismal record dated 5 Feb 1823 contains the citation "Litterae baptismal traditae 5 Mar 1839", i.e. "Baptismal record delivered." Although the parents' names are cited, ancestral lore was that he was the son of Hapsburg royalty. Would this explain the citation?
ReplyDeleteNo. This means he or she asked to have issued a baptism certificate - because of marriage, work or anything else. Such lores are usually not true. :)
DeleteSo I have found the birth records of my Great Grandfather, except it list the mother but no fathers name was given. Does this mean he was illegitimate?
ReplyDelete