General Chat

I'm probably being really thick here but If you find your GT GT Grandmother had a child and the father of the child wasn't her husband, is that man still your GT GT Granddad?

Presumably the child's actual father is your GT GT Granddad if you are following your ancestral line accurately?

I'm gett5ing quite confusd about this the more I think about it but don't want to follow my GT GT Gran's husband's ancestral line back if he is not related.

Any helpers out there please?

I've always believed ancestry to be based on blood-line, in which case, the husband is not related to you. You would need to follow the line of the natural father.
It may require an explanation where there is space allowed for this - otherwise the husband doesn't count, except where there are children from that union, then the children are half-siblings to the 'child' you mentioned.

Hello Tootsie,

I am no expert but are you descended from that child? In which case the Mother's husband would be your Step Gt Gt Grandad.

I think you are right in presuming that the Mother's lover is your Gt Gt Grandfather.

I have the same problem with my Father. He was raised by his Mother's husband as his own but was actually the result of an extra-marital affair during the war. Although my Step-Grandfather was the only Grandad I knew and I loved him dearly, personally I feel that to research his ancestors would not be correct and that I would have to research and add to my tree the biological Father.

Hope this makes sense.

Happy Hunting,

Lainey

Thank you both for your helpful replies. I'm actually following the line of her natural father anyway as, sadly, it appears that her father is also her mother's father.

The mother never had any other children .

She married in 1875 but at the time of the 1881 census was living with her parents and siblings. She gave birth to her child on 11 May 1882 so wasn't pregnant on the 1881 census date. The child's birth certificate states the father to have the same name and occupation as her mother's father.

The mother's marriage certificate showed she lived with her husband at the time of the marriage but did not live with her husband on any other census date although she always stated her surname as his and stated her condition as married. When he died she stated herself as a widow.

Because the marriage came before the child's birth, I don't know whether that would make the mom's husband her step father. I know it would if she had been born and then he married the child's mother but does it still work this way round too?

I hope I'm not confusing anyone - well, apart from myself that is - LOL.

Hi Tootsie

In this case I would put the husband as the child's father. I'm 99 per cent sure that what has happened is that when she went to the registrar to register the baby, she has misheard when they said what is the name of the father, I think she has heard what is the name of yer father, if you get my drift, and she has given the name of her own dad.

Bearing in mind that most people were illiterate, she wouldn't know what had been written on the certificate.

Incest is possible but highly unlikely once she became a married woman. Unless there are any family stories to support the incest theory I would stick with the husband being the father.

Hope this makes sense.

Dianne xx

There are family stories to support the theory.

Ok I understand better now. I feel for the poor girl. Maybe that's why her husband didn't live with her.

Family history gives us so many mysteries and headaches doesn't it. Thank god for paracetamol !!

Dianne xx

Just a bit more on the additional info you have given.
If the husband was NOT the child's natural father, it wouldn't matter if he married the mother before or after the child was born - he would still be the child's step father.
If you do have stories to support the fact that Incest took place, then you still should follow the blood line of the biological father - that is, the father of both mother and daughter - he is still the father and grandfather.
I'm only glad it's you and not me trying to write this into your explanation!
Best of luck!

Thanks again to everyone who replied.

I need those paracetamol. What a complete headache. Thank goodness my father's side of the family were fine, upstanding citizens.

It appears probable that both of my Gt Granddad's parents were the result of incest having taken place so I guess there aren't any surprises that he was influenced by his environment. My grandfather - not a nice man either - did start doing his family tree but stopped because he found things that bothered him. Maybe this was it?

Still, they can't all have been like that so will hopefully find some nice 'normal' people soon. It must have been a tragic life though for some of the women in my background.