Garrould Oldren (1799-1883) baptism in Wissett, Suffolk on 23 December 1799.jpg Via Wikimedia Commons In the years before Civil Registration of births (England and Wales, 1837; Scotland, 1855; Ireland, 1864), and sometimes afterwards, some unwed mothers were willing to confess the name of their baby’s father to the vicar of the parish at the time... Continue Reading →
Who Was The Daddy ? Snippet 1: No Father Recorded on your British Birth Certificate
The Fallen Woman, c 1880, anon. Via Wikimedia Commons. We have probably all experienced that sense of frustration when the birth certificate of an ancestor arrives from the GRO and no father’s name is recorded upon it. The only thing that we can be reasonably sure about in these cases is that the parents of... Continue Reading →
‘Large, Non-intellectual Men’: A Frenchman’s Views of Our Victorian Ancestors (Snippet: 2)
Portrait of Hippolyte Adolphe Taine, by Léon Bonnat, engraved by Synnberg Photo-Gravure Company, Chicago, published by Open Court Company, Chicago, 1898. Via WikimediaCommons. in the Public Domain. [[File:Portrait of Hippolyte Taine by Bonnat.jpg|Portrait_of_Hippolyte_Taine_by_Bonnat]] In a series of visits to Britain between 1862 and 1870, outspoken Frenchman Hippolyte Taine wrote lengthily about his impressions, and his comments-at-a-distance... Continue Reading →