RCEs

[Grendlsmother]

I have two RCEs relating to illegitimate births, (1886 and 1896) both taking the same form of words, see below. Does anyone know what the certificate mentioned was and if this entitled the mother to any financial support from the child’s father. If not, what was the point of doing it, other than to get the father to admit responsibility. One RCEs is dated two years after the child’s birth, the other one year after. (Different mother and father in both cases).

Parish….County etc.

In the fourth column of entry in the Register Book No. XX for the year 18XX, before the name of the child’s mother, insert John Smith, on the authority of a certificate in the Form of Schedule (F) to the following effect.

In an action relating to the paternity of a child named John Brown, born (date), at the instance of Mary Brown residing at (address) against John Smith (occupation) residing at (address), the Sheriff Court of (county) on the (date) found that the said child was the illegitimate child of the parties aforesaid.

(Registrar’s signature, place and date)

Apologies to any Mary Browns and John Smiths - no offence intended!

[AndrewP]

Hi Grendlsmother,

The only part that I can answer is that Schedule F was a form described in the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1854.

If I remember I will look it up next time that I am in the Scottish Library of the Edinburgh Central Library, where there is a copy of the Act in a book - one of a series of books of all Acts applicable to Scotland in chronological order. Schedules A to (at least) F are described in the Act and are all forms to do with registrations or amendments to registrations. I have read the many pages of the Act some time ago, but cannot claim to have committed it all to memory.

All the best,

AndrewP

[DavidWW]

Quite simply, the mother had taken the father to the Sheriff Court in order to prove the paternity of the child, and, if successful, then giving her the right to pursue him for financial support.

David

[Grendlsmother]

Thanks Andrew & David for your responses.

Now I wonder.....is there any way of finding out if they did get financial support.

[DavidWW]

Thanks Andrew & David for your responses.

Now I wonder.....is there any way of finding out if they did get financial support.

Only if she had to go back to court to force him to contribute,and, sadly , as that would most likely have been at the Sheriff Court level, the great majority of which records have not survived, the chances ain't good. It's most unlikely that she'd have gone up to the level of the Court of Session, the highest civil court in Scotland, for which records do survive.

There's an outside chance that she used the church to pursue him, or ensure that he paid support, if that's what she wanted apart from just acknowledgement that he was the father. By the late 1800s it would be less common to find such matters being dealt with by the kirk session, always assuming that we're talking the Church of Scotland, or one of the presbyterian secession churches.

Lastly, if she applied for poor relief, then it's possible that the poor relief authorities would chase him, given the Sheriif Court judgement re paternity, but not all such poor relief records have survived ................

David

[Grendlsmother]

David - sorry for delay in thanking you for that information. Have been away at my daughter's wedding, so now have another person (her husband) to add to my tree!

thanks again.