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Hi everyone im looking for betty hodson's husband (hodson being her married name) but im having no luck. I know she had a son by the name of james hodson who was baptised on the 4th october 1806 in deane lancashire, and the only marriage i can find is one for a james hodson and betty hodson in 1790 deane bolton. The problem is on his baptism cert theres no mention of a dad. If anyone has any idea's plz let me know. Thanks

If the father is not mentioned on the child's baptism record, then the mother was almost certainly unmarried. Mothers came a very poor second in the pecking order....fathers were considered more important and would always be listed if known. Reg

I would say if there's no father's name on the baptism, he was probably an illegitimate son of Betty and there's little likelihood of finding out who the father was. You'll be like a lot of us with a big hole in your family tree. Margaret

Seems that way. unless i get extremely lucky i might have to put it to one side

Try Bastardy records. And sometimes, the reputed father is named in the margin of the Parish Register - but you will have to look at the original to find out if this is so in your case. OC

Sounds like a plan. Thanks for that, ill have to go to the parish.

There are a number of bastardy orders on A2A featuring Betty/Elizabeth Hodson, but all say she is a singlewoman, and none are for the Deane area. Do you know of any other children? OC

Im not sure but that sounds like some useful information. Thankyou very much

Daniel I wouldnt hurry off to look for a marriage - Betty Hodson had at least five illegitimate children, baptised in Westhoughton, not Deare - where did you get that info from? And how sure are you that you have the right baptism for your man? Singlewoman means she had never been married. If she was a widow it would say so, and if her husband was still alive but not the father of her children, it would say so too. You can order the Parish records to view at your nearest LDS centre if it is more convenient than going to the Lancs RO. OC

In fact your correct. Iv just been through my file and it was westhoughton. I dont surpose you have the name of the other children. And possibly the website for that info?

Daniel the info is on the IGI.(Family search) When you have found your James' baptism, click on the batch number, shown at the bottom of the page - it will begin with 'C'. This will take you to a new search page. Enter Betty Hodson in the right hand box for mother's name, and Hodson as the surname for the child you are looking for - don't enter a first name. Click on search and this will bring up all the children baptised to Betty Hodson in that church. There is obviously more than one Betty Hodson, as the births span 80 years! Are you absolutely sure you have the right baptism? What links you back to him and his mother? OC

My nans still alive and her maiden name is hodson and i traced it back myself and then i met some man who used to work with the latter day saints from canada and he traced it back to the same woman, betty hodson

Daniel You REALLY need to back up your findings with certs! There must be a hundred year gap between this Betty Hodson and your nan, and there are literally hundreds of women called Betty Hodson! LDS researchers do not research to the same standards of proof as family historians - their research is carried out for religious purposes and they rarely buy certificates, often substituting guesswork instead. OC

Thats true. just out of intrest, which childrens names did you think went with th betty iv got?

Daniel I would think John and James - but that is a GUESS! Betty Hodson is a very common name in the area, it seems and it would be fatal to draw any conclusions that they were all the same woman. Alice, baptised 14 Jan 1797, is possibly the daughter of Betty Hodson and John Ratcliffe, a labourer of Westhoughton. There is an affiliation order against him dated 8 August 1800 - it may have been a default order, or he may have made voluntary payments till then - or it may be an entirely different Alice, daughter of an entirely different Betty Hodson. Do you have your man with his mother on the 1841 census? If not, then I think you must work backwaards from your nan in the approved way - get her parents marriage cert, and then her father's parents marriage cert and so on. You could so easily go wrong with all these Betty Hodsons if you don't, and be doing someone else's tree instead of your own. OC

Iv got afew birth certs and the rest in marriage certs. thats how i got back to betty. When you say he's got an affiliation order against him what exactly do you mean?

An affiliation order is the polite word for a bastardy order - the father has to pay maintenance for the illegitimate child. At this time (1806 and before) the Parish insisted that an unsupported mother take out a bastardy order against the father. Or, more correctly, the mother was called to name the father of her child by parish poor law officials, who took out a bastardy order against the father. This was so that the cost of the child's keep would fall on the father and not on the parish ratepayers. A woman could go to prison for refusing to name the father of her child, and the father could go to prison for not contributing to its keep. OC

Thats fantastic, so if i go to the parish the chances are that the fathers name could be there. you know an awful lot of info about this. Have you been doing this long?

Daniel Thirty five years, so far, lol. OC

Its good to know that i ever get abit stuck you may well know where to go from there lol. thanks for all your help so far. Daniel Wilson