RE: [AZORES-Genealogy] Question on "unknown father'

[pico]

Hi Eileen,

You are not reading the records correctly.

Pai = father

Pais = parents (also means country, but not in this case).

So what you are talking about are children abandoned and the women married to men are known as the "ama" or wet nurses given the charge of caring for them.

These children are called "expostos" or foundlings and if they should live to adulthood might choose the surname of these foster parents, but not always, by any means.

Expostos tend to be greater in larger locations. Check out the volume of them in a city like Angra where they had separate books for some time periods.

Same for Ponta Delgada's parishes.

The reason for this might be, or probably is that they were brought from outside villages to the main villages or city.

If the woman was single and kept the child, the record usually reads "filho/a natural de ..." and then the name of the mother. Often, but not always the father will be listed as pai incognito, or simply not mentioned.

Good luck,

Doug da Rocha Holmes
Sacramento, California
Pico Genealogist
916-550-1618

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Question on "unknown father'
From: "Eileen Leite" <eileenle...@seleite.com>
Date: Sat, December 08, 2012 12:03 am
To: <azores@googlegroups.com>

I have been reading baptismal records from Matriz Mae de Deus, Povoacao, Sao Miguel, in 1811-1818.  I see what I think is a high number of illegitimate births, “Pais incognito” and “(child) natural”, and have some questions.

 

1.       It seems that almost every time there is a Pais incognito (father unknown), the record notes that the mother is married to a named someone who is NOT the father of the child. (Casada com or mulher de) Rarely it will say “pais incognito” and (Mother) solteira.  If the mother is single, the format is usually different, and says merely “(Child) of (Mother), Single” or “(Child) natural of (Mother)” .  Does the priest have a choice in what he writes, or is there a different implication in the format chosen for the record?

 

2.       I counted 13 illegitimate children in a mere 36 pages, or 72 records.  That is 18%.  Of these, 9 were born to mothers married to men other than the father.  Removing the babies born to single mothers, 2 in 15 babies born to married women were not of her husband.  This seems really high to me.  Were the husbands away for some reason?  Or was there a reason a  woman would not claim her own husband to be the father of the child?   Just wondering what was going on.

 

Would anyone know why there were so many illegitimate births?

 

Thanks!

 

Eileen Leite

Currently seeking Rebellos/Rabellos and de Frias in Povoacao,

And Brandao in Nordeste.

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