1. Date and number of the bond
 
2. Location of action
 
3. Names of alleged father
 
4. Names of sureties
 
5. Name of child's mother
 
6. Signatures of alleged father and the sureties
 

Bastardy Bond
from the Nineteenth Century
Bastardy Papers

 
Local towns and counties have unwillingly accepted responsibility for the maintenance of illegitimate children and the poor for centuries. At the same time, authorities have attempted to identify relatives to assume that responsiblity.
Even during colonial times, mothers of illegitimate children often petitioned the court to obtain child support from the fathers of their illegitimate children.
The bastardy bond above does not state who charged Nicholas Long before the court, but it states clearly that he was charged.
Bastardy records have been created by local civil courts since their inception. In some locations, churches assumed the role of supporting illegitimate children and their mothers. Records of their inquiry into paternity appear in church minute and account books.

© Palladium Interactive, Inc. 1997.
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