Add an unknown father
I created my family tree, and going from the newest persons I could not add an unknown father to one of the person, so then I created his mother and there is not chance to edit adding info about the unknown father. When I already created this mother then I could add an other child with the unknown father, but it is not the case, because I want to add a text "the unknown father" to the first (and only child). Can anybody help me and edit these profiles? The main person that needs "the unknown father" is ID: PHQH-2XW, and his mother is ID: PHQH-17Q. Thanks.
Best Answers
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@pXXXp yes, that's correct, the mother only will be present in Family Tree.
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@pXXXp As you have a record referring to the unknown father, I'd use the 'Note' I suggested for Ludwika to document that piece of information so that it doesn't get overlooked. Something like 'See 1911 parish register in Sources Tab which shows father as Unknown [N. N.]'
btw Have you added Sources that you have found? I don't see any at the moment for Ludwika or son Józef
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@pXXXp If you have information about the unknown father such as where he may have been born or where he lived, you may want to consider adding that as a Note attached to the mother, Ludwika
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@pXXXp When a child has only a mother, then this situation is sometimes displayed as the child having an unknown father. But in reality, there is no father at all connected to the child. You say that there is only one child of this mother with the unknown father, so you don't need to do anything. The relationship is already correct.
If the time comes that you find out who the father is, you can add that person on the Parents and Siblings section of the Family Members area of the person's profile details. But until you gather that information, just leave the relationship as it is. It would be inappropriate to create a new profile to be the father, because you should never create a name like "unknown father" for any profile.
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"never" is a bit strong.
If both the parents are unknown, but one knows who the siblings are, then I have created a father with only the last name and no first name. It's the only way to "connect" the siblings and at least once has lead to finding the family on a census record.
But in this case, I agree that there is no reason to create a profile for an unknown father if the mother is known.
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There is only "N.N." entry in parish register about father f the child. I thought that in the FamilySearch tree there is a special profile for a N.N. father that would be displayed. Reading your explanations I suppose there is no such a possibility and there is only a mother displayed in these cases. Am I right?
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I am in agreement with most of the responses placed here. Yes, the only reason I would add an unknown parent would be in order to connect known siblings. For example, I found an early eighteenth century will where two siblings were named by the testator, but no baptisms could be traced - hence no parents names, either. Like @Nyx773 I created a father with just the family last name, it appearing rather unlikely that a mother would have three illegitimate children at that period - though possible, of course!
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Thank you for your responses. I asked my question because I was wondering about the possibility of adding an unknown father when both the child and mother's profiles already exist. On the other hand, if both profiles already exist and the child doesn't have a father in the tree, note that when editing the same mother, there's an option to "Add child with unknown father." This is therefore a system inconsistency, as you can't add an unknown father's profile to an existing child, but you can add a child with an unknown father from the mother's level.
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@pXXXp said:
note that when editing the same mother, there's an option to "Add child with unknown father." This is therefore a system inconsistency, as you can't add an unknown father's profile to an existing child, but you can add a child with an unknown father from the mother's level.
I'm afraid I don't see this as an inconsistency. If you are on the mother's profile and choose the "Add child with unknown father" option, it does not create a profile for the father. "Unknown father" in this case means that there is no father in FamilyTree - it doesn't mean that there is a profile that is somehow marked up as "unknown".
So if you go to the profile of the child, you can't create an empty(?) profile for the father.
If you're on the mother, you still can't create an empty(?) profile for the father.
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