Seeking father's name on birth record. Bari, Bari, Italy
Could someone please tell me if there is a father's name on this record, if the mother was married and/or if the child was illegitimate? And the birth day (It's January 1908, but I'm not sure on the day)? The child is Luigi Colamesta, mother is Filamena Colamesta di Francesco (?) born in Terlizzi. Thanks in advance!
Here is the FS link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L93N-LPX2?view=explore&groupId=M9C3-HJ8 no. 58 of 318
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It's actually no. 160 on image 56, not 58. But the pic is pretty clear.
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Translation:
12 Jan 1908 at 9:00am ... Filomena Colamesta, daughter of Francesco, age 19, homemaker, resident in Terlizzi, declared that at 10:10am on 7 Jan 1908 at Piazza S. Pietro #32, from her relations with a single man, unrelated to her by blood or marriage*, was born a female child, whom she named Luigia ...
To answer your question, this is indeed a legally illegitimate birth to a single woman with no declared father. The phrasing "non parente, ne affine in grado che ostano al riconoscimento" means that this baby's father was unrelated to the mother either by blood or marriage, so legally, the couple could marry if they wanted to. Apart from that, no information on the father is given.
The most common cause for this situation is a couple that was married in church only. In Italy, during the period 1866-1929, church marriage had no legal value, so couples married in church only would be considered unmarried in the civil records. Nonetheless, many couples refused to marry civilly, choosing instead to marry only in church. Children of such couples were often marked as illegitimate in the civil birth records.
This is not the only possible explanation, but it is the most common one. If you study the marriage records and birth records for Bari and Terlizzi from 1908 onwards, you may find Filomena's eventual marriage or an eventual legitimization of her children.
The other possibility is a true illegitimacy situation where the parents truly were unmarried and the father did not accept to recognize his paternity of this child.
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Thank you so much, Joseph! I'm just starting to do Italian research. Very interesting!
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