Linlithgow Sheriff Court: Paternity Action

[Anne H]

Hi everyone,

David WW had responded to someone else's query on paternity actions and I picked up on it and contacted NAS about my own query and thought others might be interested in the response I received from NAS....so here it is in it's entirety and many thanks to DavidWW.

Quote form NAS:
There are normally two main records of a sheriff court affiliation, or paternity, action. The first of these is the decree, the formal judgement in the case, which will be copied into the Registers of Decrees for the court. The decree will normally state the names of pursuer and defender, the date that the child was born, and the amount of money required for support. The second record is the bundle of case papers, known as ‘process papers’ or ‘processes’, although these do not always survive for affiliation actions.

I have located the decree for the affiliation action brought by Agnes Finlay against Alexander Smith in the Register of Extract Decrees for Linlithgow Sheriff Court, dated 18 January 1883 (ref: SC41/15/5).

I have also searched the process papers for Linlithgow Sheriff Court from 1882-1883 (refs: SC41/6/193-197) but the only surviving record of this action is a handwritten certificate of poverty (ref: SC41/6/194). The following is a transcription of this document:

Certificate of poverty produced in petition by Agnes Finlay for Admission to benefit of the Poor Roll. 1882

I Minister of the Parish of Falkirk hereby certify that Agnes Finlay daughter of and residing with Mrs Janet Forsyth or Finlay at Blackhill near Bonnybridge is not possessed of fund to enable her to raise an action against Alexander Smith engine man residing at Armadale for the aliment of the illegitimate male child. Falkirk , 13 July 1882.

You are more than welcome to consult any of these records in person in the West Search Room in West Register House, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh. You can find information and guidelines on conducting research in our search rooms at our web site: http://www.nas.gov.uk/searchRooms/default.asp. Please note however that the Register of Decrees (ref: SC41/15/5) is out-stored and requires 24 hours notice in order to be produced for you in the West Search Room. This can be done by either telephoning the search room on 0131 535 1413; or by emailing wsr@nas.gov.uk.

If you do not have a Reader’s Ticket issued since January 2005, you will need to bring some form of identification with you when you visit, such as a passport or driving licence.

Alternatively if you would like to purchase a copy of the decree [2 pages], we estimate that copies of this item will cost £10.00. If you decide to proceed with an order, please send a crossed cheque, drawn on a British account, or international money order, in sterling, made out in favour of the 'National Archives of Scotland' to Accounts Department, National Archives of Scotland, General Register House, Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3YY. Payment must be made in advance.

We can also accept payment by the following credit cards and debit cards: Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and Solo; which can currently only be made in person or by telephone. However, we hope to introduce secure payment facilities in the future. In order to make a payment by credit/debit card you must provide us with: 1) the card number; 2) the card expiry date; 3) the issue number if Maestro; 4) the last 3 digits of the card security number (on the reverse of the credit card); 5) the cardholder's name and initials as displayed on the card; and 6) the cardholder's address. Please note that all of these details are essential. You can telephone us with your payment details on +44 131 535 1383. Please quote the estimate number 842 when placing your order.

When cheques, postal orders or credit card details are received in our Accounts Branch to pay for items requested by post, the payment will be processed when received. If the NAS are unable to provide the goods requested, a refund will be made by our Accounts Branch.

We shall proceed with your order on receipt of payment. This estimate is valid for two months only, from the date of this e-mail. We regret that we do not accept payment in currencies other than sterling. Please note that we will require a postal address to send your order to on completion.

I hope that this information will prove useful to you.

Yours sincerely,
xxxxxxxx
Search Room Archivist

West Search Room

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF SCOTLAND

West Register House

Charlotte Square

Edinburgh

EH2 4DF

E-mail: wsrATnas.gov.uk

Website: http://www.nas.gov.uk

Tel: 0131 535 1314 Direct line: 0131 535 1413

Fax: 0131 535 1411

In this instance, it also answers the question of the meaning of the term "poor" written before the woman's name that some of us have queried from time to time.

Hope this might be of help to others who might have a paternity action in Linlithgow.

Regards,
Anne H

[LesleyB]

Hi Anne
Thanks for that. Interesting to have "poor" explained and illustated by Agnes's "Certificate of poverty". It certainly gives us a much better idea of the likely circumstances surrounding many of these type of cases, of which we have seen a few on TS since the release of the RCEs.

Best wishes
Lesley