A question about Pai Incognito

[IslandRoutes]

I have had the opportunity to work on lines in the Azores and Southern France (not Portuguese...LOL)  I noticed something that made me wonder about terms.  In France, there is an equivalent to Pai Incognito.  It escapes me at this moment, but it isn't important.  It means the same thing that the father is unknown.    But, you almost equally see "fil naturel" or something similar.  This means the child was born to an unmarried couple.  It is followed by the name of the father and the mother.   The father claims his children in this case.

I learned from other French researchers that up through the mid 1800s (maybe later), many couples could not afford to pay the necessary fees at the civil and church level.  Instead, they set up house and started their family as if they were married.  They would save up money and then when they could afford it, they would go do the necessary things to be officially married.  In these cases you always saw the children baptized as fil naturel and with the father's name given.  It was not an uncommon practice amongst the poor. I have a couple in my tree in the 1780s.  It is a little peculiar when you find the baptismals then 5-10 years later you find the marriage.

This made me wonder about the Pai Incognitos in the Azorean records that I have found.  Was there a similar thing in the Azorean culture?  Did couples who were poor start their families without an official marriage or was this something specific to France--or maybe even Southern France where my Dad's line hails from? 

I really started to wonder about it after working on my cousin's Raposo line.  Her great grandmother had at least two children where the father was Pai Incognito and her great great grandmother also had at least two children where the father was Pai Incognito.   I don't recall seeing multiple Pai Incognitos in one family, and with mother and daughter, though I guess I haven't really looked that hard since it wasn't in my direct line.

Interested to know what others think.  I have very little knowledge of Azorean culture during the 1700 and 1800s.

Thanks
Mel

[Cheri Mello]

The only one I know was the female got pregnant (by her cousin) and they set up house while they waited 4 years for the dispensation to be granted.

As for a general custom, I've never heard of anything like that in the Azores.  Maybe someone else has.

Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada

[John Raposo]

My understanding is as follows:

Filho (a) natural means that the parents, who are not married to each other, nevertheless have no impediments to marriage, i.e. neither one is married and they are therefore free to marry each other if they so desire.

In the 16th and 17th centuries one often sees couples getting married who already have a child (or more) who have been waiting for dispensations from the prohibitions relative to consanguinity, before they would be allowed to marry.

The term filho(a) natural can only be properly applied if the identity of both parents is known. (How else would one know that the parents were free to marry?)

Filho (a) illegítimo (a) means that at least one parent is not free to marry the other parent, e.g. one of them is married to somebody else.

Pai incógnito (and in some rare cases mãe incógnita), pai não sabido, means the identity of the father (in some rare cases the mother) is not known so that no judgement can be made as to the status (ilegítimo vs. natural) of the child.

I could be wrong, but this is my understanding. I hope I have not confused anybody.

Illegitimacy (in Massachusetts where I live) was a term applied to any child born to a single parent. Therefore, we sometimes misapply the term to Portuguese children whose parents, though not married, have no impediments to being married. (filho(a) natural and filho(a) ilegítimo(a) are not synonymous) Today, in Massachusetts, the term illegitimate, no longer appears on a contemporary birth record, though the marital status of the mother (and father, if known) is stated. If the identity of the father is unknown, the space is left blank. Those records are restricted and are only available to the legal guardian of the child (usually the mother, but not always, e.g grandparents, etc., or the State), or to the subject of the registration if he/she is an adult

John Miranda Raposo

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[luiznoia .]

Incognito do not neccesarily  mean unknown, it means anonymous, or a desire to remain hidden  It is usually a good chance the mother knows who the father was, and for a variety of reasons is not revealing it. 

Besides pai incognito, I have also seen records listing pai incerto-- of an uncertain father. With so many of our ancestors leaving by ship when the opportunity presented, there were  a variety of situations for priests to deal with. 

Eric Edgar

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[IslandRoutes]

John/Eric, thanks for your response.

I do realize that pai incognito does not mean the father is unknown to the mother.  In most cases, she has a very good idea who the father is. ;)  It is only that the name was not revealed.

John, thanks for clarifying each term.  That is interesting about waiting for the dispensation.  So, I can gather that even though the terms sound similar between the French and Portuguese (Fil Naturel or Naturelle and FIlho(a) natural) that they were applied differently in each country.

Thanks again!

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["E" Sharp]

There are cases of pai incognito for the child but later on this child's children (his grandchildren) name the grandfather.  So you might check these records carefully. 

"E"

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[Kalani N]

I spent many years researching the Philippines and the records (in Spanish) had the same exact term.  And in my own family I saw my 2x great-grandmother having lots of children without her husband around, and then I found a marriage record at a later date, then saw all of their children's baptism carrying their father's name as well as their father being listed.  I realized then, and understand the confusion with my own great-grandmother having being baptized with her mother's surname but was known only with her father's surname.

According to what I was told by a historian, it had to do with economics and when they could afford to get married, they would. This explained why in the church records for my grandmother's town a lot of people would get married on the same dates.

Kalani