Bastardy Bonds

What is a Bastardy Bond?

"Bastardy Bonds", a November 13, 2018 article posted by Dave Tabler explains the North Carolina history and process of the bastardy bond. In this article, he states that the North Carolina Colony used a process called “bastardy bond”. This process was to keep the Crown from being responsible for a child who were born out of wedlock, placing the financial responsibility on the mother or if unable, the father.

Usually there was a complaint from the community about an unwed pregnant lady or mother of a child and she was unwed. The court summoned her to court to question her about the child’s father. If she named the father, he was summoned to post a “bond” for child support.

If she would not name the father, another person might post the bond – her father, brother, uncle, her mother, sister or herself. If the bond was not posted, the pregnant woman/mother of illegitimate child would go to jail.

The repeal of the legislation requiring the recording of bastardy bonds, was in 1933 in North Carolina. The state archives stored bastardy bond records until 1957.

Another article on the subject is from the NCPedia website "Bastardy" by George Stevenson in 2006

Bastardy Bonds are not specific to the United States, the article “Bastardy records – what are they and do they tell us?” August 6, 2021 posted on the Dorset History Centre is a great explanation of the different documents used in the United Kingdom.

North Carolina State Archives Search - For a fee the NC State Archives will perform a bastardy bond search for you.

Bastardy bonds can typically be found in the court records of the county in which the mother lived.

As bastardy bonds are search, please do so with compassion and understanding of the era in which the person lived, the hardships they faced and the rights of the women during that time period.

Source:   Appalachian History website