Illegitimacy, Marriage, and the Legitimation of Children in the Algerian Territory in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

When the Algerian territory was conquered in the 1830s, a new population came into existence, initiated by immigration from France and several other European countries, and subsequently fueled by the local birth of these settlers’ descendants. The writers who studied this population at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries all noted the high rate of illegitimacy during the early stages of this society, and its progressive decrease later on. In this article their observations are compared with statistics gathered from the perusal of more than 3,000 marriage certificates from the main towns of the Algerian territory in 1867, and the town of Algiers in the last decades of the nineteenth century. The analysis of spouse selection in relation to native territories indicates the existence of a certain level of national endogamy, particularly among Spanish-born spouses. The legitimation of children through the marriage of their parents varies according to the parents’ national origin. The study of these marriages confirms a relatively high illegitimacy rate in Algiers, close to that seen in Paris or Lyons during the same period. However, unlike metropolitan couples, couples living in Algiers often legitimated several children after living together, sometimes for quite a lengthy period. Marriage records afford us a glimpse into family situations and individual life stories, with their break-ups and hesitations, helping us to understand the mechanisms and matrimonial customs of this colonial society.