# "Child of the first bed" -- what does that mean (legal term)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-the-first-bed-what-does-that-mean-legal-term/835210 "2019-06-08T13:21:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-the-first-bed-what-does-that-mean-legal-term/835210/1 "2019-06-08T13:21:36Z")
I came across this term in an article today. Googling isn’t giving me a lot of help. I assume it means _child of the first marriage_? But one of the [Google results](https://books.google.com/books?id=coUqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=%22child+of+the+first+bed%22+meaning&source=bl&ots=EpJiVPVxbC&sig=ACfU3U1kqA49lHlUx2BZs7-A1NE974c-xw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiV6L3Y9dniAhVRMawKHb5wARYQ6AEwA3oECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22child%20of%20the%20first%20bed%22%20meaning&f=false) (a law journal from 1901) has this sentence: “As the Acting District Judge observes, the words “a share” are used, and not shares in the instrument, indicating an intention to cut the property in two and give the child of the first bed one-half and the children of the other bed the other half. That intention conforms to the _stirped_ division by our Common Law between children of different beds of property on intestacy.” [Italics in original] This has to do with inheritance in the absence of a will? Why “child” of the first bed? Can there be “children” of the first bed? If there are multiple children in the first marriage, how are they accounted for? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-the-first-bed-what-does-that-mean-legal-term/835210/2 "2019-06-08T14:28:05Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Why “child” of the first bed? Can there be “children” of the first bed? If there are multiple children in the first marriage, how are they accounted for? Well this site (caution pdf) [https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/content/download/1950/13681/version/3/.../Code\_22.pdf](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/content/download/1950/13681/version/3/.../Code_22.pdf) refers to “each child of the first bed” so I assume there can be more than one. My only two guesses are child of a first marriage or more likely legitimate children. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-the-first-bed-what-does-that-mean-legal-term/835210/3 "2019-06-08T14:32:28Z")
And in that particular case there simply happened to be only one, while there were several from the second woman. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-the-first-bed-what-does-that-mean-legal-term/835210/4 "2019-06-08T15:42:55Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Well this site (caution pdf) > > [https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/content/download/1950/13681/version/3/.../Code\_22.pdf](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/content/download/1950/13681/version/3/.../Code_22.pdf) > > refers to “each child of the first bed” so I assume there can be more than one. My only two guesses are child of a first marriage or more likely legitimate children. It’s interesting that the term is “child of the first BED” without mentioning marriage. (Disclaimer: I didn’t read all 168 pages.) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-the-first-bed-what-does-that-mean-legal-term/835210/5 "2019-06-08T16:57:25Z")
The case in question was in reference to TIAGARAJA et al. v. TAMBYAH. D. C, Colombo, 10,759. Colombo being the capital of Ceylon (Now Sri Lamka) and then a British colony. Given that the lawyers and the clerks would quite possibly not have English as a first language, is it possible that “child of the first bed” is a mistranslation? > **[021-NLR-NLR-V-04-TIAGARAJA-et-al.-v.-TAMBYAH.pdf](https://www.lawnet.gov.lk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/021-NLR-NLR-V-04-TIAGARAJA-et-al.-v.-TAMBYAH.pdf)** ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-the-first-bed-what-does-that-mean-legal-term/835210/6 "2019-06-08T16:57:42Z")
Maybe it is a less stodgy version of [Heir Presumptive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heir_presumptive)? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-the-first-bed-what-does-that-mean-legal-term/835210/7 "2019-06-08T17:00:04Z")
I would guess that “children of the first bed” are the legitimate heirs of the man, and children from “other” beds are illegitimate. (but might nonetheless be included in a will.) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-of-the-first-bed-what-does-that-mean-legal-term/835210/8 "2019-06-08T17:16:04Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I would guess that “children of the first bed” are the legitimate heirs of the man, and children from “other” beds are illegitimate. (but might nonetheless be included in a will.) Not necessarily: they could simply be children of the first wife, whether that “first” is by order in time (which may not require a monogamous sequence) or by other reason of primacy. All children would be legitimate, but the one from the principal wife is the main heir; it can even happen that having your son be named heir is what makes you the principal wife. One of the problems with polygyny is precisely that the division of property can get pretty bloody.