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Maiden/Former name on birth certificate

Discussion in 'General Genealogical Queries' started by Freesia, Apr 13, 2015.

  1. Freesia

    Freesia LostCousins Member

    Hi everyone

    When a woman marries more than once and has a child by her second or third husband are all her previous names entered on the birth certificate, or is it still only her maiden name.

    When searching the birth entries on the GRO after Dec 1/4 1911 I'm not sure what Mothers name I should be looking for, a former married name or her maiden name.

    Any advice will be most appreciated

    Thanks
     
    Freesia, Apr 13, 2015
    #1
  2. MaryL

    MaryL Genealogy in the Sunshine 2015

    I think it's the mother's maiden name that is supposed to be listed in the index, but I have certainly seen examples where a previous married name appears instead.
     
    MaryL, Apr 13, 2015
    #2
  3. Martin C

    Martin C LostCousins Member

    Like MaryL, I think I have seen other examples. Whilst I believe the mother’s maiden name (her birth name, or her family name) should be used, we cannot rely on our ancestors strict adherence to this requirement. If the lady concerned had multiple husbands, she may have used any one of her married names. If her mother re-married, she may use her step-father’s name instead. The father may well have used whichever he was aware of. So to answer your question, I think you will have to look for all of them :(
     
    Martin C, Apr 13, 2015
    #3
    • Agree Agree x 1
  4. Alexander Bisset

    Alexander Bisset Administrator Staff Member

    I do find it bizarre the English habit of women taking there husband's name and being referred to as that evermore thereafter. I've grown up in Scotland where the tradition is quite quite different. A woman doesn't lose her original identity on marriage and appears in every record bar the census with her maiden name. Most strikingly on gravestones Scottish women are always referred to by their maiden name never by their married name. It was something that struck me forcibly when I was showing distant cousins around a Scottish Graveyard to see our common ancestors grave and they were confused when the wife had her maiden name, they thought that meant they couldn't have married. I couldn't believe that a woman would so completely become the property of her husband in England that she didn't even get recorded with her maiden name on her gravestone.

    Strange how you take some things for granted. It's why I really struggle with English records. When researching my tree its just as easy to search my female lines as it is my male as 95% of my tree is NE Scotland.
     
    Alexander Bisset, Apr 13, 2015
    #4
    • Agree Agree x 1
  5. Martin C

    Martin C LostCousins Member

    I will certainly bear this in mind when searching for Scottish burials, Alexander. I have identified very few Scottish ancestors. A quick look at the small collection of parish record images I hold all appear to follow the English convention. Is this because they are from the Borders, or because all parish records follow the census convention?
     
    Martin C, Apr 14, 2015
    #5
  6. Alexander Bisset

    Alexander Bisset Administrator Staff Member

    Scotlands People website will index female deaths by maiden name, and all married names. This is because the entry in the register typically has things like Mary Bloggs, formerly Jones maiden name Smith.

    The parish registers you are referring to are these for births or marriages? For births pre statuotory registration it varies enormously, largely down to what the clerk could be bothered recording there was no standard. So if it was an English clerk then yes he could well have followed the English convention.

    Sometimes if you are really lucky you see entries such as :
    Joe Bloggs, farmer at LostCousins farm, and his wife Jane Smith had a daughter Mary baptised on this date, in front of witnesses Matthew Bloggs and James Smith (typically grandparents).​
    More commonly you see:
    Joe Bloggs and his wife Jane Smith had a daughter Mary baptised on this date.​
    Sadly you also see, especially the further back you go:
    Joe Bloggs had a daughter Mary baptised on this date.​
     
    Last edited: Apr 17, 2015
    Alexander Bisset, Apr 14, 2015
    #6
  7. Freesia

    Freesia LostCousins Member

    Thank you all for your thoughts, mine were that I would need to search for the birth entry trying all possible names that she had, problem now is the name she was know by wasn't the name she was registered with, oh well a lot more searching, and just to add to the problem now found out her father wasn't the Mothers 3rd husband, but another man altogether!!!

    Thanks again
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 17, 2015
    Freesia, Apr 17, 2015
    #7
  8. Katie Bee

    Katie Bee LostCousins Member

    That is also the case in Canada, well it is in Ontario.
    When I visited my great aunt's grave in Toronto, I thought how sensible and also how helpful to genealogists.
     
    Katie Bee, Apr 18, 2015
    #8

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