Genealogy Chat

Hi, I am sorry if this has already been covered somewhere but I havent found it by the search function.

I am researching my wifes family, and have found a section of them listed as the surname I expected 'Dobson', but also they are all listed with the surname 'Plom', which is the mothers maiden name.

There is no record of a marriage between the father and mother, and was wondering if that could be a reason as to 2 listings with identical details but different surnames.

One of the people listed as Plom, has a line drawn through the page number on the BMD list, and a hand written number that looks like g37 written in. When I check for the same person under Dobson (which is the name I was expecting) it is hand written.

The rest of the children from Plom are listed as both Plom and then again as Dobson.

Can anyone shed any light as to why this would be, or would I need to contact the National Archives?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Michael.

If they are listed under both names it usually means that at the time of registration the parents were not married.

Kath. x

I would agree that it often means that the couple weren't married at the time of the first registration but ...

This one is unusual - in each instance the paired Dobson/Plom and Plom/Plom entries show on the same page of the same volume in the same district and the same quarter of the same year - they're all true duplicates pairs apart from the child's surname. What's more, this isn't a one off - they cover a 10 year span and 3 registration districts.

To add to the confusion, that hand-written amendment is "see J'37". Looking at Dobson and Plom births in the June 1937 quarter, that particular birth shows up twice more - once under each surname.

Something very unusual has gone on here - the couple seem to have been intent on registering each birth twice. The reregistration in 1937 could suggest a marriage around the same date - but, if so, why reregister under both names again, and why only one of the children?

I suspect the actual registry entries (or certificates) need to be seen in order to resolve this - and probably the originals held at the local register offices rather than the transcribed copies at GRO.

Is there anyone in the family you can ask to shed some light on this?

Good luck - I think you might need some to sort this one out!

There are only 2 members of this Plom/Dobson line left, and until recently they thought their parents (as we all would) were married. There is no record on Genes Reunited or Ancestry.co.uk of a marriage between them.

I think I will have to contact the local register office to find out more.

I'd love to know what the J'37 refers to.

I'll let you know.

Thanks for your help.

Hi Michael,

You wrote - "I'd love to know what the J'37 refers to." As I've already said, this is a cross-reference to the index for the June quarter 1937, when the birth was re-registered. As for why the birth was re-registered, that's still to be discovered.

Have you tried searching for a marriage in, say, 1935 through 1937?

Good luck,
GeordieLad

Id say the J37 meant the parents had married & the children re-registered

Again thanks for the replies.

I did read what you said about the J'37 cross reference, I am just a bit confused as to what it means. Particularly as the last child born was born in 1938, after the J'37 cross refernce and also has both the Plom and Dobson record.

I contacted the Wandsworth register office who told me I couldnt see the record entries as they are closed books. He was a really helpful guy otherwise though.....well about as helpful as a slap round the face with a wet fish.

Just in case I checked for a marriage between '35 and '40, he died in 1940 so there wont be anything after that, and there is no record of a marriage.

I have ordered the birth certificate of the J'37 reference to see what that says.