Genealogy Chat

Please help how can a family change its name from Richards to Weston then back to original name over just a few years.

My great grandad was John Thomas Richards he married in 1897 but on the 1901 census head of famiy listed as William Weston who has the same birth year and birth place as John Richards. The children are listed as Weston on the 1901 census but on the 1911 census same people are listed as Richards.

I'm confused. Help.

Lynn

Whereabouts?

If it is just on the census then maybe the enumerator made a mistake.
You cannot check,as the original household returns have been destroyed.

I had the same thing in my family, the name went from Norton to Coupland then back to Norton though one of the children carried on using the Coupland name. I wonder if they had something to hide?

I had a similar situation with one of my husbands ancestors. Dorothy Wildgoose gave birth to her son Edwin out of wedlock, so he was baptised as Wildgoose, But Edwin shows up on the census returns as Wilkinson. This was the name of the man she married after Edwin's birth. Whether it was his natural father or not I will never know, but it gives a new twist to the phrase Wildgoose trail!!

Lynn I have just had the very same thing looking for a friends family for her, on 1851 one name changed for 61 and 71 and back to original for 1881.... discovered that Husband used his middle name as surname on the two middle census'...for reasons best known to himself! possibly a family rift?