Genealogy Chat

Hope someone can help
if on a childs birth certificate the mothers name is down as Hutchinson formerly harvey does that mean harvey is her maiden name
thank you
Maddie

Yes, Harvey was her maiden name. In the case of the bride's mother having remarried before the child's birth it would appear as Jones, formerly Hutchinson, nee Harvey.
Obviously, I'm using Jones here just as an example. In other words, all names legally used by the mother would apear on the child's certificate.

Annie

Under normal circumstances, then yes, Harvey was her maiden name.

Chris

Alternatively, in the case of previous marriages you could see:-

Jones, late Hutchinson, formerly Harvey.

The maiden name is not necessarily her birth name but that she was known as at the time of her first marriage. This explains why sometimes it is not possible to find a birth based on the maiden name quoted on the marriage certificate.

thank you
maddie

Aka, or 'otherwise' could also indicate a name she had used previously i.e. that of a man she had been living with but never married.

Maddie just to throw a spanner in the works............

On my Gt Grandfathers birth cert it says for mother Wood formery Joyce, so you would think that was her maiden name, so did we, however it turned out it wasn't! She had married twice......

I'm going on certs I've got that are like this. My husband's female ancestors made a habit of remarrying. AKA need not have been a legal name and it's only legal titles which can appear on certs. My husband's grandparents had to marry all over again twenty years after the first "marriage" which was found to be not legal because she had married in the name the family called her which was not the name on her birth certificate.

We have "late" on some certs too.

Annie

oh dear patricia
really don't need any spanners right now
thanks everyone
madie

As it has never been illegal to call yourself by another name rather than your birth name I cannot see why someone would 'have to' remarry just because they had used the name they had always been known by.....But happy to be corrected if I am wrong!

If that was the case a great number of my ancestor's marriages would be 'invalid' as they had a habit of not adhering to birth/baptism given forenames (and sometimes even surnames!) when they married :-D

Chris

It can be so confusing, I was born in 1943 but can only get a copy of a birth certificate which was registered in 1957. :-S

Valerie

I was reading something recently about somone who had a similar problem, born xx and reregistered yy, but they managed to get a copy of the original certificate under the 'Freedom of Information Act'.

Wish I could remember where I read it :-(

Chris

I'd suggest that you trace back the 'mother' and see if you can find a birth name, a married name and maybe even more

If you check the birth of the son/daughter online then it should give you the mothers maiden name, providing it was Sept 1911 onwards

When you've done this and bought certificates then you will have proof