Genealogy Chat

I have a few ancestors that have different parent names listed on their death registry versus their marriage registry. Other than the 2 documents belonging to different people, what are the most likely reasons for the difference?

Is there a rule of thumb as to which is more likely to be correct? I would assume the marriage registry is more likely to have the correct parents since the person in question would be alive for this one.

Whatever is recorded on the death cert would only be as good as the informant knew.

Obviously these are not English certs as ours are boring :-D

jax

I would go along with your rule of thumb.

Here's an exception from my tree. My g gran named her stepmother as her mum on her m.rego. I think she believed this at the time, but later on learned otherwise, probably via her younger maternal half-brother. I know my dad thought the brother was a rellie, and I know he helped my grandad get a job and a place to live just across the road from him.

NB The informant for my g gran's death wasn't my gran, but her brother, so this knowledge wasn't just in my direct line.

I've got one a similar scenario with one of my Scottish ancestors. I still haven't got to the bottom of it to find the mother.

I have name differences with some of my (Scottish) rellies' certificates - a few where not only the parents names can differ but sometimes their own names have wildly different spellings.....because mine were originally immigrants, or chidren of immigrant parents.
Might this be the case with yours David?

The reason for these name differences is because Foreign names were a trial to the authorities...years ago, we were not as familiar with foreign names as we are today, so they sounded unusual and were difficult to pronounce. To make them more easy in the English language, the foreign names were inclined to have the spelling altered, or changed altogether!
Juozas Stevaiskus might become Joseph Stevski or Joseph Stevens, is one example.

David,

E & W Death Certificates do not make any reference to parents names.

Could you clarify what you are referring to and if not England and Wales, the locality concerned.

As David posted at 3.42 am the chances are he was referring to overseas certs IGP

Thanks, Jax

It did seem a bit odd when I read it.

IGP - I remember when I sent off for my first Scottish Death Certificate. I was fairly new to genealogy and hadn't got much experience of Scottish Certificates.

I was curious about how my ancestor died and wasn't expecting much (just what was listed on English certs), imagine my surprise and delight when the death certificate revealed not only his wife's name and maiden name but both his parent's names including his mother's maiden name. i was able to go back a further generation which was totally unexpected.

I wish I had sent away for it sooner!

Thanks for all of the replies. In answer to the questions...They are Scottish Statutory Registers. The forenames and surnames are common Scottish names (i.e. John, William, Alexander, Margaret, Jane, Helen and Findlay, Knox, McDonald, Grant etc...) so they are unlikely to be the results of a spelling error. I have done quite a bit of detective work outside of the BMD records, but there are often many people with the above listed name combinations (sometimes in the same little village).

I have also found a few cases where the surnames of groom's parents are switched. I have been able to determine that this is because the groom was born illegitimate and was given his mother's surname.

Yes, the Scottish statutory records are really helpful with all of the information that they have. It makes research quite easy barring a few discrepances like the one I enquired about. :-)

Hello David, what you say sounds familiar! I've got whole villages with the same names lol It's only because descendants of one name have traced their own lines in one village upwards that we've been able to differentiate between the different families and then link them all together.

I don't think you can always say that the marriage is the most accurate (however, it is more likely). Sometimes there can be misunderstandings.

What period are you talking about, will census records be of any help?

Names do vary :)
A great-aunt, born in Buckinghamshire, married in Scotland and from the marriage record in scotlands people, her father was James. Oh no he's not, thought I, great-grandad is John :)

I thought one of my English ancestors (actually turned out to be of Irish descent) was illegitimate as it seemed to list her mother's name as the parent on her marriage. However, I think that it was her own name listed (again), as I have found her parents and she was legitimate!

It took me a while to figure that one out because of the confusion!

With my Scottish ancestor, I'm not sure what is the correct name as his mother died pre civil registration and before census records. His mother listed on his marriage certificate could actually be a variation of his step mother's name but I'm not sure. The death certificate gives a different name again. I can not find a marriage between his father and his first wife and he appears to be an only child of that marriage although he had plenty of half siblings.

Red Squirrel, The time period is 1820 to 1900 in Rossshire. I have gone through the census records and they seem to confirm the parents listed on the marriage reg. Although, there just happens to be matches for the same couple listed on the death reg. I am trying to figure out if they could be aunt and uncle or grandparents. In some of the census records the father is not there. However, the father in question was a shepherd and I have found him with other people (possible relatives) as a visitor. I assume that where ever you are that night...that is where you are listed. Often I find relatives separated from their family. Particularly in the case of farm labourers and often in bothies.

Ahh, that may explain why one of my ancestors being missing from the 1841 census. I've found the rest of the family but he is missing.

He was a crofter from Ross and Cromarty. I think that one of his children listed him as a shepherd on one of their certificates. He was probably out looking after the flock and that is why I can't find him on that census record. Are you saying that he should be listed anyway?

I'm used to it happening for my mariners. I've found some of the Scottish ones in port in England on some of the census records, I wish I was so lucky with my English mariners.

It's frustrating when you find possible relatives but can't prove who they are! Have you tried making a connection through siblings i.e. their marriage/death certs as that would give their parent's names too etc?

David - re: "I assume that where ever you are that night...that is where you are listed."

Yes - that was the rule for all the UK (plus Channel I & IoM) censuses.
It's not true of all censuses - e.g., the Canadian rule is normal place of residence.

Red Squirrel, Who is it that you are referring to in your last post? I have Alexander Grant from Contin, Ross, Scotland who was a Shepherd but also listed as a crofter too in some of the Census.

Sorry david, it was one of my ancestors. I don't have any Grants in my tree unfortunately.

My ancestors were from Lochalsh area and were living in Kintail in 1841.

I presume there were a lot of crofters from around that area at that time.