Genealogy Chat

Hi, Wonder if anyone can advise me of how to find out if an ancestor changed their name please. Please see below

My great grandfather was always known as Oliver Ernest Lloyd - this is the name used on his marriage and his gravestone. I have had great difficulty tracking his birth but through tracking other family members back on the census, I found him age 3 living with mother Mary Adams, housekeeper and the Lloyd family. He is on the census as Oliver Adams but relationship to head - William Lloyd says son. I have received his birth certificate today where he is registered as Oliver Lloyd Adams, mothers details Mary Adams, father's details blank. (I realise that if they weren't married she could not put his name on certificate if he wasn't present and thats probably why his middle name is Lloyd) By the next census he is Oliver Lloyd and she is Mary Lloyd. What my query is, is how do I find out if he just assumed the surname Lloyd or if William adopted him on their marriage? Would he need to adopt him if he was the father and he wasn't registered as such? Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks Dawn

If the father acknowledged the birth on registration then he would have been mentioned on the certificate, but the child would not necessarily assumed his surname. The use of an unmarried fathers surname as a second name was commonplace so this also is not unusual. Remember there was no such thing as adoption until about 1928 so there will be nothing formal. Then, and as now for that matter, you can use whatever names you choose.

Thanks for that Peter, didn't realise adoption started so late.

As Peter has told me that adoption wasn't around in the 1880s, does anyone know if there's any way that I could find out if he legally changed his name? I haven't been able to find a marriage ref for his parents yet and neither can I find his mother on the previous census so they are a bit of a sticking point at the moment. Any advice would be very welcome. Thanks Dawn

Dawn I think it is extremely unlikely that he formally changed his name, unless the family were very well-to-do. He most probably just assumed the name 'by repute'. I believe the London Gazette did publish details of change of name by Deed Poll, but I am not sure how you would access this. OC

Thanks for that OC, suppose this will just be another family mystery! Got a bit excited when saw he was Adams, thought I might not be a true Lloyd! Was hoping the address on his birth certificate might have been same as next census - living with William Lloyd, but was different. Never mind, at least I managed to track him down at last!