Genealogy Chat

just recieved a marriage cert and the wife`s fathers details are wrong. she was called jane burnett and in the fathers name it says william mustard which has been crossed out and his profession is bottle maker which is also crossed out. Does this mean the wrong details have been put in then crossed out????if so shouldn`t they have put the right ones in and how do i find the right father?? can anyone help please sharon

Hi Sharon, I have a similar cert. where the fathers name has been inserted, plus his occupation, a baker, but that was the name and occupation of his step-father The name has then been crossed out and his real fathers name inserted but the occupation has been left, although I know that his biological father was an Ag. Lab and not a Baker. Kathlyn

She could have been illigitimate and didn't want the stigma (at the time) to appear on her marriage cert so 'made one up'. If this had been discovered then the false details would have been crossed out...

Sharon, if the certificate was officially altered there should be some reference numbers to indicate this. If the bride was illigitimate there would not necessarily be details of her father - or the father's name would be different from the bride's. If there is nothing to indicate the certificate was altered by the authorities, then I can only assume it was crossed through by a family member who maybe knew William was not, in fact, her father, in which case you may never know who her father was. Victoria

Sharon I take it that this isn't the original certificate and is a copy from the GRO or Local RO? If so, I would say that the bride gave the deatails of a step father and then after it was entered qualified it with 'my step father' or the Registrar queried the different surnames. When it was established it wasn't her real father it was crossed out....If she then didn't know who her real father was it would be left blank. But there should be a number (and sometimes initials) over the deleted entries and the number is then repeated at the end of the certificate with the Registrar's initials. I have several certificates with small amendments, spellings the most common, but one where the Registrar (mid 1800s) who mananged to muck up the date of death, surname spelling for the deceased and the address of the informant....Must have had a liquid lunch!!! LOL Chris

hi victoria, there is little numbers written above the name and profession. numbers 19,20,21,22,23 and 24 it then has them listed down the side but cannot make out what is next to them, it looks like cs, should the register office have informed me or something about this especially when they cost so much sharon

Sharon The Cs are probably the initials of whoever made the alteration. I have had another thought.... Is the certificate a copy of the entry or an actual copy of the actual Marriage Register from the local RO (showing the real signatues of the bride a groom)? If it is a copy of the original Register then my previous 'story' holds true. If it is a copy of the entry then whoever copied it may have made the mistake and there was never a father shown, they copied down a father from the previous entry or the next one....Hope that makes sense. If the 'crossed out' father doesn't ring any bells with you it might be worth contacting the relevant RO to see if they could check above and below your entry to see if the father's name duplicates.......Assuming they are a RO willing to do a check. Good luck Chris

hi chris, it`s a copy of the actual certificate from the GRO. the registrar was edward spence so it must be es next to the numbers. if her fathers name is on another cert surely i should have been informed i ordered it on the 12th oct and just got it today sharon

Sharon I hate to disapoint you but if it is from the GRO it is a COPY of the marriage entry. That is all the information they have and that is all they will provide. They look no further than the reference you give them. Where did the marriage take place? If it is outside of London then as I previously suggested, if the crossed out father means nothing to you, then you could ask the local RO to check for an error....But as to whether they would charge for that I am sorry I wouldn't know. Every RO seems to have it's own charge/non charge system for queries. If it's in London then you may have great difficulties....Local ROs won't help with certificates for Family History and that would mean finding where the original Parish Registers are (assuming a church marriage) and then working out how you could obtain the info. Sorry to be so negative Chris

the marriage took place in hartlepool which i am now trying desperately to find the phone number with no luck, think i`ll try later, i`ll post a message on every board until i find it sharon

Location Hartlepool Address Raby Road Hartlepool TS24 8AF Tel +44 (0)1429 236369 Please note closed in 1938 and post July 1837 civil registers moved to Durham Eastern or Durham South Eastern or West Hartlepool. Closed again in 1974 and post July 1837 civil registers moved to North Cleveland Reopened in 1996 http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/RegOffice/localoffh.html

thanx to all for helping, phoned GRO and they have said to send it back and their public relations unit will look into it for me. god knows how long that will take but at least they have offered to help. sharon

The marriage certificate will show where the marriage took place (either the name of the church or the register office). The local register office will still have the original marriage register and should be able to provide you with a copy. If you mention the alterations they should be able to provide you with the details from their register of amendments. The local register office does not need the GRO reference number but they do need the date and the location of the marriage. J

thanx for that info john, think i`ll phone hartlepool tomorrow before i post anything sharon

just phoned hartlepool register office for nothing,couldn`t or wouldn`t tell me anything other than take it to a local office and they will explain what the ammendments mean and if i wanted to i could send the cert to them and they would send me a note as to why they think the ammendments have been made, but no offer to have a look at anything now!!!!!!! very unhelpful sharon