Genealogy Chat

If a woman has been married before, would it always give ALL previous names on a child's birth cert??? Thanks Lou x

I dont think so Lou

Hi Lou! There's no such thing as ALWAYS in this game LOL! Except that there's always an exception to a rule! Best you can say is that all of her previous surnames SHOULD have been recorded on the cert - but of course that depends on how truthful she was at the time as well as how diligent the registrar was. Personally I wouldn't rule out any certificate based on the fact that some info that should have been recorded was missing - this is especially true for example where I know that a father was deceased by the time of a child's marriage, but the cert doesn't explicitly say 'deceased' after his name. Richard

Thanks Richard You always know how to make me feel better and confuse me in the same sentence! Opinions please....I have a birth certificate for Emma Herod 22nd March 1846, father James Herod, mother Emma Herod formerly Johnson. I have the family in 1851, little Emma is 5 and she has 2 brothers, Joseph aged 8, Nathaniel 5 months. Found Joseph's birth - March Qtr 1843 - so figured I'd hit the jackpot with the marriage of James Herod and Emma Johnson in 1842. Problem is James married in March Qtr and Emma in Sept qtr (or the other way round!) and they have totally different references so can't see how they can have married each other! Have searched from 1837 to 1845 for a marriage and there's nothing that corresponds! Emma is 9 years older than James and that age gap is consistent up to 1881 (Emma died 1883, James 1888). So the only thing I could come up with is that Emma had been married before. Can't find a baptism for her under Johnson, yet can't find a marriage for her under Johnson and she must have done one or the other with the name! Lou

Lou you say you have searched 1837 - 1845 is that online or reference books and fiche (or both) ? the reason I ask is that online is never going to be 100% accurate, and someone going to FRC may be able to help which area did they live? ok finally got them Ashton\Lyme, Cheshire get back to you later

Lou: From CheshireBMD, there is this marriage: James Herod & Alice Miller, Mottram in Longdendale, St. Michael, 1842. So looks as though you have the wrong marriage for your James! Maybe your James & Emma married before July-1837? James would have been 23 by 1837 (judging by his age at death), so could well have married before then. There are plenty of Herod deaths in Ashton between 1837 & 1851, so maybe there could even be some elder siblings of Emma & Joseph who died before 1851? Just a thought! Maybe the way to go is to find him in 1841?

Lou as regards birth certs-NO THEY DON'T. My moms birth cert gives her mothers former married name, her brothers brth cert gives her mothers maiden name and the marriage cert she gives her maiden name and calls herself a spinster when she has been married before!! Took me forever to find that marriage cert.

Thanks everyone I figured the 1842 was the wrong one given that James and Emma were registered in different quarters, they couldn't have married each other! I guess its possible they could have married before civil reg so will have to see whether I can locate them on the 1841. See if they're married by then or whether James is still at home with his parents. There's always the possibility that they didn't marry and just said that they had. I've checked 1837 online AND the BMD's at the local records office and couldn't see anything that fitted for Herod/Johnson! Lou

Lou, If you haven't already got / ordered Joseph's birth certificate you could try that. It might turn out to be some help, and if you're lucky they will have been at the same address in 1841 as they were when Joseph was born. Kate.

Hi Kate I'm hoping they might be at the same address in 1841 as they were on Emma's birth cert and in 1851. James and Emma were with Joseph's father in 1851 and it looks like Emma was born there too so fingers crossed I'll find them ALL at the same place or James still with his parents and unmarried! Lou

I'm confused now... I thought James WAS Joseph's father?! Kate.

Hi Kate Sorry...that should have said James's father who is ALSO called Joseph! Told you my brain had gone to sleep! And I've just looked more closely at the 1881 census return and it gives wife Emma's birthplace as HALIFAX!!! Lou