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I'm confused - surnames

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Kerry

Kerry Report 23 Jun 2004 09:39

Thanks Maggie - that would seem to make sense!

Maggie

Maggie Report 22 Jun 2004 20:49

Hi Kerry, I've discovered you can't always accept what's on certificates, so many people just didn't tell the truth. From the birth cert it would appear your Grandmother was illegitimate - it may well be she didn't want to let her husband know and made up a father's name for the marriage certificate. I understand this happened quite frequently. Good Luck in your search - I had a similar problem, my GGGrandfather was also illegitimate (described as baseborn in the Parish records) so no where to go with this Maggie

Kerry

Kerry Report 22 Jun 2004 20:29

Ok who can help me sort this one out!!! I have my gmothers marriage certficate which gives her father as George Sparkes (deceased). So I ordered gmothers birth certificate which gives mothers name as Amy Doris Sparkes but no father. I was under the impression that mothers had to state their maiden name on birth certificates but Sparkes is the only surname my ggmother listed. I have checked out Amy Doris Sparkes' birth and she seems to be the right one. So why did she list her name as Sparkes, did she have the same maiden name as her married name (as did my other gparents), had her husband died before gmother was born or was gmother born out of wedlock? Any ideas?