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Archiver > ESSEX-UK > 2002-07 > 1026691487


From: "Mary George" <>
Subject: Re: Additions to a Marriage Certificate
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 01:04:47 +0100
References: <003c01c22b76$42d84440$38c030d5@richard>


Suggestion - no father on a birth certificate usually means that child was
illegitimate - marriage indicated at 1881 does not necessarily mean that the
husband of the family unit at that time was the father of the children, just
that he had married the mother - you sometimes see stepchildren (or children
born out of wedlock, fathered by husband or anyone else) all called by the
surname of the head of the household, which may be because that is what they
were known by, or because the enumerator didn't ask and just assumed that
the children had the same surname of the man of the house. I have
instances of all these occurrances in my family.

There is no guarantee that what is stated on a marriage certificate is
correct. The couple could say what they liked, they did not have to prove
it by any form of documentation. If the bride was not totally sure what
her father's name was (he might have been known as "Eddie", which in my
family has been a nickname for Edwin, Edward, Edgar,) and she could have got
it wrong. It has been known for people to make up the names of their
fathers so that the other side of the family did not find out that they were
born out of wedlock. I don't think that it is safe to assume that the
father was dead before she was born - it is never safe to assume anything
without documentary proof.

Mary G






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