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Can the details on a Marriage Certificate be wrong?

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  • Can the details on a Marriage Certificate be wrong?

    Helping a friend compile her Tree we find her father's birth certificate could have the wrong name for the mother.
    Harold John Norman born August 1911, Pontypridd has a certificate that shows Mary Jane Cutts as the mother's former name. Three other births to George Norman, the father, show mother as Mary Jane Hunt.
    Since certificates are written by hand, it is quite possible for a mistake to be made..............but how does one prove it?

  • #2
    Alan, could one of the mother's died and the father remarried. Wat ae the date of births of the other children.

    Tora

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    • #3
      Are you looking at a GRO copy, or one from the local registration office ? - errors can happen in the returns process.

      Otherwise the information is only as good as the informant knew (or chose to give) at the time, so who the informant was can be important.

      Was she married twice, or was one birth when she was unmarried ? Lots of possibilities.
      Retired professional researcher, and ex- deputy registrar, now based in Worcestershire. Happy to give any help or advice I can ( especially on matters of civil registration) - contact via PM or my website www.chalfontresearch.co.uk
      Follow me on Twittter @ChalfontR

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      • #4
        Looking at a public tree on Ancestry for this family the siblings born in 1909 and 1914 were both born in Bridgwater, Somerset. Does your friend remember Harold's siblings as her aunts/uncles? or could it be this a different George Norman, or a temporary affair with George then returning to his wife? That tree also has the mother of the half siblings as Mary Jane Hunt and of Harold as Mary Jane Cutts, (who has an impossible birth date of 1905, making her 6 when she had Harold so not sure how much credence to give the tree!)
        Judith passed away in October 2018

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        • #5
          WEll, you could get all four birth certs and compare them!

          However, it does sound like a clerical error to me, the outline of the two surnames is very similar, or the two names could be confused by a cloth-eared cleric.

          OC

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          • #6
            Does your friend know when/where Mary Jane Norman died please?
            Chrissie passed away in January 2020.

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            • #7
              Also Alan, what does it give for the fathers occupation on the birth cert please? Does you friend know for a fact that the other three were siblings of Harold?
              Chrissie passed away in January 2020.

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              • #8
                Tora,............don't know if mother died & father re-married.......no evidence for it that we know of. Other children;
                Edith Phyllis Norman 1905; Herbert G. Norman 1907; Robert T. K. Norman 1909; Harold John Norman 1911 and Doris M. Norman 1914. The lady I'm trying to help provided me with her father's siblings.
                Anthony M......the Marriage Cert is a photocopy bought from GRO Southport. Harold John Norman was her father and she became estranged from him and as ever family history gets lost.
                Judith M...........the Tree you're looking at sounds like the one I'm trying to compile on Ancestry.
                Chrissie.......Mary Jane Norman died in 1973 registered in Devon Central. Father's occupation was that of a Brick Maker (Journeyman)and other siblings she quoted when we began but for a fact......mmmmm?

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                • #9
                  Sorry, I could have put this up when I began...........it's an age thing with me!

                  Harold John Norman001.jpg

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                  • #10
                    I'm going to dig a big hole and jump into it!.............................what a stupid old man I am.
                    It's not the marriage cert it's the BIRTH cert my query relates to......................grovel, grovel everyone.

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                    • #11
                      LOL Alan, I never even noticed you said marriage cert!

                      You could phone the local register office and ask them to confirm what is written on your cert.

                      As you have Hunt- Hunt- Hunt- Cutts - Hunt, it is either a clerical error OR therre is some incredibly interesting secret here!

                      OC

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                      • #12
                        It is strange that the siblings were all registered Bridgwater for 1905,1907,1910 (not 1909) and 1914 with Harold the only one b Pontypridd 1911

                        They were living Bridgwater in 1911

                        Kat

                        My avatar is my mother 1921 - 2012

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                        • #13
                          Hello Kat, the 1911 census was taken 3rd April whilst Harold John was born in August of 1911. His father George was a Journeyman Brick Maker and would perhaps account for his being in Pontypridd.

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                          • #14
                            Well someone could be guilty of 'naughties' OC.......very plausible but I'm struggling to prove anything at the moment.
                            Last edited by AlanC; 10-07-14, 16:42.

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                            • #15
                              Do you have the birth certs for the siblings? If so, do all the other details (apart from mother's surname) match with the cert for Harold?

                              If not, how do you know the mmn, as this didn't feature in the GRO index until 1911? If from baptism entries, how do father's occupation & parental address compare?

                              And yes, surname mistakes do appear in the GRO index and on certificates. It took me ages to track down the ref numbers for the marriage registration of my grandparents as Granny, Miss McDonough, was recorded as Miss McDonald. (This is the name on the marriage cert when I finally got it.) The births of her brother's children were registered under the name Donnack.

                              And in various census returns, Granny's mother was forenamed Judy, July and Julia.

                              Jay
                              Janet in Yorkshire



                              Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

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                              • #16
                                So who is the 4th sibling that is still listed as alive in 1911 but not at home?
                                Chrissie passed away in January 2020.

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                                • #17
                                  Very good question Chrissie and I don't know is the answer......................missed that problem!
                                  There was another sibling born Jan qtr 1914 showing mother's maiden name of Hunt.

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                                  • #18
                                    Have you got his baptism Glyntaff 10th Sept 1911?, address matches birth certificate
                                    Elaine

                                    Looking for Ward, Moore, Hunt, Warren...and who was Gertrude Wills

                                    http://leicestermoores.tribalpages.com
                                    http://wardnottsleics.tribalpages.com

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                                    • #19
                                      Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.


                                      This will help
                                      Elaine

                                      Looking for Ward, Moore, Hunt, Warren...and who was Gertrude Wills

                                      http://leicestermoores.tribalpages.com
                                      http://wardnottsleics.tribalpages.com

                                      Comment


                                      • #20
                                        Yes, got that Elaine, thanks.

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