Birth Info - 1920's & 30's

[Vicky the Viking]

I've started looking at another line, with a common surname, and I'm having problems finding a birth registration. I know the chap's exact DOB (12 June 1926) but not too sure of the place, nor his mother's maiden name. I am wondering if he was actually born out of wedlock, as his mother was only 17/18 at the time.

This chap has only ever been known to his family by one surname, and the info I have been given assumes that the man his mother was married to, is his father. But I am beginning to wonder.
If he was illegitimate, would there have had to be any formal documentation to change his surname to that of his mother's husband? I know in more modern times it would have been accepted practice for him to be formally adopted, or the birth re-registered to legitimise him. Would this also apply in the mid-late 1920's or were things pretty flexible then?

[Guy]

The most likely scenario is the child was registered and the registration has either been mis-transcribed between the registrar and the superintendent registrar or mis-transcribed between the superintendent registrar and the registrar general.
It could also have been completely missed from the transcriptions.

You don’t mention when “the man his mother was married to” and his mother were married. Was it before the date you give or after?
Have you found that marriage?

The Legitimacy Act, 1926 came into effect on the first day of January, nineteen hundred and twenty-seven.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~framland/acts/1926legitAct.htm

However it was perfectly possible for someone to be know by a different name without any formal documentation to prove the change of name.
Cheers
Guy

[Sherlockslovechild]

(1.) Is he dead? ..sorry about the bluntness of the question.
(2.) Where have you looked for the birth ie countries.
(3.) any clues with regards location/occupation of parents?

[Vicky the Viking]

thanks for the replies - yes the man in question is dead, though i don't want to give his full name the surname is Edwards and its difficult to see how that can be mistranscribed. I've sent for his death certificate & hope that may give accurate info about his place of birth which should help track down his birth registration. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that his mother's death cert shows her maiden name. Then I can look using her surname rather than Edwards.

Guy, I haven't found an obvious marriage for his parents, but its difficult to be sure as I don't know her maiden name. We know the putative father/mother's husband was born on 29 Feb 1908 which does give me an almost certain start date to start searching from. The fact that he was known as Edwards suggests to me that his parents married while he was still young, if they weren't already married when he was born. Surely he wouldn't have changed his surname had he been adult when his mother married/remarried. Other than that, we know very little about the parents, other than they were white (lol) and had strong Lancashire accents, which I know doesn't rule out being born or married elsewhere but we know they lived in Lancashire for at least 40/50 years until their deaths in 1983/1997. (No idea of their whereabouts before that, but Lancs seems most likely.) If they weren't born in England/Wales, would their childhood accents have been completely obliterated by moving to Lancs?

I have found 2 possible families on the 1911 census for the father, but can't really investigate further without finding the marriage certificate to give me his father's name. And that's assuming I'm looking in the right area too.

[JBee]

Are there any siblings? You would get mother's maiden name from their birth.

[Sherlockslovechild]

Did he die after 1969 ?
If you manage to find a location then there is a trick to see if there has been a name change but it requires looking through the actual electoral role books.

[Vicky the Viking]

Are there any siblings? You would get mother's maiden name from their birth.

Unfortunately we don't know of any (that lived to be adults anyway)
This is a very strong case for getting children to talk to their parents/grandparents while they still can. I didn't know much about my own family before I started but the chap I'm helping knows even less about his - and this from a family that were at least on speaking terms while they were alive!

[Vicky the Viking]

Did he die after 1969 ?
If you manage to find a location then there is a trick to see if there has been a name change but it requires looking through the actual electoral role books.

He died in 1991. Hope to get the death cert later today, and I'll take it from there.

[Vicky the Viking]

Turns out the chap we thought of as his father is his STEP-father, mother remarried when he was 14. She was married to his natural father, but I don't know what happened to him... can't find a death in England or on the CWGC site..

Still find it a bit strange that his surname was changed when he was 14, I can understand this if he was a toddler. Must have been quite confusing for a young teenager.

Have pity on me, I'm now looking for Kellys in Lancashire, and no doubt from Ireland originally LOL.

[Uncle John]

A friend of mine had his name changed by deed poll aged 10 when his long-widowed mother remarried.

[Sherlockslovechild]

If you know an area to look for - here is a tip to locate someone in an old electoral role - even if you havent got an address.Work out what year your person would be 20 years old - when someone was this year they appear in the book for the first time as a new future voter - a sort of warning mark -it will actually have their date of birth next to their name - so in effect you can go to a library and sift through a whole reagion scanning through the pages quickly as the rare entrants with a date stated stand out and catch the eye - all 20 year olds say born feb.1943 onwards will appear in the 1963 book although they will only vote from 1964 onwards.I think (though its about 3 years since I did it) the period of inclusion runs from feb to feb.
Conversly say you know an address or area only but dont know their age ofr when they were born you can go through a few year books for a specific district until you see this unique entry -once found you will know that they are 20 by this year and what their birthday is.

[Vicky the Viking]

If you know an area to look for - here is a tip to locate someone in an old electoral role - even if you havent got an address.Work out what year your person would be 20 years old - when someone was this year they appear in the book for the first time as a new future voter - a sort of warning mark -it will actually have their date of birth next to their name - so in effect you can go to a library and sift through a whole reagion scanning through the pages quickly as the rare entrants with a date stated stand out and catch the eye - all 20 year olds say born feb.1943 onwards will appear in the 1963 book although they will only vote from 1964 onwards.I think (though its about 3 years since I did it) the period of inclusion runs from feb to feb.
Conversly say you know an address or area only but dont know their age ofr when they were born you can go through a few year books for a specific district until you see this unique entry -once found you will know that they are 20 by this year and what their birthday is.

thanks for that; I know they did this in the 1970's - I remember finding my OH's entry while we were looking for some of his cousins. Not sure when it started tho. Yes I have a feeling they used to go from about Feb or March, but the closing date to submit names was about October.