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Children’s surname changed

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  • Children’s surname changed

    I have Edward and Martha Jones in 1861 living in Wrockwardine Shropshire with two children.
    By 1871 Martha is living with Edward Lynch in Longton Stoke. They had married the year before. On the census she has five children all with his surname. Sadly he was killed two months after the census. She remarried a third time but the children kept the name Lynch after this marriage.
    Was it common for the children to take on the new husband’s name?
    It’s annoying as several people have family trees and are saying the two Edwards are the same person. One has even made a correction on Ancestry.
    Jennie
    Research: A family tree can wither if nobody tends it's roots .

  • #2
    If the children were quite young when she married the second time then they may not have known what their surname was at birth. Her new husband was legally responsible for any children she had, so I wouldn't attach.much significance to the name change.

    OC

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    • #3
      Thank you. This what I thought. It also shows people glibly follow census returns and make their own minds up!
      It makes a big difference to the children though as I now have to search through Jones rather than Lynch ?
      Jennie
      Research: A family tree can wither if nobody tends it's roots .

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      • #4
        Also beware of them changing back again to their original name when they get married! I have a number of such instances. You think they have forgotten about their 'original' name but it can pop up again, randomly, at a later date!

        Anne

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        • #5
          That's a good point Anne. That happened to a couple of families in my tree too.
          Kat

          My avatar is my mother 1921 - 2012

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          • #6
            Remember also, that census returns are not original documents, except for 1911. Quite often they were filled in by the enumerator who assumed that all the children had the same surname. No one cared about the minute details on census. I have one family, respectably married, who appear to be using the wife's maiden name. I.think the enumerator knew the family and knew the house had been in her family for generations and made a slip.of the pen when copying out the details.

            OC

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