Possible name change

[GallowayLass]

Ivy and her husband had two children. Both are still alive so can't name them but I'm sure one of them has an ancestry tree. It might be worth contacting the person to see if anything is known about Mervyn's name change.

[teasie]

Perhaps he changed his surname because it sounded too Austrian/Germanic, and we were at war.

I'm not sure of the actual mechanics of how the 1939 was updated by the NHS, but as they didn't routinely trawl through marriage certificates I'm assuming it will have been Edith herself who told them. If Mervyn didn't change his name by deed poll then perhaps Edith wrongly thought Fitzpatrick wasn't his 'legal' name.

[annette.humphreys]

The death in 2000 is definitely him - checking on the GRO death index shows his full name as Mervyn John Lebb Fitzpatrick.

Annette

[teasie]

I'm guessing he's not coming up on the 1939 because its under his original surname and there's no death registered in that name. Not much longer till he hits 100 years though, so it should be opened up by the end of this year, or shortly after.

[Gmelliottuk]

Brilliant guys. Thanks

[Anne in Carlisle]

The annotation on the 1939 register was done when the woman would register with the NHS in her new name. She must have used that name when registering (or re-registering) with a doctor. Is there a date in the margin? I think we used to assume that was the marriage date but in fact it is the date of the notification of the name change and can be weeks, months or even a year or two later.
Anne