Genealogy Chat

Top tip - using the Genes Reunited community

Welcome to the Genes Reunited community boards!

  • The Genes Reunited community is made up of millions of people with similar interests. Discover your family history and make life long friends along the way.
  • You will find a close knit but welcoming group of keen genealogists all prepared to offer advice and help to new members.
  • And it's not all serious business. The boards are often a place to relax and be entertained by all kinds of subjects.
  • The Genes community will go out of their way to help you, so don’t be shy about asking for help.

Boards

Quick Search

Single word search

Tools

Findmypast DNA Banner

Icons

  • New posts
  • No new posts
  • Thread closed
  • Stickied, new posts
  • Stickied, no new posts

NAME CHANGE/DEED POLL

Login to Add Reply Watch This
ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Michele

Michele Report 5 Aug 2011 22:19

Can anyone help me please? I am having difficulty tracing my G grandmother. I know she was named Emmeline born c1890. Have been searching another christian name that she was known by - Evelyn. Searched in the marriage records and she was married as Evelyn, but with her mothers maiden name as her surname. Her mother was definetly married and appears in the census under her married name.
Somewhere in the mists of time between 1891 and when she married in 1911 G Grandma appears to have changed her name completely. Surely this must have been a legal change for her to have been able to marry legally under the different name?
On her headstone she is Emmeline again???
Is there anywhere I can search online for deed poll documentation?

Thanks

Porkie_Pie

Porkie_Pie Report 5 Aug 2011 22:45

No proof of name was required to get married and their is no such thing as a legal name, you can use any name you wish as long as it is not for fraudulant perposes

you may find the below info and web site helpfull for info on bmd certs
Names of Bride and Groom
Column two is the name and surname of the bride and groom at the date of the marriage. Those last 6 words are crucial - the name used at the date of marriage is not necessarily the one on the birth certificate of the bride or groom. These days the words "Name changed by Deed Poll" or "formerly known as ................." or "otherwise" indicate that the bride or groom has changed their name since birth but that is a fairly recent phenomenon. In the past, the bride or groom were simply asked for the names they were known by. Remember that it was not necessary to produce any proof of the use of a name.

Names were changed in all sorts of ways. One of the most common would be by the bride or groom using a stepfathers surname. Or a person might use a mothers maiden name or indeed a name chosen at random because they didn't like the one they were born with or because they wanted their original identity hidden for a variety of reasons.

First names also frequently changed - the child named Albert Henry is always known as James for some reason and that is the name he marries in.

In theory it should be possible to use the column showing fathers name and surname as a guide to the original surname of the bride or groom but fathers details too are not always accurate


from http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/marriages.htm#COL2

If you post full details it will help with any searches

Roy