Genealogy Chat

First post on here, I`m totally new to this so apologies for this question if it sounds silly !!!
I am searching through deaths on ScotlandsPeople and when the search comes up it reads along the top :
year / surname maiden name / forename / mothers surname / other surname
My question is ..............what does other surname mean? I have found my grans death certificate but this other surname is a name I don`t recognise. It is not her middle name as that is listed with her forename. She was never married twice so I am stumped. Can anybody help please ?
Thanks
Sheila

Welcome to the message boards.

Unfortunately I personally do not know the answer to your question. If your post fails to produce an answer might I suggest that a telephone call to the General Register Office for Scotland might provide the answer that you seek.

Tel: 0131 314 4411

Good luck

Have you done a google search, or looked on the ScotlandsPeople website for explanations, e.g.:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?r=554&628

Thanks for your advice
Sheila

This might sound awful....... but were your grandmother's parents married?

Only thing I can think of.

Sorry if I've offended

You won't know the answer unless you get the document (online up to 1962?)

Could it be that her mother was married twice? thus she was born with one surname but later toook the surname of her mother's second husband?

I have found ancestors that have a habbit of using various names for instance my grandmother at birth her surname was Nash, when she married her surname was Matthews which was her stepfathers name, her married name was Burrows and on her death certificate was Nash-Burrows. so to trace her life story you would have to look for all 4 surnames to trace her.

Maybe it's for cases like this:

name: Ann Logan Garden
gender: Female
birth date: 18 Oct 1855
birthplace: SAINT FERGUS,BANFF,SCOTLAND
father's name: John Garden
mother's name: Jane Bruce Or Clyne
indexing project (batch) number: C11166-1
system origin: Scotland-ODM
source film number: 6035516

"Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XY56-GVN : accessed 15 Sep 2012), Jane Bruce Or Clyne in entry for Ann Logan Garden, 18 Oct 1855; citing reference , FHL microfilm 6035516.

which presumably arose from a birth like


name: Adams Or Ross
gender: Male
birth date: 02 Jan 1855
birthplace: SAINT FERGUS,BANFF,SCOTLAND
father's name: John Adams
mother's name: Janet Ross
indexing project (batch) number: C11166-1
system origin: Scotland-ODM
source film number: 6035516

"Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XYBQ-XPT : accessed 15 Sep 2012), John Adams in entry for Adams Or Ross, 02 Jan 1855; citing reference , FHL microfilm 6035516.

Hi Scozz................The thing is....................I don`t know if they were married. Francis Scott and Lizzie Scott are on the Scottish census for 1901 and 1911. It does say married but since they ( or maybe just him ) came from Ireland , I can`t find a record. I`m not sure if the death certificate I found online is definetely my grans , but I am awaiting my greataunts death certificate and she has . yet another other surname ! This is very confusing

Shiela ~ your family sound like mine! lol

I don't really trust info on death entries. I think if someone didn't know details they made it up!

My uncle was the informant when his mother died. He got my grandmother's address wrong ~ a bit strange, because he lived with her! Nobody in the family ever lived at the address he gave.

If the Scotts had any kids 1861 on, then the Scotts marr details should be on the birth cert. For info on what's on the certs, see:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?r=554&628

For Irish BMDs, the GRO(I) index thru 1958 (excl N. Ireland post-partition) is available at:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list#page=1®ion=UNITED_KINGDOM_IRELAND

One can purchase certs (or cheaper still, the uncertified images of the rego) via:
http://www.groireland.ie/

Are you talking about the first search result (1 credit) or he actual document (5 credits) I suspect the former in which cas maybe this isn't your gran? If you look at the actual document you should be able to clarfy where this oddity comes from.

The "Other Surname" box on S.P. is used on searches where, in a census for example, the females Maiden name may be recorded. (unlikely!)

If you look at the SP search boxes there's a blue ? sign to the right of each box. If you clcik on that it explains how to use each search box. It can be pretty confusing!

One of the worst is "Mothers Maiden name" in the births and death searches. I NEVER use the mothers maiden name as it is usually not recorded or not transcribed correctly.