Genealogy Chat

Thanks for all your replies and ideas. Yes, the mother herself was illegitimate and the name she used was that of her mother's sister's husband. Perhaps they were the only family she knew or was her uncle really her father! Will share all the help the next time we work on her tree.

Many thanks

My understanding was that the 1975 regulations put the onus on the mother to register a birth.

The current regulations, according to the GRO website, are as follows .............

Married parents

Either parent can register the birth on their own. They can include both parents’ details if they were married when the baby was born or conceived.


Unmarried parents

The details of both parents can be included on the birth certificate if one of the following happens:

they sign the birth register together
one parent completes a statutory declaration of parentage form and the other takes the signed form to register the birth
one parent goes to register the birth with a document from the court (eg a court order) giving the father parental responsibility


I think even now, the mother is not questioned if she gives a maiden name that is different from the one she gives as her "married" name ................ it is then assumed that she is married.


This assumption applies even if the husband has been dead for many years ............... if the mother does not say so, then no questions are asked.

The registrar would take whatever he was told at face value.

Are you sure that the mother herself was not illegitimate and perhaps used a step-father's surname - but when it came to official documents decided to use her birth surname as well as the one she was known by. Just a thought.

Kath. x

the mum can reg the birth. It's not down to the father

They often did it though because in those days the mum stayed in for 6 weeks after the birth .possible why the rule came in that a birth had to reg by six weeks

It's possible she was trying to save face at not being married so she put her maiden name as a different name
Is there a connection in the family to the maiden name she chose ?

On a different note my grandmothers sister had an illigitimate daughter in 1912 . When that daughter married in the 1930,s she put her grandads name as her father . He wasn't !!! She was covering up that she didn't know who her dad was .

Caused raised eyebrows from her son when he was researching his mums side .and he thought HER husband was his dad because he was reg in her married name even though his cert didn't give a father's name

While helping a friend research her family history we have found the following:-

her mother, aunts and uncles were registered under their mother's maiden name - she never married but where her maiden name should have appeared another name from the family is given.

Not the real names but an example:-

John Smith Jones

mother's only surname was Smith - the Jones appeared elsewhere in the family.

Any ideas how she could have done this? Didn't the child's father have to register the birth if the mother was married?

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks