Genealogy Chat

Thanks for that - I'm still confused though, as they were all registered under the father's name originally, the only thing that seems to have changed is the mother's maiden name - both "maiden" surnames were different to the father's. Can anyone tell me why an original entry on a register of birth would later be amended? Have been researching 4 children (all siblings, born 1964 to 1970), and all entries I've found using 1837 have handwritten amendments to them - in all cases it appears the mother's maiden name has been changed. Under what circumstances would this be done please??

Julie Perhaps when the couple got married soon after the birth of the child?? Vera Manchester LAN

I agree with Vera on this. Seems as if the most likely explanation is that the parents were not married when the children were born. When they did marry, they applied to the Registrar to have them reregistered under the married name. (1926 Legitimacy Act). Don't assume, though, that the mother's original name was her maiden name...she could have been previously married and divorced. Dierdre X PS I speak from experience...I was previously married (no children), met my present husband, but did not marry until after birth of first child. So therefore my surname on our child's birth certificate was previous husbands! When we did marry, we applied to have birth certificate altered showing my new married name, so my surname was same as second husbands and our baby!