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Maiden Name

Maiden Name

Posted: 14 Feb 2015 6:37AM GMT
Classification: Birth
Hi,

I have a birth certificate for my Grandmother, Under her mother details it has her married name then late xxx formerly xxx. I know that my Great Grandmother had been married before but I can't work out which one would be her maiden name and which one is her previous married name

Re: Maiden Name

Posted: 15 Feb 2015 4:31PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 16 Feb 2015 2:09PM GMT
Hello. As you say you have a birth certificate. (One) Is the document the original paper, or a later transcription? Hopefully, you can closely examine the original certificate of birth as well as the original christening or other records from the birth event to be certain that you have an accurate beginning. If you have not found a second record, like a baptism, please begin the search for one.

(Two) Your Great-Grandmother had married more than once. You will want to search for all the records of marriage which she contracted. This is very important. Go right to the source.

(Three) Offhand, on the Birth certificate, the likelihood is as follows: name of the Great-Grandmother, Married = surname now, i.e., at moment of the birth; Late =surname of the previous spouse; and, Formerly =surname of the Great-Grandmother as her own birth.

(Four) People sometimes in records elect to remember their birth names as they prefer these to be recorded, not necessarily as they were recorded, especially, e.g., in cases of illegitimacy, or irregular arrangement, or due to some scandal. In the majority of cases, we can expect, that the document would be correct after a fashion, that is, with your allowance for a potential surname spelling variant, therefore, approximately correct.

(Five) Who was the informant who witnessed and signed the birth records? Was this person who signed knowledgeable enough about identity of the two parents? Were other witnesses present? Did these other witnesses sign? Signature of a close relative to the infant usually is a good sign that the record has more of a chance of being read as accurate.

(Six) Had the clergyman or Justice presiding over the record been long settled in the parish, so as he had personal knowledge of the parents? Was his handwriting intelligible? These final factors give confidence to establish an interpretation of the record, as you want a reasonable literal clarity for the sake of evidential proof.
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